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Walking is the most natural form of mobility; however cities have not always evolved to accommodate the needs of pedestrians and walking has in many cases been neglected in the development of transport systems. Improving the pedestrian environment can contribute significantly to meeting the challenges of climate change, air pollution and health.

This report aims to present decision-makers with hard evidence on the important place of walking in transport policies and provide guidelines for developing a safe environment conducive to walking. This is an essential contribution to creating liveable cities. Every single trip begins and ends by walking.

This Round Table publication discusses the policy and regulatory challenges posed by the rapidly changing port environment. The sector has changed tremendously in recent decades with technological and organisational innovation and a powerful expansion of trade. Although ports serve hinterlands that now run deep into continents, competition among ports is increasingly intense and their bargaining power in the supply chain has consequently weakened. Greater port throughput is meeting with increasing resistance from local communities because of pollution and congestion. In addition, local regulation is warranted but made difficult by the distribution of bargaining power among stakeholders. Higher-level authorities could develop more effective policies.

Large-scale port projects have irreversible effects on land use and multiple impacts on the local economy and local community. They affect the way that the regional and national economy operates as a whole, with major impacts on regional transport systems. Port planners make better decisions when these broad impacts are examined as part of the development of a national freight transport and logistics strategy. Private investment in port terminals is also facilitated by the certainty engendered by development of a national freight transport and logistics strategy.

This report examines the issues that need to be considered before the decision to proceed to costly expansions with long-life spans and a structural influence on the local and national economy. The report benefits from a case study of Chile, where plans for a major expansion of port capacity in the central part of the country are well advanced. Chile provides the detail for an examination of factors critical to decisions on container port investments anywhere: demand forecasts, change in liner shipping markets, hinterland transport capacity, competition between container terminals, and the framework for financing of investment.

One priority of European transport policy is to develop combined transport, a mode that is seen as providing a solution to the problem of road congestion while at the same time protecting the environment. Such transport is not developing as swiftly as might be hoped, however, and obstacles are arising in terms of, among others, productivity in multimodal terminals, terminal hauls, saturation of rail infrastructure, standardization of equipment, and the cost of transhipment facilities.

Round Table 91 deals with these issues and also draws attention to the positive aspects of the growth of
combined transport. The analysis is based on factual data and conducted from the broader perspective of the
contribution that combined transport can make to sustainable economic development.

This publication describes the main Acts of the Council of Ministers since the creation of the Conference in 1953 up until 1st January 2003. It pares down the Acts of the Council of Ministers to the essential and defines what constitutes the ECMT Acquis fifty years after the Conference's inception. One hundred and twenty documents (Resolutions, Declarations, Recommendations, Conclusions, etc.) have been reviewed by the Working Groups to select the key texts to be included in this document, an exercise which is the prerequisite to any review of the actual implementation of the main decisions of the Council of Ministers.

The full text of these documents can be found on the enclosed CD-ROM.

 

Europe's transport links with its periphery are still inadequate while some more central areas are plagued with traffic congestion. Since new investment projects to maintain infrastructure and increase its capacity cannot always be entirely funded out of the public purse, the question of using private sector funds arises.

Round Table 81 takes stock of the problems and considers the contribution private capital could bring in funding transport infrastructure.

Urban public transport services generally run at a large deficit. This has led public authorities to seek efficiencies, notably through private sector involvement. Support for the sector traditionally seeks to provide basic mobility services to all segments of society, including low-income users. Intervention is also required to manage the natural tendency towards concentration and market power in the provision of these transport services. Policy towards urban public transport is increasingly aimed at managing congestion on the roads and mitigating CO2 emissions by substituting for travel by car. 

Achieving coherent transport networks that are efficient and financially sustainable is a challenge for any public authority. This Round Table examines experience in integrating private management and capital with public transport policy objectives in a number of developed economies. For network operators, the Round Table concludes that innovation is the key to surviving the rapidly changing policy and regulatory environment.

The privatisation of the railways is a topical issue. Many countries are launching privatisation programmes
with a view to reducing the operating deficits of the railways, notably by making them more competitive.

However, at a time of high-speed trains, traffic congestion and concern over the environment, not everybody agrees on the merits of privatisation. This Round Table clarifies the issues, analyses a number of examples, and defines the potential obstacles to privatisation. It shows the difficulties inherent in such projects, and the scope for implementing them.

What are the main difficulties arising in connection with regional passenger transport? The drifting away of passengers, rising deficits and the deterioration of services offered are clearly matters of concern to the political bodies who would like to see such transport fulfilling its role as a public service.

Round Table 82 compares the experiences of a number of countries and seeks to determine what the prospects are for the development of regional transport.