Travel planning soaring in Suceava
The need for mobility has increased in Suceava because of the prolific increase in the number of vehicles in the city and the scarcity of car parking spaces. Although the majority of lanes have not been widened to accommodate the increase number of vehicles, quality improving interventions have been made to modernize the infrastructure and additional lanes have been built in important intersections. It is absolutely imperative to plan ahead of every journey to choose the most time saving option to avoid traffic jams and psychological discomfort.
The dissemination team have paid great attention to the travel planning concept and organised promotional campaigns in public institutions, focusing on employees of the City Hall and County Council. Information and discussions have taking place regarding daily city travel planning from home to work; to schools with children; to supermarkets for food supplies; to public institutions and back. These work outputs consisted in 12 travel plans for three public institutions: Colegiul Economic “Dimitrie Cantemir” Suceava, the City Hall of Suceava and the County Council/Prefecture (offices are based in the same building). The travel solutions were differentiated by weather conditions and classified according to the means of transportation possible depending on 4 distance categories (very short distances < 0.8 km, short distances 0.8 -1.5 km, medium distances 1.5 - 3 km, long distances > 8 km). Travel plans for all alternatives were designed and advantages and disadvantages of each travel modality were highlighted.It was interesting to discover that although the concept was not known in theory, it was to some extent carried out by the participating pupils and employees as a result of force by the city spatial and social conditions. Using the data collected, such as distances between locations; city streets mapping; restrictions posed by the crowded areas; infrastructure facilities and status, the project team suggested a relevant classification for each criteria identified. They designed/proposed alternative travel plans to match the specific needs and situations applicable to the targeted groups of citizens.To evaluate the degree of coverage and success of the travel plans, workshops/consultations were then held within public institutions. The results and knowledge transfer gained enabled the Travel Plans to be developed to make them appeal to a larger group of people within their common daily lives.
