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The European Commission's Latest Study Tackles Demographic
Change as an Emerging Challenge in Transport
 In 2001, the Directorate General for Transport and Energy of the
European Commission published the white paper “European transport policy for 2010:
Time to decide“, establishing a strategic agenda for
European transport policy for 2010. More targeted annual strategies have been
drawn up since 2006, and this year the Commission initiated a debate on the
main challenges and opportunities in the transport sector in the long term. The
final report on this strategy was released in March 2009.
The “Transvisions” report summarises current and future mobility issues
privileging transversal approaches such as environmental, economic and social
aspects. The specific issue of older people’s mobility was mentioned in the
chapter “Mobility of the elderly”, and the Commission referred to the improvement
of transport systems as an essential condition for bringing about a change in attitudes: “Even if
collective means of public transport, such as rail, are not currently preferred by older
people, this could change with significant improvements in terms of quality
(comfort, accessibility, information) and adapted tariffs.”
These “visions” or challenges in relation to
older people should in fact be regarded as including all age groups and all stakeholders in order to achieve a
sustainable transport system, and the development of such a system is directly
linked to the initiatives carried out by local actors. Moreover, the pursuit of
well-being for older (or not so old) people should be sustainably supported in order to attain this
ambitious paradigm shift.
The “Transvisions” study is referred to as a discussion tool
for the Communication on the Future of Transport, which the Commission
is expecting to adopt in June 2009. A high-level conference also took place on March 9 and 10, 2009, giving stakeholders an opportunity to express their opinions
on the future development of transport in Europe.
For more information, see:
Source: European Commission (DG Energy and Transport)
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