AENEAS The European project about attaining energy efficiency in the mobility of older people

What is AENEAS about?

AENEAS is a recently started European project (STEER programme), gathering 12 partners from 9 European countries, ranging from public authorities, public transport operators from Donostia – San Sebastián (ES), Kraków (PL), Munich (DE), Odense (DK) and Salzburg (AT) and networks such as EMTA and AGE the European platform representing Older People.

It addresses the consequences of demographic change for sustainable mobility in European cities: The EU-25 population aged 50+ is expected to increase from 35% to 49% between 2005 and 2050. While in the past walking and public transport were the most important transport modes among older people, there are currently strong shifts towards the private car. In other words: Europe is challenged with a car generation growing old.

At the same time, sustainable travel options lack appropriateness to older people’s needs and wishes. Not all of these barriers are related to vehicles and infrastructure: Public transport, cycling, walking and car-sharing are often perceived as unattractive or not suitable, or people simply do not know how to use it properly.

How can public transport authorities benefit?

AENEAS applies exemplary approaches how to address these “soft issues” in the participating cities. This focuses on enabling and encouraging soft measures, such as passenger & staff training, individualised marketing
campaigns for older people and awareness raising.

The gained knowledge in AENEAS (and beyond) is promoted via Good Practice Fact Sheets available from the homepage and from ELTIS (www.eltis.org), through a printed study tour catalogue and good practice implementation guide and via dedicated training sessions for
European transport practitioners.

Dedicated training workshops

The first AENEAS workshop “Understanding Older People’s Mobility” in Kraków (17-18 June) gathered more than 30 transport practitioners from 10 European countries. It was very well received by the participants due to the good mix of theoretical and practical knowledge and high level of
interactivity.

The next workshop will take place in Donostia – San Sebastián (ES) on 28-29 October. It focuses on Safety issues and older people as pedestrians. In this regard, it will address how (objective and subjective) safety issues in all transport modes can be counteracted in order to prevent accidents, which role walking plays for older people, particularly as a link to Public Transport.

Registration to this workshop is free for EMTA members. You will find further information on www.aeneas-project.eu or write an e-mail to
m.fiedler at rupptrecht-consult.eu