The optimal operation of the transport system requires full integration and interoperability of the individual parts of the network, as well as interconnection between different (modal) networks. Crucial in achieving this result are the nodes, which are the logistics centres of the network and offer connectivity and choice for both freight and passenger transport. Intermodal and transhipment platforms should be promoted and developed where there is a potential for consolidation and optimisation of passenger and freight flows. There is the typical case in areas with a high activity of passengers and freight transport, for example in urban areas, and where high volume corridors are intersecting.
Drawing from the experience, provided common methodologies and similar assumptions should be adopted in the appraisals of infrastructure projects across modes and, possibly, countries. Common data and indicators are needed, starting by those on traffic and congestion. This will help selecting projects on the basis of comparable cost-benefit ratios and taking all relevant elements into account: socio-economic impacts, contribution to cohesion and effects on the overall transport network.
New infrastructure is costly and making the optimal use of existing facilities can already achieve a lot with more limited resources. This requires proper management, maintenance, upgrading and repair of the large infrastructure network that has so far given Europe a competitive advantage. Upgrading the existing infrastructure – also through intelligent transport systems – is in many cases the cheapest way to enhance the overall performance of the transport system.
The research and development sector and industry are already very active in searching solutions for transport safety, fuel depen-dency, vehicle emissions and network congestion. In view of the mentioned trends in world population (according to estimates, the share of the European population in urban areas is expected to increase from 72% in 2007 to 84% in 2050; for the same year, it is estimated that world population will exceed 9 billion) and global car ownership, there is a compelling need for a technological shift towards lower and zero-emission vehicles and for the development of alternative solutions for sustainable transport. Europe must pave the way to sustainable mobility, where possible providing solutions that are valid on a global scale and that can be exported to other regions of the world.
For promising technologies, the necessary framework conditions to introduce them commercially on the market have to be put in place by policy makers without giving undue advantage to any specific technology. This requires, in particular, setting open standards, ensuring interoperability, increasing R&D expenditures for technologies that are not yet “mature” for market application.
The most important policy instrument will probably be standard setting. The transition to a new and integrated transport system will only be quick and successful if open standards and norms for new infrastructure and vehicles and other necessary devices and equipment are introduced. The standard setting should aim at interoperable, safe and user-friendly equipment. This is not only important for the internal market, but also to foster European standards on an international scale. “The developments of Intelligent Transport Systems or of alternative vehicles propulsion systems could provide a success comparable to that of GSM technology”, believe experts in infrastructure research and development.
Certainly, another policy instrument is to foster R&D expenditures towards sustainable mobility. New transport systems and vehicle technologies will have to be first implemented as demonstration projects, to assess their feasibility and economic viability.
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