No less than a revolution in future mobility was up for debate between 180 international and well-known transport experts and decision-makers from 46 countries to jointly shape the future of e-mobility and intensify the networking of actors from the fields of mobility and energy.
The conference opened with a key note by Regina Clewlow, CEO of the mobility application Populus, who underlined the importance of big data and digitalisation in transforming urban mobility patterns. New electric mobility options such as e-scooters need to be integrated into existing mass transit structures, she emphasized.
At the heart of the event were a series of pitches and pledges, in which speakers from the public sector, the private sector and financial institutions presented their ideas and strategies as well as their perspectives on an “electrical transformation” of the transport sector. This innovative format in addition with the subsequent discussions ensured a deeper exchange.
Starting with political representatives, the ministers for transport of Colombia and Chile shared valuable insights from state level while representatives from the cities of Shenzhen and Wiesbaden presented their expertise on the implementation of electric busses. Joe Ma, representative from the bus company of Shenzhen, running the world’s largest electric bus fleet, underlined the large economic and health benefits of e-mobility. Furthermore, he stressed the need to integrate the electric bus fleet with other transit modes and the importance of offering integrated user information and payment systems.
The series of pitches was complemented by speakers from the provider and manufacturer side and from financing institutions. It became clear, that a continuous planning process and private participation helps implementation to overcome risks of stagnation. Between all speakers, there was a broad consensus that a strengthened collaboration between the public sector, the private sector and the financing side is at the core of creating implementable concepts for a sustainable future.
“It’s an amazing conference where we can find a lot of ideas of what are the challenges and how countries and cities face these challenges.” – Ángela María Orozco Gómez, Minister of Transport, Colombia
The conference was completed by a marketplace that presented a variety of innovations and knowledge in the field of e-mobility. It gave participants the chance to catch up with the latest trends and to connect and share ideas.
In addition, the winners of the Global Urban Mobility Challenge 2019 were announced at the conference. A total of 10 cities will be financially and technically supported by TUMI in the implementation of pilot projects to promote sustainable mobility.
The TUMIVolt conference was organized as part of the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI). In TUMI the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has brought together some of the world’s leading institutions working on sustainable mobility and offers technical and financial support for innovative ideas. Partners include ADB, CAF, WRI, ITDP, UN-Habitat, SLoCaT, ITDP, ICLEI, GIZ, KfW and C40. Previous events hosted by TUMI and the ITF includes the WomenMobilizeWomen Conference in 2018.
