Transport

An efficient and flexible transport system is essential for our economy and our quality of life. But the current transport system poses significant and growing threats to the environment and human health, and even defeats its own objectives (‘too much traffic kills traffic’). The drastic growth in road transport and aviation is the main driver behind this development.

The sector is the fastest growing consumer of energy and producer of greenhouse gases in the EU. Technology and fuel improvements have resulted in marked decreases of emissions of certain pollutants. Yet urban air quality in most European cities is still poor. Roads and railways are cutting natural and agricultural areas in ever-smaller pieces, threatening the existence of wild plants and animals. Traffic noise causes human health problems, and over 100 people die on the EU’s roads every day on average.

Transport policies increasingly recognise the need to restrain transport growth and to improve the market shares of the various transport modes. Fair and efficient pricing, better targeted investments, and spatial planning are some of the policy tools that can help to achieve this.