4. Setting Targets for Local Authorities to Increase Their Capacity to Develop and Implement Sustainable Transport Measures

In order to assist cities implement their mobility plans, it is essential to analyse which factors might influence their capacity to plan, develop, and implement mobility measures. A four-step process was developed to help cities perform such an audit. In the first step, a comprehensive characterization and contextualisation survey was conducted to understand the context in which cities operated and their situation with respect to mobility planning. Then, each partner city assessed its own capacity to implement mobility plans according to a set of key capacity indicators related to organizational, legal, political, and societal aspects. The results indicated the areas in which each authority needed to focus in order to improve its capacity to implement general mobility plans. In the final step, each city considered their mobility plans and linked these to the capacity indicator. This provided each city with a bespoke set of specific capacity indicator targets which needed to be worked on to successfully apply their mobility plans. The four-step approach presented in this chapter is a transferable tool that can be applied by city authorities to understand and prioritize the capacity needs of transport departments.