HomeNEWSLETTERSApril '10

Newsletter April '10

MESSAGE from MIMOSA

Project Co-ordinator, Mr. Andrea Arcelli, Bologna

It’s almost a year and a half since the CIVITAS MIMOSA project was launched in Funchal. During this time we had a very tight schedule to keep to and several challenges to overcome.

The initial phase was particularly challenging as we had to launch various activities in parallel, all of which have been important building blocks of this complex project. As many of these activities are interlinked, the initial success of one was strictly dependent on a timely and efficient launch of another. Essentially, the failure of one meant a possible obstacle for many others.

On top of these technical challenges, we have come together to work as one within the MIMOSA consortium. It took time to understand our reciprocal strengths and weaknesses and build on this. Getting to know each other was one of the first and most important steps.

We were very sad to witness the devastating storm that hit Funchal in January causing large scale damage and several casualties. Our partners worked hard to recover from this disaster. The MIMOSA partnership extend their support to the council and people of Funchal in making a full recovery very soon.

NEWS DIRECT FROM THE GROUND

Funchal

Life is now back to normal for most people after the recent storm that struck the South-West of Madeira on February 20^th 2010. Much of the storm damage, resulting in several deaths, occurred in the old town centre and up in the surrounding mountainous areas. Reconstruction work started straight away both in Funchal and the other municipalities affected such as Ribeira Brava, 15 km West of Funchal.

The Regional Authorities demonstrated effective leadership in ensuring a co-ordinated approach to the crisis. Right from the start, the Regional Civil Protection Services, local authorities, Fire Departments, Health Services and Social Services worked together on all tasks so as to reach the people affected immediately and meet their needs. A period of national mourning was held in memory of those who died.

During the days that followed February 20th, the tragedy made media headlines across the world which truly surprised us here in Funchal. At times however, the media tended to focus only on the extreme and show only those areas that were badly affected. For the large part, most areas in Funchal remained unaffected.

POLITICAL INTERVIEW

Moving Forward with Funchal’s Deputy Mayor Bruno Pereira

What are the top three priorities city with regard to Sustainable Mobility?

• Reduce transport related emissions
• Encourage modal transfer to more sustainable means of transport.
• Reduce traffic in the city centre and promote conditions for an improved pedestrian mobility in the city centre.

What are the challenges in implementing these priorities?

Habits and long established patterns of behaviour as well as lack of urban space and the topography of Funchal, can be very challenging.

What are the 3 major contributions that CIVITAS MIMOSA can make/has made to mobility in Funchal?

Firstly, CIVITAS MIMOSA is contributing with important measures towards sustainable mobility and promoting significant partnerships among stakeholders of urban transport. Secondly, it has set a focus on sustainable mobility issues, prioritizing them. In addition to these, the financial contribution is definitely significant.

TECHNOLOGY

You Asked, MIMOSA Delivers!

CIVITAS MIMOSA’s New, Quick and Easy Search Engine Is Open For Business. Full Access to a Centralised Database of Knowledge, Experience & Contacts for Sustainable Mobility.

CIVITAS and other European projects create valuable knowledge on sustainable mobility and many of our partners need access to relevant information on what is going on in this area. It is essential that this information become available, and under CIVITAS MIMOSA we planned to approach the task of knowledge sharing using a codification approach to gather and record the available knowledge and store it in a repository where it can be accessed easily.

The Challenge: Currently the knowledge exists in various databases around the world. This is limiting in that it depends on people finding the database in the first place. The knowledge may be hard to find, or it may be offered out of context. Competing information or more up-to- date/more accurate information does not immediately become available. Also knowledge in other languages may be missed, while it may be of better quality than the knowledge available in the ‘single language’ database.

MIMOSA WORKSHOPS

Getting Key Stakeholders on Board for E- Ticketing in Tallinn 15th & 16th April 2010

Workshop on Public Transport Ticketing System - How to create an integrated cross-border web-based public transport ticketing system? Description: The city of Tallinn, like many other cities, is thinking about how to establish a user-friendly and efficient e-ticketing system for public transport. Many European cities have already established an e- ticketing system and this workshop will provide a platform for them to share their knowledge on this topic. The workshop will contribute to the measure “Tallinn Public Transport Ticketing System” that is being implemented within the CIVITAS MIMOSA project.

The workshop will focus on several questions and aspects regarding collective transport ticketing systems e.g.
• How to get relevant statistics in order to optimize the route network?
• How to establish an integrated and open PT ticketing system?
• Risks of the tender procedure etc.