The transport sector in Europe, as in the world at large, has made enormous efficiency gains during the last decades, thanks to deregulation of markets, new technologies and customer-tailored services. As a result, mobility has grown substantially and just-in-time logistics systems have enhanced Europe's competitiveness. However, due to growing traffic and an increasing imbalance in the use of the various transport modes and infrastructure, the transport system in the European Union is showing signs of inefficiency from a socio-economic point of view. Increasingly, transport appears as a source of environmental and social costs to its citizens. Congestion, pollution and a projected continued growth in freight volumes are putting at risk the efficiency gains that the transport sector has made. The author suggests that a business-as-usual scenario, based on modal policies, is not likely to be able to cope with the complexity of today's and tomorrow's mobility requirements in a sustainable manner. That is why a systems approach to transport is called for, no longer based on traditionally modal policies. The objective, therefore, is to develop a framework for an optimal integration of different modes so as to enable an efficient and cost-effective use of the transport system through seamless, customer-oriented door-to-door services whilst favouring competition between transport operators. The Commission advocates an intermodal transport system which encourages co-operation and complementarity between the transport modes and which favours competition between transport operators.
Abstract