The Local Authority Perspective on EU–Funded Collaborative Projects

The EU, through various funding streams, continues to invest heavily on sustainable mobility to reduce congestion, carbon emissions, improve inclusivity, health and well-being, etc. This is leading to new methods, tools and processes, service propositions and technical innovations (in engineering and computing). Local authorities are responsible for the design and delivery of transport services in their cities. As such they may be regarded as one of the end users of the vast amount of material that is produced by projects such as SUITS. They can also receive funding to participate in some capacity, in many of the programmes, e.g. to run technology trials, to attend training events. This chapter takes a reflective approach to understanding the experience of local authority partners, what were their expectations, what were the costs and benefits, and what recommendations would they make for others to ensure they received maximum benefit if they were invited to participate in future projects. These insights are useful for the designers of research programmes, project managers and local authorities who might be invited into a consortium.