Archive: September 2024

On September 16-18, the All-Ukrainian Forum of Urban Mobility was held in Lviv. More than 150 participants from different parts of Ukraine shared their experiences and ideas on improving Ukraine's infrastructure and mobility. Members of the NGO "Vision Zero" also took part in the event as moderators, speakers and co-organizers.

During the introductory speech, Kateryna Lozovenko, project coordinator and data researcher, reminded what the Resolution of the previous Mobility Forum was about and in which directions positive changes took place during the year. For example, the issue of barrier-free and accessible cities — as of now, a number of cities have strategies or concepts of barrier-free infrastructure, and most importantly, funding for the implementation of specific solutions. In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia also announced its intention to develop a project to reconstruct the main train station in Lviv with a barrier-free component.

The branch of urban public also appeared more on the agenda of both local self-government bodies and the relevant Ministry. During the year, a number of advisory and analytical documents were developed by experts in this field, taking into account the proposals and needs of cities formed at meetings with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the public sector.

Certain improvements have also taken place in the aspect of road safety . Excessive speed continues to cause the largest number of deaths on the roads of Ukraine. So this year, the Law Enforcement Committee held a meeting with members of the public on the topic of necessary changes and improvements in legislation. Changes are happening, albeit slowly. However, 43 additional speed cameras have already been installed on the roads of our cities.

Also, Kateryna Lozovenko was the moderator of two sections at once. At the section on barrier-free cities, representatives of local self-government bodies and public organizations presented their own work and shared their experience in implementing solutions in this area.
The second section, moderated by Kateryna, covered the topic of "electronic ticket" in Ukrainian cities. Speakers from utility companies-carriers, local self-government bodies and the Ministry of Infrastructure spoke about their own experience of implementing an automated system of accounting and fare payment, the nuances and further prospects of this process.

At another section, Yuriy Lozovenko , a transport planner and member of the NGO "Vision Zero", became a speaker at the Forum and explained what the functional gradation of the street network of cities is and how to achieve it even when the necessary changes in state norms and standards have not yet been made.

We are grateful to the organizers of the Forum: the Department of Urban Mobility and Street Infrastructure of Lviv City Council and Sivinet Ukraine (CIVITAS). And most importantly - to defenders from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Before the European Mobility Week, which takes place from September 16 to 22, our colleagues from the Association "Energy-Efficient Cities of Ukraine" are launching a new training course for the Association's member communities, which is called "Sustainable urban mobility" . The course was developed by experts of the NGO "Vision Zero" within the framework of the joint project "Promotion of electric public transport as part of the state policy of Ukraine".

Representatives of local self-government bodies of the Association's member communities can become participants in the course. Training instructions will be sent to the e-mail addresses of city and village councils. The course consists of six modules:

1. What is modern urban mobility?
2. Pedestrian traffic and inclusiveness.
3. Public transport.
4. Bicycle traffic.
5. Traffic safety and human-centered automobile infrastructure.
6. Management, planning and implementation of projects.

photo: Oleksandr Shutyuk

We also invite participants to actively participate in the course forum , where you can discuss the discussed topics, ask questions to the developers or offer your own ideas for the development of the topic of mobility in Ukrainian communities.

Finding this forum is very easy: go to the "Your opinion is important to us" tab located in the first module of the course, subscribe to the forum and add your discussion topic or leave feedback on an existing one.
The course itself is available for you at this link https://education.enefcities.org.ua/course/view.php?id=4

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About the European Mobility Week

History of creation. The tradition of its celebration was started in 1994 by political scientist Eric Britton. He was the first to propose annual campaigns designed to reduce fuel consumption. His initiative was supported by the European Commission on Mobility and Transport, which includes representatives of the business elite from 42 countries of the world.

Goal. The European Mobility Week is designed to draw public attention to the excessive amount of road transport, the emissions of which pollute the atmosphere. Every year the holiday is dedicated to different themes.

In addition, September 22 - Car Free Day - is especially suitable for experiments with new models of traffic and sustainable transport. Many cities use Car Free Day as an opportunity to create ecological and pedestrian zones during this day and organize various open-air events on private car-free streets and public spaces.

On September 4, 2024, the NGO "Vision Zero" published the analytical document "Recommendations regarding the implementation of the obligation to provide socially important services (PSO) from transportation to the legislation of Ukraine based on EU Regulation 1370/2007" . The implementation of PSO in transport is one of Ukraine's obligations under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which was not fulfilled in time by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Experts of the NGO "Vision Zero" analyzed alternative legislative documents that have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada since 2021. The first is government draft law No. 4583 "On Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine Regarding Publicly Important Passenger Transportation Services by Road and City Electric Transport." This 4-page document, according to the analysis, is very short and clearly insufficient to reform the rules of the game in the industry. In addition, he received a critical opinion from the European integration committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and criticism from public organizations. As it became known, it was created behind closed doors, without consultation with local self-government bodies and the public sector.

The conclusions of the analytical document emphasize that the government draft law No. 4583 of January 13, 2021 is insufficient for the implementation of the provisions of EU Regulation 1370/2007. The lack of accompanying draft laws on amendments to the Budget Code and legislation on public procurement makes the practical application of PSO almost impossible.

In response to the government document, in February 2021, a much more substantial parliamentary package of five draft laws was registered in the parliament: No. 5149 dated 02.25.2021, with a volume of 60 printed pages, and four to supplement it: No. 5150, No. 5151, No. 5152 , No. 5185, which should support the provisions of the main draft law, harmonizing with it the Budget Code, the Tax Code, the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement". The authors of the recommendations assessed this legislative package as "much more detailed and well-thought-out in terms of measures that are necessary for reforming the sphere of urban public transport."

Based on the analysis, the NGO "Vision Zero" calls on the Verkhovna Rada to take as a basis the parliamentary package of draft laws, which in the future will allow for long-term obligations between customers and carriers, will improve the financial condition and quality of transport services.

As a result, the document contains conclusions and four recommendations for people's deputies of Ukraine:

1. Real reformation instead of the formal "adoption of the European integration law".

   The authors emphasize that Ukraine needs the implementation of Regulation 1370/2007 not only in order to report on another fulfilled point of obligations to the EU, but to open up an opportunity to bring the industry of urban and suburban passenger transportation out of a long and difficult crisis. This industry has a large number and national scale of accumulated problems. They remind that public services are an important social service for the majority of Ukrainians, because more than half of Ukrainian households did not have a single car as of 2024.

2. Complex problems require complex solutions, and public transport problems are certainly complex.

   "Ukraine's experience shows that complex problems of state policy cannot be solved by short and ill-conceived draft laws, which are developed hastily without the participation of interested parties. We recommend the legislator to abandon this unsustainable practice and apply effective methods and algorithms for the development of state policy," the recommendations state.

3. Take the parliamentary package of draft laws No. 5149, 5150, 5151, 5152 and 5185 as a basis for further work on the implementation of EU Regulation 1370/2007 in Ukraine.

   The document gives specific reasons why the parliamentary package of draft laws is much closer to the possibility of implementing the Regulation in Ukraine than the short and short-sighted government document.

4. Develop state policy for cities and citizens with the participation of cities and citizens.

   The authors claim that the government project of Law 4583 was developed without the participation of the main stakeholders - local self-government bodies. Moreover, he became a surprise for them. This wrong practice should not be repeated and continued.

In addition to recommendations, the document contains a brief overview of the main provisions of EU Regulation 1370/2007 "On public passenger transport services by rail and road transport", which may be useful for readers who encounter the topic for the first time.

We invite you to review the analytical document "Recommendations on the implementation of the obligation to provide socially important transportation services (PSO model) to the legislation of Ukraine based on EU regulation 1370-2007 " by clicking on the picture:

The implementation of PSO to the legislation of Ukraine was one of the points of the Resolution of the All-Ukrainian Urban Mobility Forum, which took place in Lviv on April 26-28, 2023, with the participation of more than 150 representatives of city councils, enterprises, and public organizations. Clause 4 of the Resolution stated that Ukraine should implement European Commission Directive 1370/2007 as soon as possible in accordance with Clause 1875 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU (regarding public passenger transport services by rail and road transport), as this will open the possibility for cities to move to modern and a sustainable system of procurement of transport work instead of an outdated and inefficient system of tenders for bus routes.

NGO "Vision Zero" was founded in 2016 and focuses its efforts on three strategic directions around the topic of "Zero" in the mobility sector: improving road safety with the aim of achieving zero deaths, development of emission-free (electric) public transport and barrier-free transport infrastructure and services .