The first hackathon on mobility management was held in Riga
At the end of last week, the innovation movement ‘VEFRESH’ together with the Riga Energy Agency, ‘Latvijas Mobilais Telefons’ (LMT) and ‘Jaunā Teika’ organized a “Mobility Management and Design Hackathon in the VEF Territory” to promote sustainable, climate-neutral mobility in the city.
The hackathon was organized to develop an urban passage idea that takes into account all interests between the buildings of VEF Culture Palace, LMT, and ‘Jaunā Teika’. The teams had the opportunity not only to think about solutions to defined problem situations but also to go into the urban environment and test whether the imaginary challenges also exist in the public areas. For example, one team settled into the role of a young parent with a stroller, pushing a pram in a particular section of the road, and getting a neighborhood visitor from abroad to the conference centre 'Fantadroms' or putting themselves in the role of a driver in the narrow parking lot. The main tasks of the hackathon were to find solutions to reconcile the relations between all stakeholders - pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, and people with disabilities. In addition, there is a desire to raise awareness of sustainable modes of transport and aspects of mobility management.
The main solutions offered by the hackathon participants were related to restricting the flow of road traffic and greening the area. People in urban areas want to see more space for pedestrians and cyclists, more restricted or less for road transport. There were suggestions for transforming the urban garden, green recreation area, neighborhood navigation sign, and the area between the LMT building and the VEF Culture Palace into a “residential area”. Also, continuing the section to the gas station on Ropažu Street - people would like a one-level pedestrian crossing and plates on the tram rails so they and people with disabilities can more comfortably cross them.
Participants emphasized that it does not require a large investment to place flower pots, paint the street in other colors or place benches in daily parking space areas on some pop-up events. Work on the passage's development will continue in order to bring to life some of the quickest solutions and to help create a greener area on people's daily routes.
