Bonn, Germany (30 April, 2020): ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) formalized their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 April 2020 with the ambition to build a long-standing collaborative partnership between cities and the public transport sector to promote sustainable, accessible, safe and efficient urban and interurban mobility aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement.
The agreement between ICLEI and UITP opens opportunities for both organizations to enhance capacity building opportunities for cities and public transport activities, as well as joint implementation of projects and policies aimed at delivering sustainable urban mobility that will help localize and deliver on international agendas.
Making cities sustainable means creating career and business opportunities, safe and affordable housing, and building resilient societies and economies. It involves investment in public transport and through this partnership, ICLEI and UITP are committed to working together to make this happen.
“A sustainable city should promote commuting through integrated, socially inclusive, and environmentally-friendly options without depending on privately-owned vehicles. Public transport is the only transport mode that can provide access for all in a safe, efficient and low-emission manner. Keeping public transport running requires coordinated multi-level governance which cannot be more self-evident than in the COVID-19 period. ICLEI and UITP look forward to strengthening cities’ capacity to plan public transport systems that will be resilient to future crises.” – Gino Van Begin, ICLEI Secretary General.
“The public transport sector is committed to protecting passengers and employees, while keeping cities moving. Cooperation with all levels of governments will be essential to ‘building back better’ and public transport can become an important lever in our economic recovery plan, and rebuild trust in public transport in the post-COVID-19 period and, ultimately, help us to come out stronger from this crisis. With this MoU, cities and the public transport sector can ensure that no one is left behind” – Mohamed Mezghani, UITP Secretary General.
Never before has public transport been so vital. Cities now face the stark reality of how fundamental public transport is to providing safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable urban transport systems for all. Only when people once again use public transport in the masses can we together advance the SDGs and both ICLEI and UITP have agreed to enhance mutual cooperation for sustainable mobility in cities to make this happen.