Within the framework of the eCitySevilla project, the Cartuja Business Circle, in collaboration with the Cartuja Science and Technology Park (PCT Cartuja) and the market research company Intelqualia, has carried out an extensive diagnostic study on current mobility in the area surrounding the Park, which lays the foundations for the new model to be implemented in the coming years and which is committed to public transport, decarbonisation and travel by bike, electric scooter or on foot. This report complements the work already carried out within the framework of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS) recently approved by the Seville City Council and the initiatives included in the eCitySevilla project in which PCT Cartuja, the Andalusian Regional Government, the City Council and Endesa are participating.

The study was based on the most important companies in the Park in terms of the volume of workers. The high level of participation (more than 20 companies and 1,351 workers) confirms the involvement of the business sector of PCT Cartuja in the transformation of the existing mobility model in a business area where more than 23,000 people currently work and another 10,000 are studying. However, the data have been taken in a year 2021 marked by the pandemic, which conditions two of the factors analysed: public transport, which has suffered a slump since the health crisis due to restrictions on capacity and the risk of contagion, and teleworking, which has been implemented during these months in many of the businesses.

High percentage of private vehicle use

Despite these two factors, the report stresses the need to reduce the use of private vehicles in the Park. In fact, according to the conclusions of the study, around 67% of journeys to work are made in a private vehicle, while the rest are divided between public transport, bicycles, pedestrians, scooters and car-sharing. This rate has remained stable for years, according to comparisons with other similar reports, which confirms the need to promote ambitious transformation measures such as those programmed in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and in the eCitySevilla project itself.

Specifically, the Mobility Working Group is already working along these lines, based on the overall objectives of the project and through the promotion of electric vehicles, the design of a priority access plan for clean vehicles and the installation of recharging points to reach 200 throughout the PCT Cartuja. In this context, several pilot projects have already been developed in the Park, positioning it as an urban laboratory for sustainable mobility, including the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) project, together with Meep and Ciclogreen and the participation of up to 10 companies, the installation of the parking and recharging point for electric scooters developed by Solum or the challenge of safe bike parking, which will be carried out by the entities Mimoto Parking and WiseBuild.

Necessary collaboration between administrations and companies

In order to achieve the success of this transformation, which should lead to the PCT Cartuja becoming a low-emission area with an open, digital, decarbonised and sustainable ecosystem by 2025, the report highlights the importance of swiftly undertaking initiatives aimed at promoting a sustainable mobility model. In this regard, it points on the one hand to the importance of raising awareness, awareness and information on these strategies and on the importance of reducing emissions and healthy lifestyles.

On the other hand, the study stresses that the measures programmed in the SUMP or in the eCitySevilla project should be implemented, such as the extension of safe pedestrian routes; the development of a public transport offer of greater capacity and frequency, both at municipal and metropolitan level; the commitment to bicycle parking infrastructures or bicycle and personal mobility vehicle rental systems, or the promotion of car sharing or electric vehicles.

To achieve this, it is necessary to promote public policies coordinated between all the administrations that make up the eCitySevilla project, as well as the cooperation of the companies installed in the Park. In this sense, the following are highlighted as good practices already carried out by some entities: the purchase of bicycles for the workforce; the adaptation of toilet areas to favour healthy travel; the promotion of car sharing or modalities of teleworking and on-site rotation of professionals in their workplaces.