In the Alpenrheintal [Alpine Rhine Valley] tens of thousands of people commute to work by car every day, more than two thirds of them living no more than 15 kilometres from their place of work. Yet under 10 percent of them travel to work by bicycle, on foot or by e-bike. In the three-year Interreg project “Amigo - Active Personal Mobility in Health Programmes of Organisations”, companies are testing individual solutions with experts from health research, mobility management and behavioural economics. CIPRA has laid the foundations for this with projects on cross-border commuter mobility. These include a toolbox for companies as well as policy recommendations.

Healthy commuting as a locational advantage

The Amigo project particularly emphasises the health aspect, as Jakob Dietachmair, Project Manager at CIPRA International, emphasises: “People who cycle to work or walk to the bus or train are more likely to stay fit and healthy. Less air pollution and less traffic noise are important side-effects, because a better quality of life also increases the attractiveness of the location.”

Project partners from four countries

Lead partner in the Interreg project Amigo is the Energy Institute Vorarlberg/A. Other partners are the Austrian aks Gesundheit GmbH, the Swiss canton of St. Gallen and CIPRA International on behalf of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The project has a total budget of around 490,000 euros and runs until summer 2022.

Sources and further information:
www.cipra.org/en/cipra/international/projects/current/amigo, www.energieinstitut.at/unternehmen/programme/amigo-aktive-pendlermobilitaet/ (de)