Paralysis, growing pollution, traffic congestion, stress; big cities around the world are stifles by growing traffic. And this situation is worsening. According to the Transport Department of Geneva, traffic in this city is likely to increase by 40 % by 2020.

While sustainable mobility is important for citizens' health, it also represents an opportunity for companies to set up innovative mobility plans. Such plans provide effective solutions in face of the increase in traffic and the scarcity of parking spaces. Moreover, they allow the rationalisation of business travel and commuter traffic, the improvement of access to working places and reduction in employees' stress due to driving.

Adapted to the situation of each company, a mobility plan comprises among other items, the motivation to use public transport, the organisation of a shuttle service, the practice of car-pooling and -sharing, the encouragement to walk and bicycle, the reorganisation of car parks, as well as the operation of telework and videoconferences.

Representing a Win-Win-Win-approach, mobility plans provide major benefits on:
• Economic level: via cost reductions for business travel and the purchase of vehicles, improved risk management, rationalisation of parking places and the availability of new surfaces for commercial use, valorisation of the company image.
• Social level: reduction of stress due to driving and traffic jams, of risks of accidents*, improvement of employees' health by physical activity, as well as of public health via decrease of noise, pollution and traffic jams, saving of time and money.
* Traffic accidents are the first cause of death for young people aged from 1 to 25 years in European countries, far more than suicide.
• Environmental level: substantial reduction of energy consumption and of polluting emissions.

A growing number of companies are already setting up mobility plans. Among them are the International Airport of Geneva and the University Hospital of Geneva, STMicroelectronics (Grenoble, F and Geneva, CH), BASF (Ludwigshafen, D), Pfizer (Bristol, GB), Ford (Genk, B), and many others. Moreover, carsharing is used via Mobility CarSharing across Switzerland by some 800 companies.

Organised in co-operation with the Mobility Department of the City of Geneva and First Tuesday, Geneva, these topics will be presented extensively during he European Mobility Week at SMIA05 in the session "Mobility Plans, improve mobility and health" and in the workshop "SME's, sustainable management of mobility".


Information: www.smia.info et
Organising Committee: Hubert Klun: Phone. +41 21 646 59 80, E-mail: hklun@(ch)smia.info