Assessment of Sustainable Mobility Planning in Lithuanian Cities: A Comparative Content Analysis of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

Road transport is one of the most significant sources of environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; therefore, the development of sustainable mobility is becoming an important direction of urban transport policy. The objectives of the European Union’s transport policy encourage cities to plan and implement measures that reduce the environmental impact of transport, improve transport conditions, and increase the availability of mobility alternatives. The aim of this study is to evaluate the planning of sustainable mobility development in Lithuanian cities by analysing sustainable urban mobility plans, the measures proposed in them, and their links to the needs of urban transport systems. The study applied descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and document content analysis methods. The urban plans of Lithuanian cities were evaluated according to the following criteria: the time scope and relevance of the plan, the completeness of the analysis of the existing transport system, the assessment of the environment and quality of life in cities, and the compliance of the planned sustainable mobility measures with the needs of the city. The results of the study show that only a portion of Lithuanian cities have prepared sustainable urban mobility plans, and their contents and analytical bases differ. Some of the plans do not provide a sufficiently detailed and relevant analysis of the current situation; therefore, the need for the selected measures is not always clearly justified. The cities analysed generally envisage or apply measures to improve public transport, develop pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, regulate traffic, create electric vehicle infrastructure, and promote multimodality. It was concluded that sustainable mobility planning in Lithuanian cities is uneven, and its assessment depends not only on the diversity of the envisaged measures but also on the analytical quality of planning documents, the justification of measures, and the consistency of envisaged implementation measures. The study highlights the need to strengthen data-based sustainable mobility planning and to more clearly link the measures envisaged in the plans with the specific challenges of urban transport systems.