Politicians, citizen participation and the implementation of contentious measures for sustainable transport (TRANSPOL)

To meet climate goals, people need to travel less by car.  There are some cities that have successfully reduced car use, where more people travel around by bike, or on foot, or by public transport.  Without exception, these successful cities have made cycling, walking and public transport nicer – but they have also made driving a car a bit more difficult, by charging for road use (boompengar) or taking road space away from cars to give it to cyclists and walkers, or making it a bit trickier to park.  These “contentious transport measures” are the focus of the project, because if we want to meet climate goals, and cut other pollution, improve road safety and make our cities nicer places to be, then more of these measures need to be put in place in more towns and cities.

Of course these “contentious” measures are not always very popular, and so politicians often do not like them. The project will research in detail some cases where such measures have been implemented, and not implemented, or are planned to be implemented.  However, it will also survey politicians and analyse media coverage to find out what, and who, really shapes politicians’ views of these measures.  We want to see how different forms of public participation (involving people in planning and decision making about such measures) and also public protest affect politicians’ willingness to approve “contentious” measures.  We will also look to see how public participation can be improved and made more in-depth and include people who maybe don’t take part at the moment.  Finally, the project will produce advice to planners and politicians on how to better involve the public in decision-making about parking pricing, or boompengar, or removing parking spaces, to – hopefully – increase the chances that more such things will be implemented, in more cities, in future.  The project is a collaboration between partners in Norway, Sweden and Spain and will also carry out work in Denmark, and it will run from 2021 to 2024.