2nd Study Visit to Braga

As part of the STEP UP project, which aims to make walking safer and more attractive, the project partners visited the city of Braga in Portugal. The excursion participants were welcomed by Ricardo Rio, the mayor of the city of Braga, Olga Pereira, the city councillor for mobility, and numerous employees of the city administration. They put together an exciting and inspiring program.

For example, Braga has one of the largest continuous pedestrian zones in Europe in its city center, which left a great impression. Another focus of the study visit was the creation of safe school forecourts and the implementation of school streets. The planned introduction of a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit, high-capacity bus system) and the connection to the city's footpath network was also a key topic. The overarching question was who needs to be involved to implement effective walking strategies and how best to do this. Jim Walker and Carlos Canjas from Walk21 provided important input on this.

Key findings were the importance of a good link between public transport and walking and the good involvement of important stakeholders such as transport companies and civil society.