AENEAS

• About AENEAS 
• Odense - the city of cyclists 
• Facts about Odense 
• The general transport situation in Odense 
• The future transport situation in Odense 
• Older peoples mobility in Odense 
• Odense activities in AENEAS 
• Futher information and contact

About AENEAS
AENEAS is a European project in the framework of the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme. Its acronym stands for "Attaining Energy-Efficient Mobility in an Ageing Society." The project's objective is nothing less than to become the cornerstone for international reference projects in the field of urban mobility of older people.

Bringing together leading European players in the field of older people's mobility, AENEAS will improve the attractiveness of sustainable transport and will contribute to modal shifts towards energy-efficient modes of transport among older people.

Odense - the city of cyclists

We have a strong focus on cycling. From 1999-2002 Odense was a national cycle city and we are still working very hard to promote cycling to create an atmospheric, healthy and environmentally city centre and thereby become the city of cyclists.

The general transport situation in Odense

With an almost complete cycle path network of more than 550 km’s and hundreds of speed bumps, Odense provides a unique infrastructure for walking and cycling for all ages.

Since 1995 cycle trips have increased considerably, while car trips have declined on shorter trips. On longer trips, both cycle and car trips are increasing. However, cars drive longer trips than cycles, and the car is dominating when looking at the total number of driving km in the municipality. In relation to public transport the tendency is that both short and longer trips are decreasing.

In 2006, cycling covered 24% of all trips in the municipality and in central areas it exceeded 50%. In comparison, public transport and cars constituted respectively 6% and 47% of all trips in the municipality.

A traffic and mobility plan for the City of Odense is in public hearing in the period December 2008 and February 2009.

The plan contains different suggestions as to how the future transport situation should look and works with a time horizon until 2020.

The plan aims at promoting sustainable transportation modes like public transport, cycling and walking, and shows how the different modes can be combined – such as park and ride. The aim is to increase cycling trips with 35%, trips by public transport with 33% and reduce the share of car trips with 16%.

As a result of the traffic and mobility plan a number of primary roads will be closed, including Thomas B. Thriges Gade, where 35,000 cars drive each day. In addition, the city centre will be divided into four traffic zones. It will not be possible to drive from one zone to another. Instead, drivers have to use the ring road. Several underground parking facilities will be established along a parking route.

Finally, the speed limit will be reduced to 40 km/h on and inside the parking route and it is the plan to implement a 30 km/h zone in residential areas within the parking route.

Older people’s mobility in Odense
In 2007 Odense adopted two new policies relating to older people and mobility. In February 2007, Odense City Council adopted a new Policy for the Life of Senior Citizens. In practice the new policy means that – amongst other things – the City of Odense will:

Give priority to cycle and footpath connections and routes as well as the quality of the surroundings and green areas

Ensure that public areas, squares and streets are accessible for senior citizens, who are weak or handicapped

Ensure that cycle and footpaths are safe and well-lit 24 hours a day.

The Health Policy takes mobility and older people into account in the following specific areas:

The number of citizens, who are physically active must be increased.

The opportunities for physical activity must be easily accessible for everyone, regardless of age and physical capability.

Citizens’ responsibility for and desire to make healthy choices must be increased.
 

The negative effects of health must be avoided and a high degree of environmental protection should be maintained.

In addition, the service busses in Odense are targeted at people over 65 years. The service busses drive on five local routes, and the time schedule is organised so passengers have the time to enter and leave the busses. In this way, the focus is on safety compared to shorter travel times and, furthermore, the drivers focus more on passengers compared to the other busses.

Odense activities in AENEAS

The three AENEAS activities in the City of Odense mainly focus on motivating older people to walk and cycle more in their everyday life. Moreover, the activities will be carried out together with older people, different organisations, and local associations.

1st Activity – Walking Campaign
The first activity takes its point of departure in the advantages of walking. With the aim to encourage older people to walk more and forward public health, a campaign with focus on walking and older people will be held in September 2009 and 2010. As a part of this campaign a senior walkathon will be arranged with the aim to raise money for a good cause and inform older people about the possibilities and advantages of walking more in their everyday life. Furthermore, it is the idea that the campaign and walkathon will function as a network between existing walking associations and older people.

2nd Activity – Mobility in Urban Area
The aim of this activity is to encourage and promote walking by planning and implementing two senior walking routes in the inner city. Further, this activity should be seen in connection with an accessibility plan for the inner city that the City of Odense is starting to work on at the beginning of 2009.

3rd Activity – Guided Cycling Tours
The aim of this activity is to encourage and promote cycling among older people by arranging at least 15 guided cycle tours for about 200 older people. In relation to this, six cycle captains will be appointed and trained so they can accompany other older people cycling. The cycling tours will, furthermore, have different themes, such as safety, exercise and cycling maintenance in order to reach as many people as possible. Seven tours will be held in the period between April and September 2009 and eight tours between April and September 2010.

For further information please see www.odense.dk.

You can also contact:

The City of Odense
Department of Culture and Urban Development
Nørregade 36-38
5100 Odense C, Denmark