Sustainable mobility: soc ietal aspects
and experiences from No r w ay
Publis hed : Oc t ober 2022
Written by : Julien Lebel, Helena
Gonzales Lind berg
Work ing Paper no : 1008/2 022
ISSN: 0804 - 1873
Pro je ct no : 19 36
Nordlandsforskning AS T lf: + 47 75 41 18 10
Postboks 1490 [email protected]
N- 8049 Bod ø www.nordlandsforskning.no
Norge
Bank konto 4500 55 9881 1
Besøk: U niversitetsall een 11 Foretaksreg isteret N O/VA T nr 98 9 714 309 MVA
WORK ING PAPER
WORK IN G PAPER NO:
ISSN:
PRO JE CT NO :
PAGES :
1008/2022
0804 - 1873
1936
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WRI TTEN BY :
Julien L ebel
Helena G onzal es Lin dberg
Sus tainable mo bility : so cie tal as pects a nd
exper iences from Norw ay
This r epor t is a con tri buti on to the Sma rtMOV E proj ect tha t is l ed by the Regional
Devel opme nt Ag ency of the L jubl jana Urba n Reg ion a nd fi nanc ed by EEA and Nor way Gra nts .
1
CONT ENT
FOREWOR D ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
1 APPROAC HES AND CR ITERIA FOR THE ASSE SSMENT O F SOCIE TAL ASPECTS OF SUST AINAB LE MOB ILITY 3
2 STATE - OF - T HE - ART OF SUST AINABILIT Y CER TIFICATES IN N ORWA Y ........................................................ 6
3 EXPERI ENCE S FROM NORWA Y IN THE FIELD OF SUST AINAB LE MOB ILITY ................................................ 8
2
FO R EW OR D
Norway is a m ou ntaino us c ount ry, wit h a r ug ged coa stl ine brok en by many fjor ds a nd
thousands of islan ds. Due to the varied ge ographies and larg e distances, there is a high
deman d for di ffer ent type s of tra nspor tati on in fra struct ure to e nsur e th e mo bility of goo ds
and people. Nati onal and even regional mobili ty mainly rely on air connec ti ons - and to a lesser
exte nt se a co nnectio ns - and are dependent o n fossil f uels. However, the mobilit y in the mai n
Norwegian cities has undergone major transformations towards becomin g more sustainable.
The i nitia tives from thes e urban m unici pali ties ar e encou raged by t he ad optio n of t he Uni ted
Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs ) from 2015. S everal municipalities have
devel oped s trateg ies t o re duce gr eenho use ga s em issi ons, li mit t he us e of pr ivate ve hicles ,
upgra de infr astruc ture and publi c trans port s erv ices , and e nsure g ood ac ces sibili ty fo r
everyone.
However, these ambi tions are often challenge d by regional and na tion al authorities that are
cauti ous whe n it c omes to inv estments in c erta in infr astr uc ture a nd wan t to limi t p ublic
subsidies. Simultan eou sl y, governmental ince ntives to facili tat e t he purchas e of electric cars
recorded a c ertain succ ess, as Norway is a leading c ountry regar ding the use of electr ic
vehi cles. Alth oug h this c ontri butes to t he re ducti on of dire ct g ree nhouse ga s emis sions in the
cities, this can als o challenge the will of the municipalities to re duce car traffic, particularly in
centr al u rba n ar eas. Moreov er, the prom otion of s oft m obili ties an d the dev elopm ent of
public transpo rt are a t the c ore of the s trate gies of sev er al mu nicipalities aiming to improve
the q uality of li fe in the cities and guar ant ee g ood a cces sibil ity for ever yo ne in a sus tainable
way.
In this paper, we start by presenting major socie tal sustainability param eters through a review
of exi sti ng li tera tur e a nd examples of research pr ojects conducted in Norway. Secondly, w e
desc ribe the ma in s ustai nabili ty ce rtifi cates tha t cur rentl y ex ist i n Norw ay and ho w mobi lity is
tak en int o cons ider atio n in the ir fr ame work s. F inal ly, we conc lude wit h exa mples of c onc r et e
expe rienc es from the muni cipal itie s o f Osl o, T rondhe im a nd B odø, highli ghting the dif fere nt
meas ures that a re be ing i mplem ente d and dis cuss ing ho w the mu nic ipali ties a ddr ess
sustainable mobility.
3
1 APP ROACH E S AND CRIT E RI A FOR THE A SSE SSMENT
OF SOCI ETAL ASPEC TS OF SUSTA INAB LE MOBILI TY
Sustainable mobility, also refer red to as green mobility or smar t mobility (with some nuances),
is commonly a ddressed a ccording to e nvironment al aspects, es pecially wit h regards t o cutting
gree nhouse gas emiss ions in the tr ansport sec tor. Although mo bility is an essential part of
huma n activ iti es, th ere a re gr owing conc erns a bout t he ne gativ e im pacts on the envir onm ent
deriv ing from huma n tr ansporta tion. Bes ides th e re ducti on of gre enho use gas emis sio ns,
societal aspects are i ncre asing ly bei ng inclu ded i n the c onc ept o f sust aina ble mobili ty as they
also contribute to improving lif e quality and soci al cohesion in the cities (air quality, noise,
accessibility, in equalities in mo bilit y…) 1 .
In recent years, res earch projec ts related to sustainable mobi lity have ga ined impor tance in
Norway , wi th a str ong e mphas is on dev elopi ng m ore eff ectiv e trans por t solutio ns tha t woul d
contr ibu te to r educing tra vel times, im provi ng acce ssibi lity, and cut ting g ree nhous e gas
emissions .
• The Research Council of Nor way has, for example, grante d funding to a researc h
project named “ Man age ment of vuln erabili ties i n the i ntegra ted intel lige nt tr ans port
syst em s of the fu tur e” ( Sty ring av s årbarhet er i f remti dens i nte grert e intell igent e
trans portsystem er - SIITS) ini tiated in 2 021 2 . Th is pro je ct in clud es the de velop men t of
new m etho ds to as ses s sus taina bili ty i n m obility proj ects, beyon d onl y the
environmental as pects.
• In 202 1, t he Nor wegi an Publ ic R oads Admi nistra tion (S tatens Vegve sen) pub lis hed a
repor t tha t prese nte d sm art m obili ty sol utio ns a nd how meas ures a nd se rvices could
be im pleme nted in Norwegi an c ities 3 . The docu ment is mai nly de dica ted t o publ ic
bodies in N orway, especially municipalities, to guide them in the de ve lo pme n t o f sm a rt
mobil ity sol utions. The se s oluti ons ar e pres ented a s use ful to ols to im prove
innovation, sus tain ability , life quality, and user satisfaction.
• The Ins titute of Tr anspo rt Econ omics (TØ I) has togeth er wi th th e Nor wegi an Publ ic
Roads Admi nis tration (St atens Ve gves en) and the c ounty of Vik en deve lope d a websi te
presenting envir onmental measures in t he field of transp ort and mobili ty 4 .
• A rep ort publis hed by the Nordla nd Res earc h Ins titute (NR I) i n 201 9 a naly ses ba rrier s
for the i mplem entat i on of measur es towards more sustaina ble mobility i n three case
1 Rodrigue , J. - P., 2020, The Geography of T ranspor t Systems , Rout ledge, New York , 5 th edition, 456 p. Retri eved
from https://tra nsportgeog raphy.org /conte nts/chapte r3/tr ansportation - and - so ciety/
2 https ://www.siits.n o/abo ut - siit s/
3 Statens Vegvesen, 2021, S mart M obilitet - Vei ledning og tilt ak , Sta tens veg ves ens rappo rter , 60 p. ,
htt ps ://v egves en.b rag e.un it.n o/v egv esen -
xmlui/bit stream/ha ndle/ 11250/2738 660/ 584%20S mart%20 Mobil itet%2021 - 0047%2 0%2 008 - 04 -
21.pdf ?seque nce=1 &isAllowed=y
4 https ://www.tiltak.n o/
4
municipalities in Norway (Bodø, Bergen and T rondheim) 5 . Although all th e
stak ehold ers in the se muni cipal itie s agr eed on t he nece ssity to devel op susta ina ble
mobility, several p olitical, legal and eco nomic challenges remain. A nother report by
NRI from 2021 a nalyses how sm art m obili ty s ol utions coul d co ntribu te to im prove
public tra nspor t servic es outsi de the main ur ban c entres in N orway, partic ula rly
thro ugh ne w busi ness mod els, new c omm unic atio n sys tems and a utonomo us
vehicles 6 . Th e a uthors of t he repor t em phasi ze tha t the devel opment of th es e mobi lity
soluti ons m ust be con duc ted by p ublic a uthori ties to be nefit the w hole so ciety .
Moreover, there a re numerous societal aspec ts that are relevan t whe n t al kin g a bout
sustainable mo bilit y. Many of them are discusse d in scientific publications without necessarily
being speci fically linked t o the concep t of sustain able mobility. We can cla ssify these as pects
in si x di fferen t grou ps:
• Enviro nmental im pacts and life q uality . While greenhou se gas emissions of ten are
considered due to their negat ive impact on the global climate, their reduction also
plays a significan t role in i mproving air quality in urban areas. Fu rthermore, besideCO2,
othe r gree nhouse gas e missions also need to be taken into consideration since they all
are affec tin g t he life quality of inh abitants in big cities. Addit ional hazard s are traffic
noise and tra ffic co ngesti on. T he pre serva tion or the cr eation o f green areas in ci ties
(ins te ad o f expa nding new tra nspor t in frastr uctur e lik e pa rki ng l ots and ro ads) i s al so
praised by many inhabitants. M ore broadly, vi tality i n cities s hou ld be considere d
beyon d car tra ffic and incl ude be tter so ft mo bility sol utions to a cces s
commercial/central area s in cities.
• Improve ment i n acces sibili ty and better conne ctivity . The netw ork s of pu blic
trans port an d the fre quenc ies o f tra nspor t ser vi ces a re ess entia l t o ens ure a cce ss to
job markets, educational institutions, or leisure places. To monitor the de mand o n the
networks and s ervice fr equencies, municipaliti es and transp ort companies rely on
statistics an d their own criteria, f or example to position bus s t ops to cover the larg es t
poss ible ho using areas wi thin a s hort walk dista nc e.
• Univer sal access ibi lity a nd dive rsificati on of use r s . The users of pu blic tr anspor t are
diff erent pe ople a nd thus they have di ffere nt needs. Many c iti es e nsure publi c
transport systems t hat are access ible for everyone, regardless of age and physical
condi tion. How ever, it c an be chal leng ing to de sig n an attr activ e ne twor k for t he
var ious travel er g roups (l ocal reside nts, to urists , w ork ers, stude nts…) . Di ffer ent pe ople
have different trav el purposes, which, for example, influe nce the time that a us er is
willi ng to sp end i n pu blic trans port, the mome nt o f the day that a user wan ts to trav el,
and the di recti on o f the tri p (fro m ho me/to ho me). Car s haring an d tr anspor t - on -
demand are solutions t hat have been developed to guarantee some flexib ility for the
users of p ublic trans port. T hese trav el o ptions c an save costs in c ompa rison to a
sc heduled bus serv ice.
5 https ://www.nordlan dsfor sknin g.no/s ites/d efault/fil es/files /NF - rappo rt%2001 -
2019%20Barr ierer%2 0mot %20m er %20b %C3 %A6 rekr afti g% 20mob ilit et .pd f
6 https ://nord landsfors knin g.no/sites/d efault/fil es/files /NF -
rapp ort%207_2021 %20Smart %20 mobilitet %20i%20di strikt ene.p df
5
• Urban p lanni ng . I ncreas ing ly, di ffer ent m obil ity s oluti ons a nd th eir i ntegra tion in to the
city are bei ng considere d in the development of new urban areas. For example, the
plann ers o f ne w areas ana lyse the oppor tunities to dev elo p bus l anes a nd r educ e the
spac e all oca ted to par ki ng lo ts. T hus, sus taina bl e mobi lity is becom ing a si gni ficant
topic in urbani sati on pl ans t hat are being des igne d in ma ny c ities .
• Substi tution of the use of priva te cars a nd com petit iveness of public tra nsport . A s
many municipalities f ocus on the reduction of car traffic, the development of a n
attractive public transport sy stem is pe rceived as a n important tool to enco urage more
inha bita nts to cho ose o the r m eans of t ransport th an their private c ars. B esides the
exi stence of an a dequa te trans port netwo rk with g ood freq uenci es, pr ic es are a ls o
impor tant as pects that influ ence trav el habits . Mor eover, affor dabl e pri ces ar e
meas ures that c oul d hel p to r educe m obility ga ps in the society, as a population grou p
may be hindere d by limit ed economic resources.
• Traffic safety an d popula ti on he alth . Ensu ring a s afe env ir onment for p ed estria ns a nd
bik ers ca n c onvinc e mor e inhabi tants to c hoose suc h mo bility alternative s for certai n
trips . I n addi tion, t his is a way to prom ote ac tive and heal thy l ifes tyles , a nd reduc ed
car traffi c co uld cont rib ute to im prove the s afe ty on r oads.
By conducti ng a lite ratur e review on how S ustai nable Urba n Mobi lity Plan s (S UMP) take i nto
consideration societ al aspects, we h ave noticed that the as pects detailed above are partially
covered 7 . However, there are publications discu ssing all these themes without specifically
rela ting t hem to sust aina ble m obili ty.
7 The foll o wing k eywor ds were us ed i n th e liter atu re rev iew: sustainable ur ban mobility plan; SUMP; mobi lity;
green mobil ity; tr ansport; public trans port; s ociety; societ al criter ia; societal aspects; s ocietal impacts; socie tal
parameter s; s ocial dimension; models .
6
2 STATE - OF - THE - ART OF SUST AIN ABILIT Y
CERTIFI CATES I N N ORWAY
Sustainable certific ations have become common ly used in Norway through several sc hemes
focusing on different fields/groups o f stakehol ders and on diverse geographical a reas.
Transport a nd mobility a re often incl u ded i n wid er c erti fica tion sch emes tha t have a stro ng
focus on c utting g re enho use ga s emis sio ns and sti mulati ng t he use of env iro nmenta lly f rien dly
means of transport. While e nvironmental aspects regar d ing sus tainability are em phasized i n
these programs, soc iet al aspects related to mob ility are in many cases understated.
It is impo rtant to no tice the dis tinc tion be twe en env ironm enta l ma nage ment s ystem s,
environmental cer tifications and ecolabelling schemes as they are being used in Norway 8 :
- An environ mental management s ystem is th e part of a co mpany's management
sy stem tha t desig ns, im pleme nts and main tains the organi satio n's e nvi ronme ntal
policy, whether it is a private company or a public body. It consists of a set of
proc edures and r outin es tha t will ens ure hig h envir onme ntal stand ards in the
organisation, lik e an a nnual e nviron men tal action plan, an annual env ironmental
report, or a follow - up of the envir onmenta l ac tio n plan duri ng the ye ar.
- Enviro nme ntal ce rtifica tion is an exte rnal v erifica t i on o f the env ironmenta l
managemen t sys tem that aims to e nsure that the company is working seriously to
reduc e its impac t on th e env ironm en t. Env iron mental cer tifica tion m eans tha t the
company follows s tandards for preparing and implementing an environmen ta l
management sy stem.
- Whil e envir on mental management and enviro nmental c ert ific ation mean tha t the
orga nisati on i tsel f (i ncludi ng o pera tions and produc tion) is cer tifie d, ecolabe lling
conc erns pro ducts and s ervic es.
Here are some examples of environmen ta l certifi cation pr ograms wid ely used i n Norwa y:
• Eco - lig hthouse ( Milj øfyrtå rn ) 9
Curr ently , thi s i s one of th e m ost r ecog nized ce rtifi ca tion s che mes for enviro nmenta l
management in public and private organisations in Norway ( the two o thers t hat are commo n l y
used ar e ISO 14 001 an d EMAS) . It was crea ted in 2003 as a fo undatio n, mana ged by diffe ren t
central orga nisations in b usiness and p ublic a dmin istrati on. To bec ome Eco - l igh thouse
certified, the o rganisati ons have to mee t a set of common criteria, in add ition t o specific
criteria depen din g on their area of activities.
This c erti fica tion s chem e aims to im prove the work ing e nviro nmen t, waste m anage men t,
energ y use, purc hasing and tra nsport, but al so to l imit foo d wast e and the use of pl astic . There
is a stro ng co rres pond enc e with 8 of the 17 o f the U N Sus tai nable deve lopm en t goals (SDGs).
8 htt ps: //www. miljo dir ekto rat et. no/ ans varsomrader/kli ma/for - myndig heter /kutte - utslipp - av -
klimagas ser/klima - og - energit ilta k/miljost yring - mi ljoserti fiserin g/
9 htt ps: //www. miljo fyrt arn .no /
7
Although the schem e concerns a bro ad range of organisations and c overs diverse topics, it is
poss ible to hig hligh t the follo wing tr anspo rt - r elated common cri teria:
- “The company shall, as much as possible, mak e it f easible for employees to travel in
an environmentally f riendly way to, from and for work.”
- “The company will prior itize fossil - free transport in its acc ess and parki ng solutio ns
where pos sible.”
• Bicycle - f riend ly wo rkpla ce ( Syk kelvenn lig a rbeid splas s ) 10
This c er tifica tion sc heme is own ed and o perate d by the N orweg ia n Natio nal Ass ociati on o f
Cyclis ts (SLF). It can be o bt ained by o rganisatio ns willing to stimula te the use of bikes amon g
their em ployee s a s thei r ma in me an o f tra nsporta tion to a nd fr om wo rk. With a rou nd 50
indicators , the certification pr ocess survey, a mong other cri teria, safe bicycle park ing,
accessibility, cloak room facilities, servic es, and inc entives existing at the w orkplace.
• Th ere are al so other cer tifi cation sc hemes d edicated to spec ific sec tors , such as “ Blått
Flagg ” for the e nviro nme ntal ce rtif ica tion of bea ches, boats and por ts, “ Grø nt Fl agg ”
for schools, or “ B REEAM ” fo r b uildi ngs .
Here are some examples of ecolabel ling schemes wide ly use d in N orway :
• The Nordi c Ecolabel ( S vanemarket ) 11
The Nor dic Ecol a b e l is an ec o - labe l tha t is us ed in the Nordic countri es (Norway, Sweden ,
Denmark, Finland and Ic eland ). The labe l scheme was establish ed b y the Nordic Council of
Minis ters in 1 989 to pr ovide c onsu mers cre dible envir onme ntal in forma tion a bout c ons umer
pro ducts. The label’s env ironmental requirement s give manufacturers a r ecipe that indicates
how the y can produce their go ods a nd se rvic es wi th the le ast pos sible envi ronmenta l im pacts.
These requirements a re revised every three to five years in order to be ad j uste d acc ordi ng to
new k nowl edge, new pr oduct t echno logy and mark et co ndi tions. The Nordi c E colabe l is a
sister - brand of the European Union’s Ecolab el.
• Susta inable Des tinat ion 12
The sta te - owne d com pany Innov ation Nor way’ s Tourism secti on has tog ether wi th the
tourism industry, res earch institutions a nd national authorities, developed a labeling scheme
for s ustai nable desti nati ons. T he touris t des tinati ons m ust doc ument thei r pro gr ess, s et g oal s
and devel op i n a sus taina ble way i n a lo ng - t erm pers pective. The sch eme' s sta ndar d is
composed of 42 criteri a and 104 indicators that are meas ured and monitored by the
desti natio ns. To kee p their labe l, t he t ourist des tina tions mus t d ocume nt i mprov eme nts e ver y
thre e year s i n accor dance wi th the scheme’ s s tandar d. S ome of the c riteria are transport
rela ted si nce t hey f ocus on cut ting gr eenhous e gas emi ssio ns rela ted to tr avels to and fr om a
desti natio n. T he i ndic ator s that are use d co nside r the emi ssions of CO 2 and the use o f non -
motorised means of transport.
10 https:/ /syklis tfore ningen. no/prosjekte r/sykkel vennlig - arbeidsplass/
11 htt ps ://s vanemer ket.n o/
12 http s://bu siness.v isitnorway .com/no/v erktoy/m erket - for - barekr aftig - reisema l/om - merk eo rdn ing en/
