Vilnius city’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) has an overall target to change the current modal split to a more sustainable one by 2030. The aim is to have the share of trips of about 1/3 by private cars, 1/3 by public transport and 1/3 on foot, where the rest (about 7.5 percent) would be filled with trips by bicycles and other micromobility modes. The city is actively encouraging its citizens to move in more sustainable ways – educational campaigns are launched, new infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists is being continuously implemented and renewed, the car transit in the Old Town has been reorganized, the public transport services are being improved and the public transport fleet is being renewed.
Among all of the listed sustainable mobility-oriented measures – the most recent one is the launching of two mobility points in Antakalnis district. The mobility points will officially be opened in mid-April 2021. To date 19,5% of Vilnius residents have reported (via online survey) that they would use mobility points once they are opened for use. The points are located on main Antakalnis transport axis, on two big intersections with high private car transit rate, good public transport service and bicycle paths nearby. The aim of these mobility points is to enable commuters to change the mobility modes easily, comfortably and effectively. Possible scenarios are as follows:
• Cycle to a mobility point, safely leave the bicycle and change to public transport;
• Come with scooter, e-scooter or other micro-mobility device, safely leave it in one of the bicycle storages, and finish the trip by foot;
• Come with public transport and change to a shared bicycle;
• Walk to a mobility point and continue the trip with an e-scooter or bicycle
• And many more options…
The variety of possibilities and the implemented mobility points would address different users with different needs:
• First\last mile travellers (residents) – they can access fast public transport stops by their personal mode and leave them on site safely;
• Transit travellers – they can switch from private cars to any other transport mode;
• Target points (schools, hospitals) visitors – these institutions are located next to mobility points, so mobility points can act as end-point or bike&go facility.
Furthermore, while increasing popularity of cycling as a mode of mobility in Vilnius during the last few years, many people sometime feel hesitant to leave their bike/e-scooter unprotected for a longer time. Vilnius can address this challenge too, offering a safe storage for the nearby neighbourhoods in the mobility point shelters, especially during the night when there are no commuters on the streets.
The two mobility points in Vilnius have safe and well-designed bicycle/e-scooter shelters, equipped with smart locking system, two-stories bicycle racks, charging stations for bicycles, scooters, wheelchairs etc. Users of the shelters will be safeguarded by inner safety cameras. Finally, users will be provided with safety, usage, and other related instructions. Shared mobility services (bicycles, scooters) will be provided in the near future. Today, the mobility points are closely related with the existing public transport infrastructure – bus/trolleybus stops, real time displays, etc.
The described two mobility points are only the very first step in the promotion of multimodality in the city of Vilnius. The two cities.multimodal project partners (Vilnius City Municipality Administration and Municipal Enterprise “Susisiekimo paslaugos”) have already been generating and starting to realize the idea of creating a variable and adaptive network of mobility points, which would promptly react to mobility changes, users’ feedback, and demand for new services. Next, an already planned step is to install similar bicycle/e-scooters shelters on about 10 “Park and Ride” sites in the city.