Public transport needs to be put forward to tackle the urban mobility challenges currently faced by urban mobility. Continuing with the construction of new highways and encouraging car use should not be the priority.
Ambitious and visionary strategies are essential to change radically current mobility patterns. The public transport sector has the competence and ambition to improve the urban environment both for citizens and business, as it already does in number of urban centres. To take up these challenges, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is aiming at doubling the market share of public transport worldwide by 2025.
Public transport operators can stimulate the development of their commercial activity by providing a quality service to their customer, but also through innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.
The impact of the financial and economic turmoil revealed a different type of crisis, a systemic crisis, calling for an in-depth change. Currently, as three years ago (when the financial crisis began to spread worldwide), the time is right to trigger a societal change and abandon the car-dependent lifestyle. If organised and well aware of their priorities, public transport operators can play an important role in providing quality services and helping reduce car dependency.
Public transport provides green local jobs. In many cities the public transport network is one of the major employers, and such jobs cannot be delocalised. In Europe, public transport operators alone create 1,200,000 direct jobs and every direct job in public transport is linked to four jobs in other sectors of the economy. Public transport represents between 1 and 1.2% of European Union GDP. Every euro of value created from public transport is linked to a further value creation of 4 EUR in the total economy, according to UITP data.
A massive shift to public transport and sustainable mobility helps economies to reduce their dependency on fossil fuel and improve their balance of payments.
In cities with a high share of public transport, walking and cycling, the cost of transport for the community is half that of cities where this share is low. For example, the cost of transport represents only 6% of the local GDP in Tokyo or Hong Kong but more than 12% in Houston or Sydney. Efficiency gains from this can be valued at around 2,000 euros per inhabitant every year.
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