Vejle becomes “Transport Municipality of the Year 2021”

The Danish municipality’s investments and green initiatives in transport have been recognised

On 25 October, the Danish Minister of Transport Benny Engelbrecht presented Vejle Municipality with the prestigious title: Transport Municipality of the Year 2021. Vejle received this award following a study carried out by the Danish Road Freight Transport ITD.

ITD’s study evaluated a variety of factors, including municipalities’ investments in local road networks, facilities such as parking, green initiatives in the field of transport, regulation of road freight transport, and outsourcing of tasks.

Vejle rises from fourth place

In the span of a year, the Danish municipality has gone up from fourth place to first. The reason behind this impressive leap is the municipality’s exceptional success in the key areas outlined in ITD’s research.

Expanding on this, Vejle is accelerating the transport industry’s green transition by investing in climate-friendly asphalt that reduces the fuel consumption of vehicles and cuts down CO2 emissions. What is more, it supports getting parts of the local road networks approved for EMS vehicles.

Beyond this, it offers high-quality facilities such as parking, rest areas, and toilets where drivers can take a break when driving long distances. Finally, the municipality outsources various tasks to private hauliers.

“A lot of transport through Denmark also runs through Vejle, and this gives us both challenges, some opportunities and a special responsibility for the industry having satisfactory conditions. Therefore, we have worked strategically with the transport industry and have an overall mobility plan for the municipality as well as a green mobility plan to supplement it.

For us, the award of Transport Municipality of the Year is a confirmation that the industry also notices our efforts, and I can only be really happy with that,” commented Mayor of Vejle Jens Ejner Christensen.

Top 10 municipalities

Aside from Vejle, numerous other municipalities have worked hard to improve the transport conditions in their cities. The top 10 municipalities in ITD’s 2021 study are:

1. Vejle
2. Horsens
3. Silkeborg
4. Vejen
5. Køge
6. Solrød
7. Favrskov
8. Aabenraa
9. Ikast-Brande
10. Høje-Taastrup