The European Union viewpoint

Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area

Better modal choices will result from greater integration of the modal networks: airports, ports, railway, metro and bus stations, should increasingly be linked and transformed into multimodal connection platforms for passengers. Online information and electronic booking and payment systems integrating all means of transport should facilitate multimodal travel. An appropriate set of passengers’ rights has to accompany the wider use of collective modes (23.).

A higher share of travel by collective transport, combined with minimum service obligations, will allow increasing the density and frequency of service, thereby generating a virtuous circle for public transport modes. Demand management and land-use planning can lower traffic volumes. Facilitating walking and cycling should become an integral part of urban mobility and infrastructure design (31.).

By 2020, establish the framework for a European multimodal transport information, management and payment system (2.5. [8]).

The objective for the next decade is to create a genuine Single European Transport Area by eliminating all residual barriers between modes and national systems, easing the process of integration and facilitating the emergence of multinational and multimodal operators. A vigilant enforcement of the competition rules across all transport modes will complement the Commission’s actions in this area (34.).

The quality, accessibility and reliability of transport services will gain increasing importance in the coming years, inter alia due to the ageing of the population and the need to promote public transport. Attractive frequencies, comfort, easy access, reliability of services, and intermodal integration are the main characteristics of service quality. The availability of information over travelling time and routing alternatives is equally relevant to ensure seamless door-to-door mobility, both for passengers and for freight (41.).

The core network must ensure efficient multi-modal links between the EU capitals and other main cities, ports, airports and key land border crossing, as well as other main economic centres. It should focus on the completion of missing links – mainly cross-border sections and bottlenecks/bypasses – on the upgrading of existing infrastructure and on the development of multimodal terminals at sea and river ports and on city logistic consolidation centres (53.).

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Towards a new culture for urban mobility

European towns and cities are all different, but they face similar challenges and are trying to find common solutions.

Transport with a human face

Intermodality for people

In passenger transport, there is considerable scope for improvements to make travelling conditions easier and facilitate modal transfers, which are still highly problematic. Far too often passengers are put off using different modes of transport for a single journey. They have problems obtaining information and ordering tickets when the journey involves several transport companies or different means of transport, and transferring from one mode to another can be complicated by inadequate infrastructure (lack of parking space for cars or bicycles, for example).

The principle of subsidiarity notwithstanding, priority should be given in the short term to at least three fields of action:  integrated ticketing, baggage handling and continuity of journeys.