In most situations, in large urban agglomerations, territorial expansions to suburbs have made public transport or other similar alternatives no longer attractive compared to private cars. A vicious circle has been created: the low public transport demand has triggered fewer resources for this type of services and it has all climaxed in a poorer offer from public transport operators.
In order to break this vicious circle, the city planners and public transport decision makers (local, regional and national) have to focus their strategies on renewing transport vehicles, but also on developing a connection between public transport and urban planning. Urban mobility is a constantly growing concern for the citizens. Nine out of ten EU citizens believe that the situation of traffic in their area should improve. The development of efficient transport systems in urban areas has become a task which grows in complexity considering both traffic congestion in the city and the accelerated urban expansion.
The main responsibilities on urban mobility policies are those of local, regional and national authorities. However, the decisions adopted at local level are not made individually, but they are integrated within the national, regional and European legislations. Consequently, the Commission believes that a lot of progress can be achieved towards supporting local, regional and national activities and elaborating a joint approach that would fully observe the different competencies and responsibilities of concerned parties.
It is also necessary to rethink the strategies on the extension of the tram, metro or light rail networks and even for the construction of new such networks.
“By 2050, most of passenger transport operations on medium distances (starting with 300 km) would be done on railways”, say EU policies.
Prognoses for 2030 and 2050 look good on paper, it seems that we have already eliminated the polluting factor from urban transport….But if we take a closer look to what is happening now in most European cities and metropolitan areas and if we don’t start using and investing in electrified city transport and in supporting its extension, we will not be able to meet this objective and we will still have draft projects in 2030-2050.
Environmentally friendly policies have been introduced in many cities across the EU. Action at EU level can help strengthen markets for new, clean vehicle technologies and alternative fuels. This will directly support EU industry, promote healthy environments and contribute to the recovery of the European economy.
The current situation regarding accessibi-lity in the EU suggests that there is a strong difference between central and peripheral areas in terms of connectivity and transport costs. The suburbs have higher average transport costs, explained not only by the need for longer trips, but also by the more expensive or less efficient transport solutions that are available.
The various modes would in general keep their relative share in the absence of significant policy changes.
Road transport would maintain its dominant role in both passenger and freight transport within the EU, with passenger cars still contributing more than two thirds to total passenger transport in 2050. High congestion levels would seriously affect road transport in several member states by 2030 without effective countervailing measures such as road pricing. While urban congestion will mainly depend on car ownership levels, the extent of urban sprawl and the degree of availability of public transport alternatives, congestion on the inter-urban network would be the result of growing freight transport activity along specific corridors, in particular where these corridors cross urban areas with heavy local traffic.
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