These are TRANSFORuM's supercondensed conclusions. For a more detailed versions visit our library.

TRANSFORuM nuggets

 

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Urban Mobility

  • Transforming urban mobility requires an open approach allowing alignment of European goals to local visions and benefits.

  • Replacing conventionally fuelled vehicles and fuels with alternative ones is important but not sufficient for competitive and resource-efficient urban mobility.

  • Limiting the use of conventionally-fuelled vehicles can come at low costs through promotion of measures such as

    –  integrated transport and land use planning

    –   freight partnerships

    –  integrated public transport systems

    –  promotion of walking and cycling

    –  charging road uses for external effects

  • Political momentum for change only exist in few cities; many more cities must be engaged in transforming urban transport through mechanisms such as

    –  networks and covenants of cities committing to change

    –  platforms of local stakeholders

    –  campaigns to raise awareness

    –  support form EU and national level

  • National and state frameworks must support European goals and local actions,

    –  systematic review of national policies to enable cities to contribute to European goals

    –  reinforce standards and funding for clean fuel infrastructure

    –  reduce counterproductive tax incentives

    –  extend legal framework to enable charging and restrictions for polluting vehicles

  • Communication, coordination and knowledge consolidation are essential to advance the learning curve

Long-distance freight

  • Efficient governance of corridors is at least as important as technical standardisation.

  • Lower "last mile" barrier through support for city logistics service centres and support for innovative transhipment technology.

  • Substantial capacity increases may be achieved by making more efficient use of existing network/ infrastructure, e.g. through maintenance and modest upgrades.

  • Port handling and port hinterland connections are key areas for increasing intermodal shares, and better utilize waterborne transport capacity.

  • Especially to achieve the 2050 goal, major investments in rail infrastructure, terminals and ports will also be needed. Flexible policy tools needed.

  • Realising a level playing field is important in all scenarios.

    –  Internalisation of external costs of road transport

    –  Better enforcement of current regulations in road freight.

  • But much improved quality of services (reliability and booking) and reduced costs within rail and waterborne transport is also necessary.

  • Improved communication and cooperation in a liberalised market is needed!

 

High-speed Rail

  • “Tripling the length” of the high-speed rail (HSR) network only makes sense if it goes hand in hand with tripling demand for HSR
  • The relative competitiveness of HSR needs to be improved (e.g. internalisation of costs of road transport, better pricing management within the rail sector)
  • HSR stations are key nodes in the wider universe of multi-modal travel and require good planning and sufficient resources.
  • HSR services have to be smoothly integrated with local, regional, national networks.
  • Increasing HSR capacity can mean new tracks – but careful planning / improvement of bottleneck nodes, tilting trains, technical standards etc. can go a long way.
  • The HSR experience matters greatly (accessibility, convenience, service)
  • There is no universally best model of HSR. The ideal HSR system is country specific and priorities for new high-speed line construction should first be identified nationally.
  • Many cross-border and inter-city links  do not currently generate sufficient demand to justify the construction of new HS lines

 

 

Multimodal transport information, management and payment

  • We need a common vision and understanding of how a multimodal, information, management and payment system should look like in Europe.
  • Many different but often proprietary solutions already exist and must be considered.
  • Independent start-ups could do much more if the availability of data was improved.
  • Legitimate business interests must be considered and investors need stable conditions.
  • We need to get a clearer understanding how much integration travellers actually need and want.
  • There can be a trade-off situation between data privacy and convenience. The appropriate balance needs to be defined by users themselves.
  • Minimum levels of services must be defined.
  • Integration of local and long distance transport is essential.
  • Defined data exchange formats are necessary to ensure compatibility.
  • Private operators must be on board to ensure full benefits.
  • On-trip information is getting more and more relevant.
  • Social media can push development by established operators.

 

 

Key TRANSFORuM lessons:

  • All four selected White Paper goals are helpful to trigger progress in the respective fields
  • We do not only need "lighthouses" – systematic transfer and take-up of good practices is also needed
  • The balance between infrastructure investments and low-hanging fruits needs to be kept
  • A “culture of change” is required, including commitment to joint visions and mutual learning
  • The TRANSFORuM roadmaps helped structuring and orienting debates – further deliberative fora should be supported for continuing these debates and fostering progress towards a more sustainable transport system.