Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the Commission, responsible for transport, spoke to press conference on the adoption of the White paper on Transport 2050. "Today we present our Roadmap for the Future of Transport 2050. Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens and it is critical to the development of a Europe’s business sector. We need a competitive European Transport System which delivers transport for people", he said…
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Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the Commission, responsible for transport, spoke to press conference on the adoption of the White paper on Transport 2050. "Today we present our Roadmap for the Future of Transport 2050. Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens and it is critical to the development of a Europe’s business sector. We need a competitive European Transport System which delivers transport for people", he said.
That means:
- Less congestion
- Fewer emissions
- More employment and more growth.
- More revenues
- More reliability and quality services
- More security and safety
- And critically, a European transport system that is less dependant on oil.
To get there we have meet very challenging goals by 2050. The key numbers are zero, 40, 50 and 60.
That means:
- No more conventionally fuelled cars in our city centres by the middle of the century
- A 40% cut in shipping emissions. 40% use of low carbon fuels in aviation
- And a 50% shift in middle distance journeys by both passengers and freight from road to rail and other modes.
All of that will contribute to a 60% overall cut in carbon emissions, reduce Europe’s dependence on oil and provide a major opportunity for Europe’s transport manufactures to compete on world markets.
We all take transport for granted.
- When we travel to work
- When we go away on holidays
- Or for the millions of businesses that fuel the economy and trade in goods and services from the four corners of the world.
Curbing mobility is not an option. Nor is business as usual.
Action cannot be delayed, infrastructure takes many years to plan and build. Trains, planes and ships last for decades. So the choices we make to day will determine the shape of transport in 2050.
That’s why we are acting now to achieve a transformation of Europe’s current transport systems.
We need a fully integrated Single European Transport Area by 2050, at the service of business, enterprise and citizens across the continent.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
