During the European Mobility Week, which will take place in many locations from 16 to 22 September, Riga residents are invited to use environmentally friendly modes of transport, take part in educational discussions, achieve the "Mobility Record" in Ģertrūdes Street and take part in a Tweed bike ride from Vidzeme Market to Āgenskalns Market.
This year's European Mobility Week theme is "Shared Public Space", focusing on public space, which is shrinking in urban environments but offers many benefits to society - more social equality, better road safety, less noise, less air pollution and a better quality of life.
Therefore, with the slogan "Common environment, common path!", the Riga City Council will organise various thematic events and discussions this week to draw public attention to mobility, environmentally friendly ways of getting around, and technologies and solutions that can improve the urban environment. At the same time, city businesses and organisations are also invited to take part in European Mobility Week by encouraging their customers or employees to choose environmentally friendly modes of transport - public transport, bicycles, micro-mobility tools or walking - for their daily commute.
"Mobility Week is a great opportunity to focus public attention on different forms of mobility and the environment in which we use them. Shared public space includes not only parks, squares and plazas, but also pavements and streets used by both residents and visitors. This year, through thematic events and discussions, we want to focus on public space, public transport, cycling infrastructure, mobility and safety, to realize what has already been done and to get new ideas on how to improve the environment in which we all live, study and work. I invite the citizens of Riga to take part in the Mobility Week events and to evaluate what we can do to improve our shared public space with our own actions and attitudes," says Inese Andersone, Chair of the Riga City Council Urban Development Committee.
Programme of European Mobility Week events in Riga:
On Monday, 16 September, the Riga Urban Architect Service will present the Riga Street Typology Manual. It is designed as a practical tool, the main objective of which is to establish a common quality standard in the design of Riga's streets. The manual summarises the principles and solutions for creating a functionally balanced and modern street space, thus becoming a useful tool for all those involved in the creation of Riga's street space at any stage of the process - road engineers, landscape architects, architects, urban planners, as well as the clients of street projects - municipal employees. The presentation will take place at the Institute of Architecture and Design of Riga Technical University (Room 116) from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone interested is invited to participate in the event.
On Tuesday, 17 September, a seminar "Shared Space - Mobility for All" will take place on the city's progress towards the sustainable mobility goals set out in the Riga Development Programme. During the seminar, experts will provide an assessment of the municipality's work and recommendations for further actions to meet the targets, as well as information on the latest developments in the field of mobility. The second part of the event will include a panel discussion on the impact of mobility on shared space, as well as participant involvement. Local government and industry experts, representatives of non-governmental organisations and other interested parties are invited to attend. The seminar will take place at the premises of "Koka Rīga", 12 Krāsotāju Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The seminar will be streamed live on the Riga City Council website riga.lv, on the Riga City Council Facebook account @riga.lv and on the City Development Department website rdpad.lv.
On Wednesday, 18 September, during the webinar "Rīga ripo” (Riga is cycling), Riga Municipality will inform about the work done and planned for the development of cycling infrastructure in the city, the latest developments in the implementation of parking zones for micro-mobility tools, as well as the results and conclusions of the fight against long-neglected bicycles in the city centre. The webinar will take place at 5 p.m. online on the Riga City Council's Facebook account "Riga is Developing" and by logging in to the MS Teams programme.
On 19 September, the Riga Technical University (RTU) Science and Innovation Centre will host the third annual Smart Cities Conference, bringing together representatives from local governments, technology companies and academia to discuss the development of future mobility technologies and the opportunities and obstacles inherent in testing such technologies in urban environments. During the event, various innovative mobility solutions will be demonstrated, thus outlining the future vision in the development of mobility technology innovations and strengthening the Latvian mobility ecosystem. "The Smart Cities Conference is organised by the Science and Innovation Centre of Riga Technical University in cooperation with the open innovation movement VEFRESH, Riga City Council and other partners. Additional information about the conference and registration form is available here: https://fienta.com/lv/viedo-pilsetu-konference-2024
On Friday, 20 September, the traditional "Car Free Day" of the European Mobility Week, Riga Municipality together with SIA "Rīgas satiksme" invites Riga residents and visitors to get around using public transport, bicycles or other environmentally friendly means of transport. City businesses, service providers, public and non-governmental organisations are also invited to encourage their employees or customers to choose public transport or a micro-mobility tool for their daily routine instead of private cars during European Mobility Week, especially on this day.
This year, the Tweed ride will start at Vidzeme Market. The ride will take you through Grīziņkalns, Ģertrūdes Street, Old Riga, Uzvaras and Arkādijas Parks and end at Āgenskalns Market. Both venues will host various entertainment activities, musical performances, participants will be awarded in special nominations, CSDD will register bicycles, etc. The gathering at Vidzeme Market will start at 2 p.m., the ride will start at 4 p.m. and end at Āgenskalns Market around 5 p.m. - 5.30 p.m.. The event closes at 6 p.m.. The Tweed Ride is organised by the Latvian Old-Time Bicycle Club in cooperation with Riga Municipality.
To promote different sustainable ways of moving around the city, on Saturday, 21 September, at an event on Ģertrūdes Street, Riga residents and visitors are invited to set the "Mobility Record 2024". 24 educational and research stations will be placed at the event site, where users of mobility tools themselves will talk about the wide range of mobility tools, their history, show demonstrations, and invite them to participate in games and competitions. The highlight of the event will be "Mobility Record 2024", as at least 2024 Riga residents and visitors will explore and try out 24 different modes of mobility on a small stretch of Ģertrūdes Street, proving that mobility can be both environmentally friendly and exciting. The event will take place from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Ģertrūdes Street from Tērbatas Street to Brīvības Street, so this section of the street will be closed to traffic on this day. Traffic restrictions on this section of the street will be introduced on 21 September at 6 a.m. and will last until midnight.
A detailed programme of European Mobility Week events in Riga will be published on the municipality's website riga.lv/mobilitate and interested parties are invited to keep up-to-date with the latest information.
European Mobility Week is the European Commission's annual education campaign from 16 to 22 September to raise people's awareness of sustainable urban mobility. More and more cities are joining the campaign each year by organising activities aimed at changing public behaviour towards public transport or other environmentally friendly transport solutions.
European Mobility Week aims to encourage the public to diversify their daily means of transport in favour of more environmentally friendly solutions, thereby not only reducing traffic congestion and transport emissions, but also improving the quality of life of citizens by promoting active mobility and building people-oriented infrastructure.
Information was prepared by: Tatjana Smirnova, Project Coordinator at External Communication Division of Riga City Council, e-mail: tsmirnova11@riga.lv.