Urban transport is a central element of the urban fabric helping to ensure people have access to goods, services and employment. The continuing expansion of transport demand, heavily dominated by road transport, (further exaggerated by worn-out, high fuel-consuming and environmentally unfriendly vehicle fleet and transport infrastructure) raises serious concerns about the long-term sustainability of present mobility trends. Continuation of current transport trends within regions will aggravate the environment and health problems, particularly those related to air pollution, noise and land use. Rising congestion levels are hampering mobility, with increasing costs for the economy (0.5% of Community GDP for road traffic congestion, rising to 1% by 2010). The pollution generated by urban transport has an impact on public health. Nearly all (97%) of Europe’s urban citizens are exposed to air pollution levels that exceed EU quality objectives for particulates, 44% for ground-level ozone and 14% for NO2. In addition, the high level of motorized urban transport contributes to the increasingly sedentary life-styles with a range of negative effects on health and life expectancy, notably in relation to cardio-vascular disease. If nothing is done to reverse the traffic growth trend, CO2 emissions from transport can be expected to increase by around 40% by 2010 compared to 1990. Urban traffic accounts for 40% of transport-related CO2 emissions. |
