published: 17-10-2018
Increasing freight and passenger transport face the challenge of disconnecting mobility from the notable adverse effects in pollution, congestion and safety risks.
There is a clear need to make the transport system sustainable. The European Commission’s 2011 Transport White Paper - Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system - indicates that if we stick to a ‘business as usual’ approach, then the oil dependence of transport might still be below 90% in 2050, with renewable energy sources only marginally exceeding the 10% target set for 2020. In addition, the CO2 emissions from transport will remain one third higher than their 1990 level thereby, increasing congestion costs by about 50% by 2050 along with the continuous increase in social costs of accidents and noise.
There is an ever growing belief amongst policymakers on a global scale, as well as with transport sector representatives and society as a whole, that there is a strong need to create sustainable transport systems, which make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities these systems serve. To this end, environmental aspects, congestion and safety are placed high on the political agenda and are incorporated in transport policy formulation and implementation worldwide.
It is recognised that sustainable transport may have different meaning to different people, ranging from new technology solutions related to fuels and vehicles, co-modality, carpooling, forgiving infrastructure, mobility management, congestion pricing, green corridors, secured parking, e-bikes or spatial planning. Nowadays, these aspects find their way into transport policy at different levels. The aforementioned EC Transport White Paper places sustainability at the heart of the transport policy and is reflected at both national and local levels. For example, a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is designed to prepare an urban mobility strategy that builds on a clear vision for the sustainable development of an urban area.
Panteia has a long track record in sustainable transport and related aspects, such as pollution, congestion and safety. Notable examples are the development of a common measurement approach for carbon footprint, the assessment of congestion costs and developing the concept of secured parking and road safety diagnostic studies.