Sustainable Mobility

Sustainable mobility, together with housing, have become a current priority for the Government of Andorra and for the 7 Municipalities.

The Principality of Andorra is a small country of 468 km ² with a growing demography, with the constant arrival of new residents and investors, receiving more than 8 million tourists a year.

There have been several initiatives to find efficient solutions regarding mobility both within the Principality and in neighboring countries. One of the major current issues has been the reactivation of the tunnel project for the diversion of traffic in Sant Julià, which has become an important point of recent political debate. Additionally, the Comú de Andorra la Vella will promote a pilot test of parking service at a reduced price accompanied by a bus service to allow traveling to places of work in the Capital.

In fact, a leading company in the country has developed pilot tests with electric buses that has allowed it to win the “Carbon Neutral Company” Award. These initiatives could be qualified as “hardware” solutions, since they have to do with the new infrastructures and equipment, making it possible to speed up traffic within the Principality in a more sustainable way.

On the other hand, new technologies have appeared that allow transportation to be optimized intelligently. Technologies that we will qualify as “software”.

One of the new technologies mentioned is the on-demand bus system, which allows the organization of passenger transport by bus in an orderly and optimized manner. The example of the on-demand bus implemented in the Escaldes-Engordany Parish is an excellent example of the efficiency of this innovative system that works with a mobile App and virtual stops and fixed stops for passenger collection. There is a whole series of specific computer programs designed according to the configuration of the mountain and the terrain, but also adapted to the nature of the trips, for example, at a university campus.

The current energy crisis and the concerns linked to climate change make sustainable mobility issues take on all their meaning and mark a necessary path towards the optimization of resources and the reduction of the carbon footprint.

In this sense, the Government of Andorra has created the Office of Energy and Climate Change, which is actively involved in finding sustainable solutions in the field of transport.

The Principality of Andorra has been repeatedly and constantly demonstrating its commitment as a sustainable country with the firm objective of reducing its carbon footprint: it is part of the SMART COUNTRY initiatives of the ANDORRA brand as a country brand.

We can also mention the great efforts of ANDORRA RECERCA + INNOVACIÓ (ARI) which is involved in the dynamics of sustainable mobility from the technological side, in particular thanks to its partnership with MIT.

Within the framework of this SMART MOBILITY ecosystem, there are many challenges but also opportunities that are emerging with the appearance of projects where various technologies powered by the development of artificial intelligence and applied to mobility are converged.