Overcoming car culture

Shifting away from a “car culture” in a way that is owned and supported by citizens has become a common challenge across sustainable mobility projects. Turku (FI) and Rabat (MT), are two examples where this transition has been particularly pressing. Both cities had strong, historical adoption of car culture and their elected politicians were not always convinced of the benefits of sustainable alternatives.

In Turku’s case, a C2C Exchange with Groningen (NL) provided deep insights on developing and implementing multi-modal traffic management frameworks – particularly its integration of cycling with public transport. Groningen’s system adapts traffic lights and flows in real time and prioritises pedestrians and cyclists over other road users.

Turku learned how to embed public transport as a default option for example, starting a bus service for a new out-of-town housing estate before it was occupied, coordinating municipal bodies, construction firms, private operators,  and technology providers. Discussions revealed how Groningen’s informal, cross-departmental working culture and direct communication between politicians and staff helps accelerate sustainable mobility policies. In contrast, Turku’s committee-based approach takes a more traditional route, which naturally allows for a careful, considered and slower pace of decision-making. Thus, beyond acquiring technical knowledge on multi-modal traffic management, Turku gained a unique and deep insight into Groningen’s policy-making approach, while discussions also revealed how building informal links between officials and politicians could help to “win-over” sceptical decision-makers when developing new mobility strategies.   

For Rabat the exchange focused on an integrated mobility wallet, developed in Guimarães (PT). Seeing it in practice allowed Rabat to adapt and implement it locally. The experience was mutually beneficial, as Guimarães gained valuable feedback on the challenges faced by another city and used it to significantly upgrade its own wallet design.