2.10: Transport
To assess the impacts of transport on human health and the environment with the help of transport and environment indicators,
models and scenarios. This will include, inter alia, tracking progress towards environmentally related policy targets for
transport and seeking to demonstrate possible new solutions for access and sustainable mobility.
Other Information:
Analysis - Transport is an integral part of most of the activities that together form the basis of a nation's Gross Domestic
Product. Transport volumes grow more or less in parallel with the economy and thus influence a number of environmental issues,
with climate change, habitat loss, noise and air pollution the most prominent. Even if the growth in emissions of greenhouse
gases from the transport sector has slowed recently, projections for the future foresee a notable growth if no additional
mitigating measures are implemented. The EU is therefore considering a range of policies and measures such as inclusion of
aviation in the EU emission trading system; reducing CO2 emissions from cars; and infrastructure charging schemes. However,
we should avoid transport being only associated with climate change; the Greening Transport package is a step in broadening
out the discussion. To a large degree transport policy development is guided by the aim of creating a more 'sustainable transport
system', with access and mobility at its heart. But as yet these terms are not operational and do not facilitate environmental
improvements. In response to the increasingly ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets there is a need to develop sector
specific targets. To ensure any ancillary benefits these targets should also cover all the main aspects (air emissions, noise,
habitat loss, etc) of a 'sustainable transport system' and its use. Action - We will achieve our objective by: • maintaining,
developing and streamlining transport and environment indicators and working with Eurostat, ITF/OECD and the European Commission
to supplement the EEA's data collection via Eionet partners in particular in the areas of transport noise assessments, land
use and patterns of goods transport; • producing indicator-based assessments of the transport sector's progress in integrating
environmental considerations into its policies as input to EEA's regular integrated and cross‑cutting assessments; • analysing
traffic's contribution to air quality and noise in Europe's cities; • building geographically specific transport emission
inventories; • informing the process of improving the environmental performance of international aviation and maritime transport,
and their inclusion into a post Kyoto regime on climate change mitigation, through the provision of relevant information focusing
mainly on emission of air pollutants and of greenhouse gases; and • developing scenarios for a sustainable transport system,
examining energy efficiency, sustainable mobility and access, and synergies with neighbourhood and district development by
identifying and characterising different possible measures, technology options, demand management options and user behavior
options, in cooperation with the transport industry, JRC and European Commission services.
Indicator(s):
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