Transport at a crossroads: indicators tracking transport and environment in the European Union
Transport has played a significant role in Europe's economic growth during the recent boom years; more construction, shopping and tourism have all ultimately relied on more transport. In recent months governments across the EU have reacted to the economic crisis with stimulus packages. Some of the measures proposed are likely to perpetuate the link between transport and the wider economy, whereas well designed schemes can reduce transport volumes and realise a shift to less polluting modes of transport without changing the underlying economic activity. They could improve the transport efficiency of the economy, effectively decoupling transport growth from economic expansion. This report examines performance of the transport sector vis-a-vis environmental performance and concludes that there are plenty of options for synergies between different policy initiatives but also a risk of measures counteracting each other.