During the session of the Steering Committees for the TER (Trans-European Railway) and the TEM (Trans-European Motorway) projects held on April 2010 in Innsbruck, Austria, the national coordinators of these projects adopted the “Innsbruck Initiative for safe, secure, prosperous and environmentally friendly transport”. The document was signed by 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The 13 signatory countries are Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Romania and Russia.
The Initiative focuses on four pillars which include measures for all development areas of a transport system regarding its integration, quality service supply and environment protection.Thus, transport infrastructure is desired as safety and security improvement, as well as environment performance driver, also supporting the development of a clean and efficient public transport, intermodal connections and the infrastructure specific to an environmentally friendly transport. Another pillar aims at promoting policies and favourable measures for ensuring transport security through the appropriate design of transport infrastructure, while supporting interoperability between transport modes, intermodal connections and combined transport systems is a key point of this document.
The implementation and development of Transport Intelligent Systems, especially of those generating a transport safety and security increase and reducing traffic congestion and air pollution, are also vital to all transport systems.
The two Committees have decided to include the targets and activities related to the Innsbruck Initiative in their work programs for 2011-2015. They have elaborated a demand and sent it to the Economic Commission of the UNO for Europe (UNECE), representing the implementation driver of both projects for ensuring the support of the Initiative as cooperation tool between participating countries. It is also desired that the document would be a platform for the exchange of know-how on the policies, activities and measures necessary to safe, efficient and environmentally friendly transport systems.
The strategies of European countries are important to the Initiative
The implementation of the Initiative will take into account the strategies and programmes recently developed by many European countries in order to improve the environment protection, as well as transport safety and security. Experience so far shows how the efforts made for developing a more sustainable transport can improve the safety level, reduce environmental impact and stimulate economic growth.
Infrastructure investments, as well as safe, efficient and eco-friendly transport systems will help reducing traffic congestion, the number of accidents and pollution, thus contributing to the development of a sustainable mobility and counteracting climate change.
To reach these objectives, the TER and TEM Projects Central Offices in Warsaw (Poland) and Bratislava (Slovakia), in tight collaboration with UNECE (the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) will provide a platform for the exchange of good practices between political decision -makers, as well as officials and experts in the countries involved. Non-governmental organisations dealing with transport and environment will also be part of this action.
The next meeting will be held in November 2010 in Vienna, Austria, and will focus on the debate and review of the progress with the implementation of Innsbruck Initiative, while new programmes and plans for 2010 will be included in the agenda. The TER project developed by UNECE was launched in 1990 as a cooperation platform between the countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, including 18 member states. The main objectives consist in improving the quality and efficiency of transport operations, supporting the integration process of European transport systems and infrastructure and the coherent and efficient development of the international railway sector, as well as combined transport systems according to UNECE agreements on Pan-European infrastructure.
As for the TEM project, it was established in 1977 in the same above-mentioned region (it has 16 member states) and aims at facilitating traffic and integrating transport infrastructures.
by Elena Ilie
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