We continue our mini-interview series with the Velo-city 2019 Keynote Speakers! #VC19Keynote #MeetTheSpeakers #CyclingForTheAges

Matthew Baldwin is Deputy Director General of DG MOVE, with responsibility for the transport "modes" – land (road and rail), waterborne (including ports policy) and aviation - and multimodality. 

In addition to these responsibilities, on 2 October 2018, he was appointed as European Coordinator for road safety and related aspects of sustainable mobility, and these issues are now his main focus.   

He has served in the cabinets of Commissioner Lamy, President Barroso and Commissioner Hill, the last as Head of Cabinet. 

He has two sons, speaks English and French and lives in Brussels. 

What does cycling for the ages mean to you?

This can mean lots of things!   But two things for me in particular:

• First, this really can be the age of cycling.  In the 1970s, when I grew up in the UK, if you had a bike, it was probably because you couldn’t afford a car.  Now, can we collectively afford not to be walking and cycling in Europe’s cities of today?  I don’t think so.  Cycling makes us better (literally, in terms of our health) and it makes our towns and cities better. 220 billion euros better, to be exact, in terms of the internal and external benefits of cycling – and counting only those 100% quantifiable! That’s why this year’s European Mobility Week is going to be focused on the positive benefits of cycling and walking.  Walk With Us!
• Second, cycling can be great for all of us, regardless of our age. It is a wonderful thing to do for young families – and when children get the cycling bug, they usually keep it. And at the other end of life, we are seeing more and more elderly getting back on their bikes and e-bikes.

But for cycling and active mobility to flourish, public authorities - from village councils to the European Union – have a key role to play.  In particular, we must make it accessible for everyone, irrespective of age, gender etc., and safe. Here we cannot forget that this is also about FEELING safe – vulnerable road users are rising as a proportion of road casualties to as much as 80% in European cities.  That means quality infrastructure for active modes, safe and enforced speed limits (“Twenty’s plenty – and love thirty”)  and a proactive mentality in urban planning that takes cycling and walking fully into account.  And money - there’s more and more EU funding going into walking and cycling – around 2 billion euros in this financial perspective and I hope even more in the next financial period. 

Finally - it’s great timing as in June, we will be getting closer to the release of our draft guidelines on Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning, or SUMP 2.0. This will include a dedicated section on walking, cycling, and many more topics - looking forward to the feedback!

How will the city of the future look like taking into consideration the gaps in the developing and developed world?

Let’s discuss together at Velo-city in Dublin. Urbanisation is going to be very rapid over the coming century especially in the developing world.  Our message to developing countries is: you don’t need to repeat our mistakes. If you want to tackle CO2 emissions and poor air quality in your cities, reduce the endless congestion, and reduce deaths and serious and injuries; it’s time to look into real alternatives to use of the private car in cities – both for passengers and freight.  Make active modes of travel the centrepiece of your urban mobility, not the afterthought. 

What do you expect from Velo-city 2019 Dublin?

Passionate discussions, beer, and biking. Not necessarily in that order. And no rain, please.

Matthew Baldwin is a speaker in the second plenary session of Velo-city 2019 Dublin, entitled “Policy - is it catching up with the tech development?” to take place on Tuesday, June 25th 2019 at 17.00-18.00.
For more information on the Velo-city Programme, Exhibition and Registration go to: https://www.velo-city2019.com 
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