Bucharest has welcomed the second Mobility Solutions Showroom by EIT Urban Mobility. Some of the most relevant innovators from the Solutions Catalogue were invited to present. They shared their experiences in piloting and implementing their products and services in European cities, and how these could generate an impact in the Romanian community. This community was represented by an audience of public authorities, municipalities, companies, and public transport operators, among others.
The event aimed to bring innovators and the public sector of the Romanian region together. It was an insightful session focusing on the role of urban transport in the climate transition. Examples of best practices were displayed, highlighting the importance and potential of public-private partnerships to end greenhouse gas emissions and reach the 2030-2050 Green Deal targets.
A thought leadership session was hosted which discussed how the transition to efficient and sustainable urban mobility can be accelerated. It discussed different methodologies combining innovation and policy changes that are within the reach of local governments or require government intervention. The attending innovators then described how their solutions also support this transition, and explained how they have provided positive social, economic, and environmental impacts across Europe:
One such innovator is the startup VePa: their concept of vertical parking is intended to revolutionise the idea of parking in urban areas, which is primarily affected by excess parked vehicles. Simon Schubnell, co-founder and CEO of the company, presented how VePa has established several pilots in different German cities. By freeing urban spaces from parked vehicles, these cities aim to provide pedestrians and micromobility users with greener and more liveable environments.
The VePa towers, where vehicles are parked vertically, can have docking stations on the first floor for electric scooters and bicycles and can even have space for charging stations. This latter subject is just what EVIO, another company with demonstrated impact, presented at the Showroom. The startup, represented by its CEO, Carlos Almeida, has created a digital platform with a variety of services for the EV charging ecosystem. Services are available for different users, from vehicle drivers to fleet and infrastructure managers.
Their presentation revolved around the insufficient number of loading points both close to workplaces and places of residence. They also discussed the lack of available data on the location of these points. To address this, EVIO’s offering includes services such as operating, managing, monetising, and scheduling charging stations. EVIO is already operating in several European cities.
Another interesting solution was presented by Alwin Bakker, founder of Code the Streets: They offer a software solution for municipalities to support them in improving their urban mobility. Code the Streets provides cities with a co-design service to identify opportunities to improve their traffic management, reduce congestion and pollution and increase safety. These are implemented through the app, combined with behaviour-change incentives to promote citizens and travellers to make safer, more sustainable, and societally friendlier mobility choices.
Fluctuo was another innovation with focus on shared mobility showcased during the showroom by Sébastien Marteau, CCO of the company. When it comes to shared mobility, one of the biggest challenges is the availability of data about the multiple choices the user has when choosing among different types of transport and operators. Sébastien addressed this question by presenting two of the mobility solutions that the company has developed which are once again part of the EIT Urban Mobility portfolio.
As pan-European data platform for urban shared mobility, Fluctuo gathers data from 250 shared mobility providers in Europe. This data is displayed on its API, the Fluctuo Data Flow, showing the the real-time availability of shared mobility services in user’s area directly. In addition, Sébastien also presented their solution Fluctuo City Dive, a business intelligence tool addressed to public stakeholders and private companies to make data-driven decisions on mobility services and infrastructure.
The transition to sustainable and more liveable urban spaces requires an important investment in planning. ModelMe3D, represented in the Mobility Solutions Showroom by Samuel Alvarado, developed an interactive urban planning platform. This tool can be used by urban planners to engage citizens in their decision-making process. Using 3D models of city environments, citizens can suggest infrastructure changes on the models. These are then analysed using AI and provided to the urban planners to feed into their urban planning process.
Additionally, a mobility infrastructure solution, Zicla was introduced at the event. Their representatives in Romania, Raluca Popescu and Viorel Tirdea presented a few product samples of cycle lanes safety devices. These Zicla products are currently used to upgrade cycle lanes and create a safer environment for cycling without disturbing or causing aesthetic damage to the environment.
In conclusion, all solution providers had the opportunity to interact directly with municipality and industry representatives to discuss potential opportunities for addressing the mobility challenges in Romanian cities.
