FastTrack was a European sustainable-mobility project that set out to help 24 cities and metropolitan areas move transport innovations from idea to implementation. It focused on urban, peri-urban and rural settings, with the aim of supporting climate-resilient places through more sustainable mobility. The project ran from February 2021 to July 2023 and was funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.8
Its approach paired city-to-city learning with practical planning. Participating areas took part in a two-year capacity-building and exchange programme, organised around four topic clusters: sustainable urban logistics, cycling, integrated multimodal mobility, and traffic and demand management. Each area was expected to produce a mobility innovation deployment plan; training also covered cross-cutting issues such as data, funding and governance.168
The four ambassador cities—Antwerp, Bologna, Budapest and Stockholm—shared experience in their respective fields and guided exchanges with other participants. Examples included Bologna’s plans to give trams priority through changes to its transport network and traffic lights, and cooperation between Ljubljana, Antwerp and Hengelo on extending e-bike access beyond the city centre. Budapest was also set to advise Debrecen and Malmö on multimodal hubs linking urban and rural areas.36
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability coordinated the project. Eurocities, Mobiel 21, CERTH, Vectos and European Integrated Projects were among its technical partners, alongside the ambassador cities and local authorities.24 The project also offered opportunities to connect cities with suppliers and potential investors, and provided a fund for targeted expertise and preliminary studies.18