Ludwig- Maximilians- Universität München
Science & Technology Policy, Research activity: Transport
WebCT, 2004

The impact of EU′s common research efforts in TRANSPORT

by: Aleksandra Grzenda

This final essay deals with the EU’s treatment of transport, which includes the movement of goods (e.g. trade) as well as the movements of people (for example, tourism). Due to the general importance of transport and its long-standing tradition in international relations between European countries, this was an area of concern which has been explored by EU since its founding. In this short examination, we will be dealing with those European actions and regulations aimed specifically at improving the most crucial aspect of transport: cars.

Environment

One of the several aspects of automotive transport dealt with by the EU are the environmental problems brought about by automobiles. In general, cars create much more air pollution than trains, but some cars are much less harmful to the environment than others. Among the harmful by-products of car-driving are acid rain and green house gases. Since petrol prices in European countries are considerably higher than in the United States, privately owned cars are, on the whole, much smaller than in America. The gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, which have excited the American public to such a puzzling extent, are much more rarely seen on the road in Europe. Nevertheless, Europe has taken measures, beginning in the early 1980’s, to cut air pollution caused by car exhaust by instantiating emissions standards for cars and trucks (automotive transport is said to account for 26% of total carbon dioxide emissions). At the Kyoto Earth Summit (December 1997), Europe committed itself to decreasing CO₂ emissions by 8% compared to its 1990 level by the period of 2008-2012. On the one hand, automobile maufacturers receive pressure from the Commission to lower emissions in their latest models. On the other hand, EU-funded research is being carried out in order detect and examine hitherto unknown types of air pollution caused by driving and to develop cars which use alternative forms of propulsion. FEVER is a European research project aimed at the development of a car engine whose only waste product is water. REVEAL, another European research project, has the goal of situating low-cost detectors along the road which would record the emissions of those cars whose levels are to high so that the owners of these cars can then be sent warnings or fines. Some projects are focused on the infrastructure of road transport and its relation to the environment, such as the effects of salt put down on roads in order to melt ice and snow on the surrounding habitats. The environemental aspect thus represents a vast array of concerns and projects regarding automotive transport and its impact on the world.

Traffic jams

Between 1980 and 1997, the number of cars in European Union countries rose from 100 million to 170 million, and this increase in the number of automobiles on the road was accompanied by an increase in the number of traffic jams.¹ Traffic jams are undesirable for several reasons: aside from the obvious inconveniences they pose to everyday commuting, they also add to the amount of air pollution since the engines have to run for longer than they otherwise would. In order to avoid traffic jams, the EU has taken up actions such as CATRIV, which seeks to increase water transport oppurtunities in canal cities such as Venice, Amsterdam, and Lisbon. It is thought that the canals may be taken advantage of in such a way as to provide a reasonable source of alternative transportation throughout the cities thus cutting back on the number of drivers on the roads. For the rest of Europe, receiving reliable and accurate information concerning the conditions of roads and locations of traffic jams will allow drivers to plan their trips so as to avoid traffic jams—at least this is the thinking which motivates the Traffic Message Channel, a feature that will soon be accessible to drivers through their car radios. In addition, there are projects aimed at encouraging alternative transportation where possible, such as walking and cycling, and to encourage business owners to use the trains for shipping goods. The main obstacles to the latter are convenience due to a lack of transshipment facilities and price, which these EU projects are trying to improve. In considering how to deal with traffic jams, the underlying question in every case is this: “How can the people be convinced to give up their personal cars in favor of public transportation?”.

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1 As an interesting side note: “Motorway density in the EU in 1999 was six times higher than the average observed in the Central European candidate countries (CEC). On the other hand, the density of the rail network was a quarter less” (http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/Public/datashop/printcatalogue/ EN?catalogue=Eurostat&theme=7-Transports).