Reality differs from the ideal situation, for better or for worse. Accepting this fact in consulting is a necessary step, because our goal is not only to analyze the possible action on a concrete reality, but to ensure that those opportunities are reflected in concrete, achievable and, as far as possible, measurable results. The above highlights when making a sustainable mobility plan and when we execute the various projects envisaged by that Plan.
The goals of any sustainable mobility plan are always the same:
to achieve a cultural shift in people;
and to tailor transport's services and infrastructure thereby achieving a sustainable mobility over time.
Only the sum of these achievements will —in a company, estate or business park, a city or a region— reduce the threats of current transportation systems to global change.
As it stands to reason, to change the culture of people is anything but easy. Sustainable Mobility Plans are only small tools to help that change. However, the twenty-first century citizen is fully aware of the risks that exist and, dare I say, from his personal responsibility to minimize those risks. Dissemination activities —we recently organized a conference on transport and climate change in a popular-science and technology park— are welcome and the opportunity to hear the voice of scientific experts, detailing the current situation and the present and future dangers of climate change, aid people to endorse their commitment to a more sustainable mobility.
However, our life is complex and requires an equally complex mobility. For that reason it is so hard to leave the car at home and use public transport. While life does not become easier, those who are responsible for the mobility —assisted, where appropriate, by consultants like us— have the responsibility to improve public transport systems to suit the real needs of the citizens, being creative and innovative, both in terms of technical characteristics of the system itself, as its organization, its funding, technology, etc.
