Here is the Board’s Proposal for the 2024 CEEP’s Transport Chapter.
It will be put to vote in a motion at the 13th Council Meeting. Feel free to discuss it here or even submit counterproposals or amendments to the discussion here. Please note that although this discussion and thread is open to all pirates, final motions and amendments need to be supported and submitted by a Council Member though their delegates.
Transport
0. Transportation for all
Transport plays a crucial role in the European economy, ensuring the free movement of individuals and goods, but it is also responsible for a large part of our emissions and is a major source of air pollution in our cities.
Decarbonising the transportation sector and achieving environmentally friendly, sustainable mobility is necessary for tackling the climate and energy crises, enhancing citizens’ quality of life, and making our cities more livable spaces. The fundamentals of our mobility concept stand on principles of sustainability, intermodality and interconnectedness. We believe that it is essential for all Europeans to have easy access to fast, reliable, and environmentally friendly transportation.
We are committed to supporting public transport and rail networks. By investing in these modes of transportation, we aim to provide convenient, efficient, and sustainable mobility options for people across Europe. Enhancing public transport systems, such as buses, trams, and subways, will encourage more people to choose these alternatives over private vehicles, reducing congestion and emissions.
Additionally, by expanding and improving rail networks, we can offer faster and more reliable intercity and regional connections, making train travel an attractive option for commuters and long-distance travellers. Our goal is to create a robust, multi-modal and interconnected transport network that meets the needs of all individuals and contributes to a greener and more accessible Europe.
1. Green cities
Shared mobility and Energy Laziness Alternative fuels cannot save our planet while we continue to waste energy. We support a Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities initiative: where you can walk, you should not drive, and where you can drive together, you should not ride solo.
These principles aim to increase public transportation usage, decrease the number of cars on the road, prioritize pedestrians and bicycles in green cities, and even save us billions of euros daily in productive time when commuters are stuck in traffic jams.
Accessible and efficient public transportation
Public transportation has to be affordable and accessible. Efficient public transportation systems, bicycle highways, and priority bus lanes reduce pollution and noise levels in cities.
In the long term, we envisage the use of bikes and public transport to access transport hubs, trains for domestic travel inside the EU, and planes primarily to reach overseas destinations. Sharing is caring! Our priority here is adequacy: the total cost of any solution (including long-term maintenance) has to be proportional to the overall public benefit. We support innovative solutions like autonomous truck trains, smart roads and parking lots, freight trams or modular buses where appropriate.
Open Data for Greener Cities
To encourage cities to achieve the status of European Green Cities, we will measure pollution and noise levels in cities, and use this information to reward cities that demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability. We believe in an open data system for transportation that is accessible to all, with open data tools developed for companies and regional governments to easily link into. We will ensure the security and privacy of personal data while making transportation data accessible to all. We will use open standards to ensure the interoperability of transportation systems across all EU countries. This will make transportation in Europe function similarly within individual member states. We aim to promote the development of a transportation system that is efficient, accessible, and environmentally friendly.
Supporting alternative fuels infrastructure
Whilst individual cars remain the main source of air pollution in cities and should not be the preferred mode of transportation, we respect the freedom of choice of each individual. The automotive industry has the means to become a leader in the transition towards clean mobility. Enshrining the right to park and right to charge principles and fair access to install charging infrastructure on existing fossil fuels filling stations along the TEN-T network in European legislation will ensure smoother adoption of clean technologies and accelerate the decarbonisation of the European transportation sector.
2. Local Cross-border Travel
We believe that efficient and accessible transportation can connect the various regions of Europe. We will expand and improve upon existing transnational connections, that will go beyond the traditional national transportation schemes. The EU should support and safeguard the development of fair transport solutions in border regions that allow efficient and organic movement across national borders. Utilizing both proven and sustainable transport modes such as rail as well as new dynamic options (bicycle and car sharing systems, on-demand public transport) we will strive towards boosting the peripheral regions of EU countries that are often the most underdeveloped and under-connected in their respective countries.
European High-Speed rail network
We believe that the future of transportation in Europe should prioritize modern, efficient, and sustainable systems that can connect us all. That is why we propose to support policies that prioritise the expansion of a high-speed rail network that would connect all EU capitals, utilizing new materials and technologies to make travel more silent and connect to existing rail networks.
A high-speed rail network would greatly improve the efficiency of travel in Europe, reducing travel times and increasing productivity. This would have positive impacts on businesses reducing costs and improving productivity. It would also greatly improve the accessibility of remote regions, making it easier for people to travel to and from areas that may have previously been difficult to reach. This would have positive impacts on the local economies of these areas, making it easier for people to visit these regions for tourism or leisure.
In addition to these benefits, an interconnected high-speed rail network will help to reduce traffic congestion on roads and highways, improving overall transportation efficiency and reducing travel times. By reducing the number of cars on the road, a high-speed rail network will also have a positive impact on the environment, reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable travel.
3. Simple rules and Smart technologies
European transport rules are full of exceptions. To get these rules aligned, competitive salary and working conditions for all professional drivers across the continent must be implemented, including truck driving ban harmonization. We support progressive legislation for autonomous, driverless cars to settle liability issues and keep the EU on the top of the automotive innovation ladder. Different modes of transport should be made legally equal, have a transparent system of subsidies and their cost should reflect all applicable externalities.
Big Brother on the Road
We aim for a single, publicly controlled, easy-to-use toll satellite system for commercial transport on highways, allowing the use of open-source apps, enabling the processing of anonymized big data and thus improving both municipal and interstate traffic management. We insist that eCall and other similar movement recording devices remain optional and their data strictly anonymous so that participation in any such transport monitoring activity remains a transparent tool of choice with public benefits, rather than a compulsory means of government surveillance using outsourced contractors and opaque control mechanisms.
Ride-hailing Legislation
Large EU metropolitan areas are currently in legal limbo regarding the ride-hailing apps (e.g. Taxify, UBER), thereby hindering further research and development of those projects. We believe that the legislation has to reflect the current technology development and that one common framework for ride-hailing apps needs to exist on the EU level, allowing precise satellite navigation and similar technologies to be recognized as a certified system for the calculation of distances. Legalizing ride-hailing apps will be a great benefit for rural areas and less wealthy individuals, and offer more certainty to gig workers.