In September 2016, Antwerp hosted the CIVITAS PORTIS kick-off meeting. The project involves 33 partners from five port cities working together on sustainable mobility in terms of commuter’s and private traffic as well as transport and logistics. The five participating cities are: Antwerp (Belgium), Aberdeen (Scotland), Constanta (Romania), Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Trieste (Italy). The project is coordinated by the City of Antwerp and ends in August 2020.
With European support, these cities work together on good, innovative and sustainable solutions to improve access to their cities and ports. The five participating cities serve as living labs and implement mobility measures, supporting their multifunctional role of cities, ports and gateways to inland areas. CIVITAS PORTIS aims to show that sustainable mobility can increase functional and social cohesion between city centres and ports, while pushing the economy forward and boosting the allure of modern urban environments. Cooperation, innovation and knowledge sharing are key elements in this project.
In Antwerp, several measures are being implemented within CIVITAS PORTIS to improve sustainable urban mobility. To improve accessibility and create the right infrastructure for safe transport, several major infrastructural works have started in and around the city and the port area (e.g. new tramlines, cycling infrastructure, etc.). During and following these works, the CIVITAS PORTIS partners in Antwerp put extra efforts in reducing car-dependency in the city and the port area. A combination of both hard and soft measures creates the right infrastructure, alternative mobility solutions and a change in mind set. Also car and truck traffic in and around the city is being optimised in order to reduce congestion and improve life quality in the urban area.
The participating Antwerp partners are: City of Antwerp, Antwerp Port Authority, Province of Antwerp, De Lijn, NMBS, Traject and Beheersmaatschappij Antwerpen Mobiel.
