ANGELES CITY -- Angeles City Mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines National President Edgardo Pamintuan returns after participating in the Ecomobility World Congress 2017 held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
With key concepts of "Liveable, Shared, and Intelligent" at its core, the EcoMobility World Congress 2017 fostered a positive and engaged energy, encouraging frank debate and discussion, and above all, an earnest desire to learn.
All manner of participants, from mayors to researchers and practitioners, exchanged thought provoking ideas and innovative solutions they have employed to make their cities and communities more livable, shared and intelligent.
Asian cities from Kaohsiung to Hanoi to Jakarta shared their challenges in curbing pollution in motorcycle-dependent cultures and shared ideas and strategies on how to tackle this problem.
The just-released Kaohsiung Strategies for the Future of Urban Mobility are a guide for city leaders to shape the future of urban transport. They are a clear show of support for stronger ecomobile solutions in cities, such as walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility, positing that the inter-connectivity of these various modes is the backbone of sustainable urban mobility.
In an interview with the foreign journalists covering the event, Pamintuan echoed the sentiments of all the local leaders who attended the conference.
“It’s about time that roads should be returned to the people. All of us who attended, especially local government leaders, do not want traffic and any program for mobility should put emphasis on the people, not on vehicles,” said Pamintuan.
The Kaohsiung Strategies for the Future of Urban Mobility commits the participants to: 1) Plan cities and their mobility together; 2) Prioritize people over vehicles; 3)Support the shared and efficient use of vehicles, lanes, curbs and land; 4) Promote equity; 5) Support fair user fees; 6) Work towards integration and seamless connectivity; 7) lead the transition towards zero emission and renewable energy transport future; 8) Support that autonomous vehicles in urban areas should be operated only in shared fleets; 9) Protect the airspace of the cities; 10) Apply sustainability principles for moving goods: green freight and ecologistics; 11) Engage with stakeholders, and; 12) Prepare the local governments for mobility in the future.
Pamintuan further added that “city mayors from the Philippines will learn a lot in participating in conferences like this because it is a sharing of best practices from mayors from other parts of the world.”