The idea of urban mobility implies the identification of clear and coherent solutions for increasing the efficiency and promoting public transport within cities, as well as solutions to discourage personal vehicle transport. An improved level of urban mobility in what concerns safety, efficiency and the environment is an essential target which can guarantee the attraction of citizens towards public transport. For citizens, urban mobility represent a major concern. Nine EU citizens out of ten believe the situation of urban traffic in the region they live in needs improvement. The choice people make in transport modes influences not only the future urban development, but also the citizens and companies’ economic situation. It is hard to imagine which trends will affect the future of transport more.
Migration, one of the urban mobility problems
Net migration to the EU might add 56 million people to the EU’s population in the next five decades, shows the Commission’s Communication called “A sustainable future for transport: Towards an integrated, technology-led and user friendly system”, published in mid-2009. Migration could play an important role in mitigating the effect of ageing on the labour market. Migrants, generally young and mainly living in urban areas, will further intensify Europe’s ties with neighbouring regions, by creating cultural and economic links with their country of origin. These links will entail more movement of people and goods.
There is growing urgency for the transport sector to mitigate its negative impact on the environment. The EU has recently adopted a Climate and Energy package that sets a target of reducing GHG emission in the EU by 20% with respect to 1990. Transport has a key role to play in achieving this goal and an inversion of some of the current trends will be necessary.
Urban transport, responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions
The Future White Paper on Transport should present a clear perspective on the current excessive urbanisation process. Urbanisation has been a clear trend in the past decades and is expected to continue, with the proportion of European population residing in urban areas increasing from 72% in 2007 to 84% in 2050, the Commission estimates in its latest Communication from 2009. The proximity of people and activities is a major source of advantages that drive urbanisation. However, in the past 50 years, the growth of urban areas across Europe was even larger than that of the resident population. This urban sprawl is the main challenge for urban transport, as it brings about greater need for individual transport modes, thereby generating congestion and environmental problems. Urban transport accounts for 40% of CO2 emissions and 70% of emissions of other pollutants arising from road transport. Congestion, that is prevalent in agglomerations and in their access routes, is the source of large costs in terms of delays and higher fuel consumption. As most freight and passenger transport starts or ends in urban areas, urban congestion also negatively impacts inter-urban travel. While denser cities are better served by collective modes of transport, the availability of land and public acceptability to construct new infrastructures for public or alternative means of transport will remain a great challenge, the European Commission warns. More people and greater economic affluence mean more mobility and more transport. Some studies suggest that the number of cars in the world will increase from around 700 million today to more than 3 billion in 20501, creating serious sustainability problems unless there is a transition towards lower and zero-emission vehicles and a different concept of mobility is introduced.
by Elena Ilie
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