Experts gather for smart mobility event
02/03/2021
On the 11th of February, the MOBI-MIX project hosted the Smart Mobility Webinar.
The webinar brought together mobility experts from across Europe to discuss our smart mobility guide and to examine public-private collaboration and its challenges. Experts included Soufian Jahouh from the City of Rotterdam, Chris van Mourey from the City of Antwerp, Robert Schopen from Co-wheels, Laura Babío from POLIS and Giel Mertens from Bax & Company.
City of Rotterdam's Soufian Jahouh giving an introduction to the MOBI-MIX project.
City of Antwerp's Chris Van Maroey explaining the mobility framework for public -private partnership.
Chris van Maroey, team member of the Smart ways to Antwerp project, explained the objectives the City of Antwerp is taking to keep the city accessible, to reduce road movements and to keep the city liveable by using an effective marketplace for mobility framework. Partnerships within the framework are created with mobility providers through a broad range of services, for example, the City of Antwerp is working with 130 partners offering a range of services such as mobile bike repair services, parking solutions for companies, consulting services for green mobility and smart logistics solutions such as cargo bike rentals. The initiative aims to develop new mobility solutions and achieve a behaviour change when it comes to how residents think about their mobility options.
Co-wheels' Robert Schopen discussing procurement challenges for the private sector.
Some of the highlights from the discussions among the experts included the challenges of public-private collaboration. Robert Schopen, marketing manager from Co-wheels discussed the procurement challenges from the private sector perspective and the traditional vs open approach to procurement. Robert explained how an open approach to procurement enables private companies to have the opportunity to operate in locations where it is best suited to their needs and ideals. The open approach also enables the ability to trial and innovate new schemes to overcome fixed bay restrictions. Overall resulting in open discussions and clearer visions.
Discussing the handbook itself, Bax & Company’s Giel Mertens and POLIS’s Laura Babio demonstrated how the MOBI-MIX smart mobility guide can be used to better inform decision-makers when implementing shared mobility solutions. The three main topics of the handbook were discussed, diving into the aspects of the strategy, the partnership and procurement stages of implementing mobility solutions. A use case example of a medium-sized UK city was incorporated into the explanation of how the handbook can be used for your shared mobility project.
Bax & Company's Giel Mertens explaining the smart mobility guide.
POLIS' Laura Babío discussing the smart mobility guide with a use case example.