SCALE-UP at the RTR 2025: Strengthening Collaboration for Sustainable Urban Mobility
Participants at the Session New Mobility Services in Cities in Brussels, Belgium
From left to right: Ivo Cré (POLIS network), Raffaele Vergnani (POLIS network), Tariq van Rooijen (TNO), Giulia Petrarulo (Inria), Vera-Marie Andrieu (Urban Electric Mobility Initiative), Michiel Penne (City of Antwerp), and Inés Elvira (CINEA)
From 11 to 13 February 2025, the RTR Conference brought together over 400 researchers, academics, stakeholders, and participants from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects to present the results and expected outcomes in the field of road transport. The 8th edition of the three-day event covered various transport topics, such as green vehicles, urban mobility, logistics, intelligent transport systems, safety and automated road transport.
As in the previous years, SCALE-UP upheld its commitment and took part in the RTR 2025 once again, at the Session “New Mobility Sevices in Cities” on 13 February 2025, from 09:00 to 11:00 CET.
Michiel Penne (City of Antwerp) presenting the SCALE-UP project at the RTR 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.
Michiel Penne from the City of Antwerp, project coordinator of the SCALE-UP project, provided an overview of the four-year project that is now reaching its final stage. During his presentation, he showcased the 28 innovative measures implemented across the three Urban Nodes: Antwerp (BE), Madrid (ES) and Turku (FI). SCALE-UP’s role in accelerating green and inclusive mobility across Europe was presented, as since its initial implementation, the project has developed multimodal hubs, expanded mobility services and enhanced digital solutions to improve the user experience across Urban Nodes. Also, he showcased notable achievements and milestones of the project, including the 9 Park & Ride facilities in the City of Antwerp, the MaaS app pilot in the City of Madrid that has integrated more than 70% of the city’s mobility operators and also the success story of the City of Turku in promoting cycling and regional transport through innovative measures in the city.
Following this, an interesting discussion took place with fellow representatives from EU-funded projects and the audience, including:
MOVE21, the sister project of SCALE-UP, represented by Raffaele Vergnani from the POLIS network & Tariq van Rooijen from TNO;
Gemini Project, represented by Vera-Marie Andrieu from Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI);
SUM Project, represented by Giulia Petrarulo from Inria;
The session was moderated by Inés Elvira from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and Ivo Cré from the POLIS network.
Key Takeaway for the Session
All participants agreed on the importance of cross-border technologies and the harmonisation of frameworks, enhancing collaboration among public transport operators and researchers, as well as between projects, and establishing governance structures that prioritise accessibility for all citizens.
Finally, SCALE-UP & MOVE21 extended their invitation to all participants for the joint final event of the two Horizon projects under the title “Next Steps Towards Cities as Green and Connected Nodes for Urban Mobility”, taking place on 1-2 April 2025, at Comet Luise, in Brussels, Belgium. Click on the link below to register.
The full session “New Mobility Sevices in Cities” is available in the video below, in case you missed it!
Author: Eftychia Koliou (Smart Transportation Alliance)