Even though the UVAR Box project finished several weeks ago, the chance to engage with urban mobility experts from across Europe was used during the Urban Mobility Days, which took place from 20-22 October 2022 in Brno, Czechia. Lucy Sadler (Sadler Consultants) presented the UVAR Box results in a dedicated UVAR session together with the projects and organisations of Park4SUMP, UVARExchange, IRU and the Prague Institute of Planning and Development.
The session, which was moderated by Ivo Cré from POLIS Network, focused on the challenges of parking management and UVARs. Sadler highlighted the significant importance of UVAR digitization efforts, which result in an increased awareness of access regulations, less enforcement work and a greater impact, since more users are aware of the rules. Furthermore, she promoted the EU-wide standardised DATEX II format, which supports the EU-wide exchange of data. The presentation was concluded with an invitation to the ReVeAL final conference, which will take place on 8-9 November in London (UK).
You can find Lucy Sadler’s presentations here: UVAR Box, ReVeAL
A panel discussion formed the second half of the session during which the topic of UVAR and parking was discussed from the viewpoint of the projects (UVAR Box, UVAR Exchange and Park4SUMP), cities (Prague), and commercial road transport enterprises (IRU). Raluca Marian (IRU) highlighted that a smooth and barrier-free integration of UVAR data into the navigation and route planning systems of freight forwarders is an essential prerequisite for businesses to operate in urban environments. Václav Novotný (Prague) pointed out that UVARs are often (mis-)interpreted by residents and car users as a ‘ban of passenger cars’ in urban areas. Patrick Auwerx (Park4SUMP) agreed and promoted the results of the Park4SUMP project that provide best practices from 16 cities about the potential impacts of an integrated parking management strategy, which is in line with the local SUMP. These results were also published in a handy final brochure.