Sustainable Urban transport to meet SDG 11.2 & combat climate change : Increasing active transport in Sundbyberg city

Sammanfattning: Aim: The aim of this degree project is to investigate the current condition of sustainable infrastructure in Sundbyberg City and how the city can encourage and increase active transport. Method: The methods used are interviews with politicians and a transport expert within the city of Sundbyberg as primary data collection. The other methods are secondary survey data provided by Sundbyberg City that provides the transport modes of the participants of the city in late 2022 and the third method is a site visit to the city center where many different modes of transport interact daily. Results: The findings indicate that the city is in need of improving the infrastructure for active transport. The usage of cars increased in the city since 2019 and this could possibly be due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced people to isolate and take their cars. Gender plays also a role in the choice of transport as more women tend to drive in Sundbyberg and walk less. Studies indicate a safer and better active infrastructure could encourage women to turn to active transport. The positive findings are that the interviews have shed light on new setts of policies that will help reduce the usage of cars and increase active transport. In particular, during the summer of 2023, two famous streets will be closed to cars and only walking and cycling will be allowed. Furthermore, many parking spaces will be turned into parks to reduce the usage of cars and encourage people to turn to more sustainable modes of transport. Conclusion: Sundbyberg city needs to improve the infrastructure for active transport by building wider lanes, separated from cars and if possible colored to highlight it for the users because that could have a positive impact on the residents and most likely encourage many to start walking and cycling. The importance of increase in active transport is improvement in the health of the public while also reduce the usage of cars. The politician and the transport experts in the city seem to be aware of the importance of better infrastructure for active transport and the importance of reducing the usage of cars as that will reduce emissions and air pollution. However, the cost seems to be a crucial factor that stands in the way of many projects. On the other hand, new policies such as closing streets from car traffic, removing parking spaces with green areas, and encouraging people to cycle even during the winter by providing salted and maintained lanes might prove to be equally important to better infrastructure and increase the city’s goal of becoming a more sustainable transport city.