Vila Nova de Gaia

How to empower citizens to choose active travel with enhanced information on walking and cycling routes?

challenge

With a municipal area of ​​168 km2, 15 km of coastline and 25 km of riverbank along the Douro River, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal is the most populous municipality in the metropolitan territory (303,824 inhabitants in 2021).

Currently, the local mobility platform (MOB+) in Vila Nova de Gaia offers limited information for those travelling on foot, mirroring the wider issue seen in apps like Google Maps and Waze. This presents a challenge for both residents and visitors in selecting the most suitable and sustainable travel option. Only 10% of commuters in the city currently choose to walk or cycle, with 70% opting for private motor vehicles.

Approach

To address Gaia's challenge of promoting active travel, we are currently:

  • Collecting community insights about the existing walking and cycling network.

  • Defining network for walking and cycling represented in a subway style way.

  • Implementing and testing the addition of wayfinding to help navigation.