From May 23 to 25, 2023, a group of eight Norwegians from Viken County Council, the Mobility Department, Oslo and Nordland Research Institute learned about the activities, plans and policies for promoting sustainable mobility of regional development agencies in Slovenia and the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
BSC, business support center, doo, Kranj – The Regional Development Agency of Gorenjska (RRA Gorenjska) has been operating since 1995 and connects local, regional and national public bodies in the formulation and implementation of development policies in Gorenjska in the fields of economy, tourism, digital transformation, mobility and protection of cultural and natural heritage. “We cooperate with municipalities, companies, regional chambers of commerce, non-governmental organizations, ministries and other regional and national authorities. We connect local communities and companies with national and European development policies and financial resources,” said Director Rok Šimenc in his presentation of RRA Gorenjske. He also presented the activities and some projects of the department for environment and spatial planning.
The hosting of partners from Norway was organized by RRA Gorenjska, within the framework of the ReMOBIL project, in which six regional mobility centers (RCM) were established in cooperation with the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR), which is part of the group from the SmartMOVE project contributed by two guests from Norway.
The good practices of establishing regional mobility centers from Norway and some other countries, such as Austria, Hungary and Texas (USA), are an inspiration for the development of a mobility management model at the regional level in Slovenia as well. Mobility management practices at the regional level from the last three countries mentioned above were also presented to guests from Norway.
Mateja Krampač from the Regional Development Agency Podravje – RCM Podravje presented urban planning for sustainable mobility and the establishment of public transport in Pohorje. The Maribor city administration promotes sustainable mobility by establishing urban areas within the city that are intended for pedestrians and micro-mobile means of transport , improves the logistics of the last kilometer in pedestrian zones, with restrictive parking policies, improving bus public passenger traffic and improving cycling infrastructure. Together with the municipality, RCM Podravje is improving accessibility to Pohorje, with the aim of protecting the environment.
“Carinthia has a total of 65.05 km of built bicycle connections and 35.06 km of bicycle connections under construction. An additional 27.68 km of bicycle connections are planned. Of the total 127.78 km of bicycle connections, 46.98 km have information signs,” explained Aleš Rupreht from RRA Carinthia – RCM Carinthia. Rupreht presented the state and vision of the development of the cycling network in Carinthia and the integration of public passenger transport and tourist products for cyclists, not only in Carinthia and inter-regionally, but also across borders.
“The first local bike-sharing systems in Gorenjska were established in Kranj and Jesenice in 2016-2017. To date, through LAS Gorenjska košaria, managed by RRA Gorenjska, a network of bike-sharing systems has been developed in 8 out of 18 municipalities, with 59 bicycle stations and 351 bicycles, including electric ones. The bicycle sharing network in Gorenjska, Gorenjska.bike, is part of a network that connects 35 Slovenian municipalities, 135 stations and 730 bicycles,” said Mateja Dolžan from RRA Gorenjska – RCM Gorenjska, who presented the good practice of Gorenjska.bike.
For the development of cycling, a regional consultative body called SORK – Advisory Body of the Gorenje Region for the Development of Cycling was established in 2016 by RRA Gorenjska and RAGOR – Development Agency of Zgornja Gorenjska. To date, SORK has placed 3,500 km of bicycle connections in the digital database, in cooperation with the Directorate of Infrastructure of the Republic of Slovenia, coordinated the installation of the 640 km long Gorenje bicycle network, mapped 550 information points where signposts were placed, successfully acquired and implemented numerous European projects in which cycling equipment was installed and co-financed, training sessions for cycling promoters were carried out and numerous promotional activities for cycling and the regional cycling network were carried out.
“On May 15, 2023, the municipality of Kranj, in cooperation with the company ARRIVA, organized the ceremonial takeover of four twelve-meter electric buses. The event was just one of the milestones on the way to introducing electric mobility in the Municipality of Kranj. Previously, Kranj carried out the optimization of the vehicle fleet of the municipal public administration with public institutions and companies by establishing a system (digital platform) of sharing electric vehicles, with the aim of replacing existing fossil fuel vehicles with 130 electric ones, setting up 43 residential and 15 AC charging stations and obtaining electricity with a solar power plant. For the needs of introducing an electric public passenger bus in the municipality, together with the project partners, it established a charging infrastructure with an electricity storage tank that will store excess electricity production from the solar power plant,” among other things, in his presentation Transition to e-mobility in the Municipality of Kranj, said Blanka Odlazek from RCM Gorenjska – RRA Gorenjska.
Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
The municipality of Bohinj has been cooperating with Tourism Bohinj for years in efforts to encourage the use of public passenger transport to visit Bohinj. They are planning to withdraw parking spaces by the lake, increase the price of parking in parking spaces near points of tourist interest, establish a smaller volume of parking spaces away from the lake and improve bus connections. One such measure is the introduction of seasonal Hop-on-Hop-off bus transport and the integration of the price of public passenger transport services into the discount card for visiting natural and cultural attractions, which is presented by the director of Tourism Bohinj – the Institute for the Promotion of Tourism, Klemen Langus. especially impressed the guests from Norway, because according to them, they too are looking for solutions to promote sustainable mobility in rural environments. The presentation was also interesting for the other partners of the ReMOBIL project , which address the same topic in a similar way in their regions.
The municipality of Bled, with the world-famous attraction of Lake Bled with its island and castle, is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Slovenia. It has more than a million overnight stays annually. The only road connection with Bohinj passes by the lake, a single-track railway connection with Bohinj, and the connection to Jesenice has restrictions on the frequency of transport. Romana Purkart from the Public Tourism Institute of Bled presented the Case Study of Sustainable Mobility in the Municipality of Bled, in which she explained the current situation and options for traveling by public passenger transport for visitors to Bled and the hinterland, as well as plans for moving the main bus station, renovating the railway stations and moving parking spaces away from the lake. Upon arrival, the group of partners was also greeted by the mayor of Bled Municipality, Anton Mežan, who encourages the development of sustainable mobility in the municipality.
In Kranj, in Kovačnica, Jaka Hrastnik from AMZS presented the NOMO application. Nomo, which means New Mobility, is one of the first attempts to establish an application that would combine public passenger transport services and micromobility providers (sharing bicycles, cars, scooters, walking) in Slovenia. Depending on the location, the user would have the most optimal selection of a means of transport related to sustainable mobility, according to the selected parameters of importance (time, price, speed), and at the same time would be informed about the carbon footprint savings.
Tomaž Lanišek, head of the office for development, smart community and projects in the Municipality of Kranj, explained to the audience the efforts in the field of sustainable mobility as part of the mission of 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. In the same month, the office obtained European funds for the creation of a municipal application with the same purpose and function as NOMO. They are also developing a smart city platform for the Mlaka area and a single payment card for Kranje, with which citizens and visitors can pay for mobility services related to public administration (parking, charging electric vehicles…) and pay for other services (e.g. borrowing books from the library).
Thursday, May 25, 2023.
“On May 25, the joint project meeting of the partners of the ReMOBIL and SmartMOVE projects continued with a field visit of mobility practices in the city center of Ljubljana. Under the leadership of the City of Ljubljana and RRA LUR, a presentation of the wider area for pedestrians of the city center was carried out with the presentation of some micro-mobility solutions that encourage and promote the use of sustainable forms of mobility in Ljubljana in the last 15 years. Addressing practices of zero-emission and low-emission mobility were presented (BicikeLJ public bicycle rental system, Kavalir city center free transportation system, Avant2Go electric vehicle rental system, bicycle connectivity practices in the city, …).
The project delegation from Norway was pleasantly surprised by the “walkability” within the city center and the share of Ljubljana residents who choose to cycle as their main form of transport on a daily basis, which further contributes to the reduction of traffic jams and air pollution in the city centre. Despite the well-organized system of public transport in Ljubljana and the vehicle fleet equipped with the most modern technology, the need for measures to improve the connectivity of both bus and rail public passenger transport in the region was emphasized, which will also be addressed by the activities and contents of the operation of the ReMOBIL project of the Regional Mobility Centers established on a test basis (RCM),” they wrote on RRA LUR.
Representatives of the Directorate for Transport Policy from the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy presented to the Norwegian partners the Strategy for the Development of Transport in the Republic of Slovenia until 2030 and the Act on the Management of Public Passenger Transport, the Act on Comprehensive Transport Planning, Mobility on Alternative Fuels in Public Transport and the Cycling Strategy of Slovenia. Reflecting on the three-day visit to the Gorenjska region and Ljubljana, the partners from the Viken District Council emphasized that, among other things, they were impressed by: planning for sustainable mobility in the countryside, specifically in the TNP area, and the integrated prices of public bus transport into the package of tourist services, as they themselves face with this kind of challenge and the planning of centralized acquisition of data about services, arrivals and departures and the occupancy of intercity public passenger transport for the preparation of an application that will also enable the purchase of tickets for transport by public passenger transport. During the study tour in Ljubljana, it was mentioned that the Municipality of Ljubljana is also considering the possibility of reinstalling trams, but the partners from Norway advised that in addition to the transition to alternative fuel sources in road public passenger transport, we should rather consider new technological solutions, e.g. self-driving minibuses, which are cheaper, quieter, more flexible and less intrusive on the urban environment than the latest trams. however, partners from Norway advised that in addition to the transition to alternative fuel sources in road public passenger transport, we should rather think about new technological solutions, e.g. self-driving minibuses, which are cheaper, quieter, more flexible and less intrusive on the urban environment than the latest trams. however, partners from Norway advised that in addition to the transition to alternative fuel sources in road public passenger transport, we should rather think about new technological solutions, e.g. self-driving minibuses, which are cheaper, quieter, more flexible and less intrusive on the urban environment than the latest trams.
The hosting took place as part of the ReMOBIL project partner meeting, which was organized in the morning part of the first day. The ReMOBIL project – Regional Mobility Centers is co-financed by means of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA) 2014-2021, which represents the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to a green, competitive and inclusive Europe, as well as the corresponding Slovenian participation within the framework of the public tender for project co-financing as part of the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme. It takes place in the years 2022 to 2024.
