Promoting a European transport-technology strategy for Europe's future sustainable mobility

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the own-initiative report by Michael CRAMER (Greens/EFA, DE) on promoting a European transport-technology strategy for Europe’s future sustainable mobility in response to the Commission’s communication entitled ‘Research and innovation for Europe’s future mobility – Developing a European transport-technology strategy’.

Members consider that innovation is essential in order to create a smarter, safer and more intelligent transport system for the public, meet the environmental challenges facing the transport sector and achieve a low-carbon economy.

General principles: the report emphasises that a European transport-technology strategy for Europe’s future sustainable mobility should first and foremost promote quality of service the convenience of passengers and businesses, and sustainable mobility. It calls for a more efficient, coherent and targeted use of R&I in the setting and implementation of transport policy and invites the Commission and the Council to recognise the importance of the Horizon 2020 initiative and to finance it adequately.

Members stress that Union policies should be technologically neutral with regard to alternative technologies for transport and that harmonisation efforts must not be an obstacle to the development of innovative or alternative solutions in the field of transport, the diversity of the energy mix and deployment of smart communication technologies. They state that more efficiency is needed in the innovation chain, and more investments are needed in measures such as economic incentives to overcome barriers to deployment and market uptake (‘full-cycle commitments’).

The report calls for stronger support for the R&I activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), notably through easier access to EU funds and the reduction of administrative burdens, and highlights the importance of creating and maintaining employment and sustainable growth through R&I. It also stresses the need for greater simplification of the administrative procedures for research and innovation funding at European, national, regional, local and cross border levels, in order to establish a clear and transparent legal framework.

Proposed measures: Members believe that R&I in the area of sustainable mobility should:

• be based on the principle of integration, in particular through the abolition oftrans-border missing links (interconnections), increased compatibility between and within the systems (interoperability) as well as through the objectives of achieving a shift towards the combination of the most appropriate and sustainable transport mode for a given route (inter- and co-modality);
• be based on an integrative model in which interregional connections and cross-border missing links are accorded the highest importance, including in geographically fragmented regions;
• focus on the development of sustainable infrastructure elements.

The report stresses the need for stronger research efforts in to the fields of eco-social knowledge and urban and spatial planning, and in technologies in the fields of mobility demand and behavioural change aimed at better control of transport flows in order to improve safety for all road users, in particular the most vulnerable ones, such as children, elderly people, pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities or reduced mobility.

The report underlines the need for research on fair intra- and intermodal competition in the transport sector and confirms that efforts to achieve cleaner power for transport and mobility technologies should be linked to more efficient concepts and to better vehicle design. It emphasises that innovative solutions to reduce noise from all transport modes, in particular at the source, are urgently needed.

The Member States and the Commission are called upon to invest in intelligent transport system (ITS) research and see to it that it is carried out, thereby helping to reduce traffic congestion, increase European transport eco-efficiency and improve safety standards.

Members reiterate the need to improve and promote multimodal transport through integrated and electronic information and ticketing schemes, based on open-data solutions. R&I in this field should particularly be geared to freedom from barriers, interoperability, affordability, price transparency, user-friendliness and efficiency. They stress the need to develop innovative long-lasting infrastructure solutions – including greater development of information, payment and reservation systems – that particularly take into account barrier-free accessibility for all passengers, and specifically for disabled people and persons with reduced mobility (PRMs).