ADVANCE Audit Scheme

Summary

ADVANCE: better planning, better cities! The ADVANCE Audit is a practical tool for improving Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) in cities and municipalities. It provides a systematic evaluation method and guidance, shows the potential for an (even more) successful SUMP, and provides added value to cities.

The ADVANCE Audit compares the cities’ mobility planning with an ideal sustainable urban mobility planning process. The definition of an ideal planning process is based on the SUMP development cycle.

ADVANCE defines five Mission Fields and eight Action Fields as the main elements of an SUMP. The main feature of the ADVANCE Audit is the self-assessment questionnaire, which is based on the five Mission and eight Action Fields. The questionnaire is filled in by the members of the ADVANCE working group (which will be established at the beginning of the ADVANCE Audit and usually consists of eight to ten members, e.g. city representatives and internal stakeholders). The ADVANCE Audit is facilitated and moderated by the ADVANCE Auditor.

The main steps of the ADVANCE Audit are:

• Step 1: Analysing the status

• Step 2: Assessment

• Step 3: Prioritisation

• Step 4: Final action plan

• Step 5: Audit Report and certification

The ADVANCE Action Plan is the final result of the audit process. It contains concrete recommendations on how to improve mobility planning and serves as a basis for the development or upgrade of the city’s SUMP. The Action Plan will be set up by the external Auditor and will be presented to the decision makers of the city during the last meeting of the working group.