ReVeAL presents its 6 pilots’ final results

As part of ReVeAL, UVARs were developed and tested in six cities: Bielefeld, Helmond, Jerusalem, City of London, Padova, and Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Bielefeld tested the feasibility and acceptance of a car-reduced old town. Significant stakeholder involvement and well-planned measures – including redesigned public spaces, reallocation of car lanes to cycling lanes, the transformation of parking spaces for other uses, and the introduction of moveable bollards – were well accepted. Work is underway to implement them permanently.

Helmond implemented an innovative ‘living lab’ approach to demonstrate how a new area – Brainport Smart District – could be planned as a zero-emission zone from the start. It also tested Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA): an innovative road safety technology that can propel sustainable transport ambitions and support UVAR implementation.

Jerusalem extended its low-emission zone to the entire city area (125 km2) through an incremental approach supported by a multi-level partnership. In addition, the municipality worked on the regulation of non-road mobile machinery to tackle the city’s air pollution.

The City of London trialled zero-emission zones to provide a blueprint for how the entire city can accelerate its current UVAR framework. In the process, the local government learnt key lessons on dealing with disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and using low traffic to test the reallocation of road space to more active mobility modes.

Padova added new vehicle access regulations to its historic centre to quickstart the implementation of a low-emission zone. In addition, to tackle the city’s poor air quality and congestion, it tested a superblock in a southern district of the city that had a primary school. In a nutshell, it changed the local circulation plan and created a network of one-way streets with reduced speed limits, street furniture and more.

Vitoria-Gasteiz implemented two superblock projects which included road space reallocation (street direction changes, contraflow bicycle lanes, parking removal, etc.) as well as the creation of new public and recreational areas. The municipality is now preparing for the implementation of a low-emission zone as well as additional measures favouring active mobility and reduced emissions reduction.