Partners: Hamburg – Altona district (Lead Partner), Umeå Municipality, Gdynia City, Union of Harju County Municipalities, Kalundborg Municipality, City of Porvoo, Klaipeda Public Transport Authority, Aalto University, Gdansk Technical University, Tallinn Technical University, Swedish Cycling Advocacy Organisation, Gate21
Date: November 2023 – November 2026
Locations: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden
Bax supports Hamburg’s Altona district and 11 other organisations from across the Baltic Sea region in a joint effort to ensure active mobility remains a feasible transport mode all year round in urban areas. The collaborative initiative develops, tests, and mainstreams tools and practices that adapt active mobility planning to the context of the region’s climatic and daylight conditions.
Active mobility (walking, cycling) is the most climate-neutral, healthy and accessible mode of transport. It has also received European-wide attention and investment over the last decade; however, active mobility is mostly planned with warmer, sunny days in mind – not on par with the reality of the Baltic Sea region. Additionally, the increase of sudden and extreme weather changes expose cities to new infrastructure planning challenges that must be met urgently.
Best-in-class examples of wintertime active mobility exist in the most northern parts of Europe, but the approaches are far from mainstream; European cities require replicable, practitioner-friendly solutions to futureproof cycling and walking as a year-round option.
Approach
Bax secured funding and supports the BATS project, which stands for Baltic Active mobiliTy Solutions – in darkness & all weather conditions. 7 public authorities and 5 knowledge organisations equip urban planners with tools & knowledge to properly plan active mobility as a year-round transport option. Partners create toolkits and guides that help tackle different dimensions (i.e. winter maintenance, protective infrastructure, lighting innovation, traffic management, citizen activation); they pilot their use case via on-street experiments across 7 countries; and they mainstream the validated solutions across the European region. The ultimate aim is to produce replicable tools to be used by any city wishing to year-proof its active mobility system.
Impact
