Subscribe to our Newsletter
The City Council of Las Rozas de Madrid is the public entity responsible for the government and administration of the city. One of the main challenges facing the council is the digital transformation of the city and the definition of a new mobility model.
Las Rozas is the third largest municipality in the Madrid Region (95000 inhabitants) and presents a discontinuous and heterogeneous urban structure. Part of its municipal area is located within the regional park of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares, the largest protected natural area in the Madrid Region and one of the most ecological and landscape value.
Las Rozas participates on the MOT project (Madrid Oeste Tecnológico/Madrid Technological West), a collaborative project between four municipalities (Las Rozas, Majadahonda, Pozuelo de Alarcón and Boadilla del Monte) which purpose is to promote digital transformation and the creation of a Smart Metropolitan Area, improving mobility between the four cities through a transport network for personal mobility vehicles that communicates them through Arco Verde regional green area.
The size of the municipality, its urban dispersion, the increase in population that has occurred in recent years and the existence of an important business network make Las Rozas an important focus for generating and receiving trips both within and outside the municipality. This, together with the environmental problems generated in recent years in the municipalities due to the excessive use of polluting vehicles, makes sustainable urban mobility a strategic point for Las Rozas to improve the quality of life of citizens and visitors.
To improve this situation, Las Rozas City Council, as part of its strategy, wants to develop a new mobility model to incorporate new means of urban mobility. This strategy is described in the city Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS).
To reach this goal some actions are considered necessary:
• Deploy a network of bike lanes and for personal mobility vehicles. Currently Las Rozas has more than 35 km of cycle lanes.
• Deploy parking spaces for personal mobility vehicles strategically located in areas with high demand for short trips. Currently Las Rozas has more than 500 bicycle parking spaces.
• Complement this network with a network of charging points for electric bicycles and scooters that allows faster and longer distance travels.
In addition, another objective is to develop, together with the MOT municipalities, a new transport network for personal mobility vehicles that runs through the Arco Verde, which is a green infrastructure of Madrid Region to improve, preserve and protect the regional biodiversity.
In order to meet these objectives and promote the use of low and medium-speed transport for short trips, such as electric bicycles or scooters, the challenge is to deploy a network of chargers in different urban areas (green areas, libraries, next to bike lanes, sports centers…), blending in with their surroundings, with low visual and environmental impact, accessible and easy to install and maintain.
Las Rozas City Council through the municipal innovation company, Las Rozas Innova, is subsidizing the purchase of electric bicycles and scooters.
Solum is a technology company founded in 2019. The company originates from the idea of harnessing available urban spaces for generating renewable energy, thereby bringing generation sources closer to points of consumption.
After over two years of research and development, Solum develops a unique technology: a solar pavement created using photovoltaic technology. This solution generates clean energy without aesthetically impacting the urban environment, contributing to the creation of more sustainable cities. Currently, the company focuses on developing solutions to promote sustainable mobility through charging stations for personal mobility vehicles.
For this challenge, Solum aimed to go beyond its current technology by developing a new version of charging stations that are sustainable, completely off-grid, and adaptable to urban and natural environments. To achieve this, Solum added several improvements, including:
• A solar canopy to generate solar energy in natural environments.
• Enhanced compatibility with the majority of personal mobility vehicles, focusing on security and charging perspectives.
• A new app interface to increase user engagement.
• An automatic damage detection system.
• Automatic charging voltage recognition, allowing the system to adapt charging based on the vehicle’s electrical parameters.
• A FIWARE-based API to report to the Las Rozas Smart City Platform.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement 101071212.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
