With only two weeks to go until City Transport & Road Pricing Europe conference 2021, CiTTi meets speaker François Bausch, deputy prime minister and minister for mobility and public works, Luxembourg government, who will discuss smart environments, urban futures and mobility infrastructure.
Taking place on 11-12 May 2021 via virtual conferencing platform Swapcard, City Transport & Road Pricing Europe 2021 will explore the latest developments and technologies shaping urban transportation via four key content themes: road pricing and tolling; emissions and sustainability; congestion and traffic management; and transportation infrastructure.
This two-day online event will see over 20 expert speakers highlight the latest road pricing and tolling projects, discuss intelligent transport infrastructures and present urban mobility schemes being implemented in major towns and cities across Europe, from Ljubljana and Oslo to Brussels and Lahti.
Name: François Bausch
Job role: Deputy Prime Minister / Minister for Mobility & Public Works
Organisation: Luxembourg Government
What is the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is that I am at the same time in charge of mobility planning for all transport modes, of the provision of public transport and of transport infrastructures for all modes. This allows me to make mobility an essential part of my fellow citizens daily lives, sustainably more pleasant and efficient in the medium- and long-term.
What is the biggest challenge facing those with responsibility for developing mobility infrastructure in 2021?
We must break with the planning paradigms of the 20th century, which were all about moving a maximum of different, mostly motorised, vehicles, regardless of context. Unliveable cities, traffic jams, the commute as a daily mass punishment, and generalised lack of physical activity, are the obvious results of these failed paradigms. Each mobility infrastructure in 2021 must be a piece of a coherent multimodal puzzle, which itself should be the result of long-term planning that is entirely focussed on moving people and goods.
What’s your best piece of advice for those looking to develop smart environments?
The metric of success for a smart environment is how intuitively the least smart human within it feels at ease. You have only really succeeded if parents of eight year-olds do not hesitate to let their children roam freely in the neighbourhood, even several streets away from home. As long as this sounds utopic, we have failed. A robotised space between buildings that has been designed not for people, but for their smartphone apps, is not a city, but a dystopia.
Does legislation help or hinder development in the sector?
This question is best answered by actors outside government. As a minister, I have the opportunity to propose changing any legislation that I might see as a hindrance.
How will urban mobility infrastructure have changed by 2030?
That will obviously depend entirely on city councils’ political priorities. Many cities will remain exactly the asphalt deserts of 20th century car-centric infrastructure that they are today. Others will have added some half-hearted infrastructure for public transport, cyclists and pedestrians in places where this will have been deemed compatible with car traffic and car parking. The most liveable and economically efficient cities will have refocussed their urban space entirely on people, with infrastructure that does not welcome, but at best tolerate, necessary motorised traffic.
Why are you looking forward to speaking at City Transport & Road Pricing Europe 2021?
Because after more than seven years in this job, I have the privilege of not only presenting an inspirational vision for mobility, but also examples of successful paradigm shifts in the European country with the highest car ownership ratio.
At the conference you’ll also be able to hear from Continental, Transport & Environment, Greenplan, the cities of Stuttgart and Oslo, the European Green Capital 2021 project… and more! You can view the full agenda here. All times are shown in CET (GMT+1). All sessions will be available after the conference on-demand.
For partnership enquiries, please contact Robert Gouge at robert.gouge@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8065 0465. For speaking opportunities, please contact Claudia Davidson at claudia.davidson@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8037 1777.
Meet some of our other speakers at City Transport & Road Pricing Conference Europe 2021…
