The event was an opportunity for railways to discuss business opportunities for the first and last mile solutions, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions.
The goal of the workshop was to open a dialogue between railway companies and urban mobility providers for a new mobility offer to exchange best practices and stimulate partnerships and cooperation in the frame of the new UIC project “Door-to door solutions” (2018-2020) that was presented during the workshop by Mrs Escolan-Zeno, Head of the Sustainable Unit at UIC and Mr Raimondo Orsini, Consultant and Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation in Italy.
Around 50 experts gathered in Warsaw to discuss areas in which railway companies are engaging with passion and developing new forms of businesses, created for the benefits of customers, citizens and the environment.
Car sharing, carpooling, bike sharing, scooter sharing, stations as hubs, Maas tools, journey planners, integration with public transport, electric vehicles facilities and integrated offer: those were the topics conversed during the event.
The event was launched by Mr Massel, Deputy Director of Polish IK – the Polish railway research institute.
After the presentation of the project by UIC and the Sustainable Foundation, the European Project POLIS network presented an annual overview on innovative transport solutions in Europe and following this, the International Transport Forum (ITF) presented studies on mobility led in OECD cities, their results and impacts.
These presentations were followed by debates and discussions between UIC Member railways and door-to-door mobility providers – a first in UIC’s history:
NextBike and Veturilo bike presented bike sharing in Warsaw and how bike sharing in general stimulates multimodal mobility. Mytaxi presented users case scenarios and how taxis are contributing to intermodality. Car2Go presented what the urban mobility provider is offering and how the hourly car rental company works in South Europe. CER also provided an overview about door-to-door mobility within European countries and to continue, the Warsaw Transport Authority took the floor to explain how door to door concretely works in a city such as Warsaw.
SBB, FS, DB, ADIF, BaneNor, NSB, PKP and the Slovenian railways actively explained their projects on the topic and shared their views on door-to-door mobility and on the challenges and ways to implement an efficient system in accordance with users’ needs and in keeping with sustainability targets. For a long time now, UIC and its Members have been committed to the fight against climate change and it was clearly stated in Warsaw that first and last mile solutions are part of the answer to prevent global warming.
Discussions centred around the issue of space in implementing solutions, new mobility economy, circular economy, digitalisation, as well as on how to change behaviour and unlock possibilities for railways and operators and how working together is proven to be very effective when promoting door-to-door solutions especially towards public authorities.
The UIC coordination team for this event would like to thank Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC Director of Fundamental Values, and the IK coordination team for facilitating the organisation of this event in Warsaw. The team would also like to warmly thank the Sustainable Foundation, especially Mr Orsini, Ms Gentili and Mr Ciuffini for their active work in organising the event.
Presentations from the workshop will be available here:
https://events.uic.org/uic-1st-door-to-door-solutions-workshop-14-november-2018
This event was recognised as actively contributing to the UNFCCC Talanoa Dialogue
