Trikala, Greece

Trikala is a medium-sized provincial city and the capital of the Trikala regional unit in the middle of Greece. It hosts a population of about 81,000 inhabitants (130,000 including the suburbs and nearby villages). The municipality of Trikala was formed in 2011 on occasion of the local government reform, which merged 8 former municipalities making them municipal units. The city hosts around 85,000 people commuting per day. In total there are 26 municipal buses operating on different lines across the city. 15 bus lines operate in the city and its centre, while 11 bus lines connect with the surrounding cities or villages. The city residents use mainly driving, biking and walking for their commuting. Rural and peri-urban areas are underserved by public transport. Moreover, despite forward-looking policies for transport and mobility, the grand open market area in Trikala suffers from congestion, especially during rush hours. Additional congestion in the areas around the three bridges that cross the Litheos river is caused by an inefficient infrastructure.

In Trikala Cities-4-People aims to contribute to the re-planning of the existing public transport system as well as the introduction of new mobility solutions, especially in the area of the grand open market. Shared mobility is envisioned as a possible way to decrease the volume of cars used to commute from the broader rural and peri-urban areas of the Prefecture of Trikala. Other interventions may concern the creation of better connections and the improvement of the public transport infrastructure as well as the optimisation of parking slots and the establishment of better bike lanes. How does the co-creation of solutions for Trikala look like? As a Citizen Mobility Kit, we are using this. What is going on in our Lab you can find out here instead.

Don’t forget to have a look at local news and updates and check who else is active in the area.

Transport planning in Greece is the responsibility of municipalities, but major transport projects are directly performed by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Network or state agencies in collaboration with the respective local authorities. Even though an integrated urban transport planning is missing, Greek transport policy objectives are closely aligned with the EU priorities. The completion of the national transport system, with an emphasis on trans-European corridors, so as to improve accessibility throughout the country and make Greece a major transport node for the Eastern Mediterranean, has been a major objective and a driving force of relevant funding.

In this context, the General Framework Plan for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development provides guidelines for the spatial (re)structuring of transportation networks and services in Greece to make them more competitive. Additional focus points are the connection of transportation nodes (harbours, airports, commerce centres) through independent transport networks in order to alleviate the burden on urban traffic systems; the adoption of international standardisation processes and equipment; and the development of an integrated information system. Furthermore, a major policy component for the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Network is the promotion of environment-friendly and energy efficient vehicles, especially thanks to the use of new technologies (e.g. electric or hybrid vehicles) and cleaner fuels (e.g. LPG, CNG or hydrogen).

Trikala represents a best practice in the country, being the first Smart City in Greece in 2004. Since then, city authorities and their partners, i.e. the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), have a strategic orientation towards the future, using information and communication technologies to enhance the quality and performance of urban services, health services, government services and mobility, and to implement policies that reduce cost and resource depletion and promote citizens’ participation. In the transport and mobility field, applications, platforms and digital tools (e.g. MyWay) have been developed and employed to tackle Trikala’s main problems (e.g. restricted width of bidirectional arteries, illegal parking, irregular urban planning) and increase the flexibility of transport infrastructure by adapting it to the demands and needs of the citizens (e.g. efficient and seamless integration of different mobility services).

Overview

Trikala: 78,817 inhabitants

Trikala: 608,5 km²