[2.3] Purpose

The purpose of PIMMS

PIMMS asks the question: How can mobility management be adopted more effectively in regional transport and sustainability policy?

To answer this, PIMMS will also ask the following questions:

1 How to spread the understanding of Mobility Management?
Mobility Management is about encouraging more efficient use of transport resources. But it is poorly understood, with no agreed definition. 

2 How to overcome the problem of administrative competencies?
There is no ‘Department of Mobility Management’ anywhere in the EU. Responsibilities are split between functions and between different levels of administration. Many budgets need to be engaged in order for most mobility management actions to be funded – even though they are low-cost.

3 How to demonstrate the impact of Mobility Management?
It is diffuse, indirect and subject to externalities [for example, models of air pollution from traffic in central London show that the city's congestion charging scheme has cut emissions of both nitrogen oxides and fine particulates by about 12%: but actual measurements have yet to show the expected change]. Key decision-makers need to know how mobility management makes a difference in order to overcome resistance to change.

4 How to drive change into the system?