Sustainability assessment methodology of urban mobility projects

- Sustainability indicators can improve the efficiency of urban mobility policies.
- A method to assess the sustainability of projects may induce more effective public policies for urban mobility.
- Financial institutions may play a crucial role in the implementation of sustainability.

In Brazil, the introduction of a national urban mobility policy occurred only in 2012. In this context, the federal government has provided hundreds of millions in investment to improve mobility conditions in urban areas. The main financial institution responsible for analyzing and monitoring developments of this nature considers the following criteria for project assessment: cost, environmental licensing, compatibility, and functionality. However, a project's contribution to sustainable urban mobility is not taken into account. Thus, the work reported herein aimed to develop a method to assess the sustainability of urban mobility projects. This involved indicator selection, and the development of a tool based on sustainability indicators for project assessment. In addition, an Urban Mobility Project Sustainability Index (UMPSI) was proposed to summarize the assessment, which was tested in five urban mobility projects funded in the Curitiba Metropolitan Region (RMC), presented in a companion paper. Environmental, social, and economic aspects of project design and implementation are considered in the assessment. The proposed method consists of 17 sustainability indicators, grouped according to their connection with environmental, social, and economic aspects. Addition of the proposed method to the contracting and monitoring processes of future urban mobility projects supports the sustainable development of the urban landscape.