Transport and Communications Group
NSC - Transport & Communications Group
Annual report 2001-2002
Introduction
This report summarises the work of the NSC Transport & Communications
group since the last NSC General Assembly in Aalborg, June 2001
The Transport & Communications group in brief
The main aim of the group is to work for safe, sustainable and
efficient transport & communications and improved access to the
information society. Among the key issues are: Sustainable
transport, intermodal transport and sea transport
Leadership and administration (appointed on 27 October 2000.)
Chair: Councillor Jan Hallberg Västra Götaland region Sweden Vice-Chair:
Vacant (to be recruited) Co-ordinator : Jon Halvard Eide, Vest-Agder Norway
Membership
The group has got about 30 registered members. In addition, a
number of regions are on a correspondence list receiving information about
the activities of the group.
Group meetings
The group has held three ordinary meetings since the last General
Assembly. In:
-Narvik (Nordland region, Norway) 8-9 October 2001 -Inverurie (Aberdeenshire,
Scotland) 24-25 January 2002
-Aarhus (Aarhus region, Denmark) 17April 2002
In average about 15 persons - coming from 12 different regions in
Scotland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have attended the
meetings.
Other events organised by the group
Conference on Sustainable transport, Aarhus,Denmark, 18 -19 April 2002
The Transport & Communications group and the NSC Environment group
jointly organised a conference on Sustainable transport in Aarhus region,
Denmark 18 -19 April 2002- following up on a seminar on the same issue in
Brugge in May 2001. The conference was hosted by the County of Aarhus -
providing excellent facilities and delicious meals - and co-sponsored by the
NSC Executive Committee. The conference had 97 participants, representing
Regional and Local councils, State agencies, Business organisations and
industries, transport operators/companies, Ports, as well as Research
institutions and universities. About 25 NSC member regions from all 8 member
countries were represented, including about 30 regional and local
politicians. NSC Vice President Ms. Gunn Marit Helgesen, chaired the
conference.
The main issue of the conference was to address what politicians and
planners can do to promote and deliver sustainable transport in the North
Sea region - focusing on the presentation of best practice examples within
various fields of sustainable transport. For this purpose, the conference
organised parallel sessions with the presentation of 30 best practice
examples within the following fields:
- · Alternative Fuels ·
- Public Transport ·
- Behavioural Change ·
- Goods ·
- Transport planning
Excerpts from keynote speeches
Mr. Rolf Annerberg, EU Commission DG for Environment) -The
transport system in Europe is not sustainable, and we are drifting further
away from the goal if the current trends continue -The EU Commission
acknowledges the importance of the regions and the significance of
conferences like this in the promotion of sustainable transport in Europe
-The EU Commission needs good practical examples in sustainable transport,
and the NSC is encouraged to make them available to the Commission
Major political initiatives on the EU level:
- White Paper on the Common transport policy 2010 - time to decide
(September 2001)
- The Sixth Environment Action Programme 2001-2010
-The EU Council has acknowledged the necessity of breaking the link
between economic growth and the usual corresponding growth in transport
-The implementation of the Trans European Network projects (TEN-T) would be
followed by an environment impact evaluation.
-New directive on alternative fuels - reducing taxes on the less pollutive
fuels
The Commission is considering introducing the same kind of measures on
shipping emissions as already in place for land transport.
The Commission is working to develop an impartial mechanism for monitoring
the sustainability of transport - TERM.
Don Nutt - Steer Davies Gleave (Consultancy)
Necessary conditions for bringing about travel behaviour change:
-People must be aware of alternatives to the car
-People must know how to exercise the choices between available alternatives
-People need to know they will gain personal benefits from the travel
habit change
Relevant policy interventions to promote Travel Behaviour Change:
-Workplace travel plans
-School travel plans and safer routes to schools -Personalised journey
planning and advice -Videoconferencing and Tele-Working
-Bus Quality Partnerships (BQPs)
-Car Clubs
The options above have to a greater and lesser degree proven their
potential to transfer travels from private cars towards more sustainable
forms of transport.
Mr. Nutt concluded that there is a wide range of possible policy
interventions available to NSC member authorities within the area of
sustainable transport.
How to Educate and Influence the General Public towards more
sustainable transport behaviour", by Stephen Byfield (Managing
Director of public affairs consultancy in UK)
Two basic questions:
-How to get and keep political will?
-Can education encourage shift towards more sustainable forms of transport?
Answers:
-Delivery of public transport solutions requires acceptance at the
senior political level.
-Public transport planning is more a political, PR- and marketing related
issue than technical.
-Explain the benefits of public transport to the people -Mobilise support
from "third parties" that will benefit from good public transport
to outflank protest (e.g. against fuel prices, parking restrictions) from
die-hard car users
-Use opinion polling to tailor campaign to the popular mode and preferences.
-"Stick (restrictions, fees) and carrots" (improved services) is
the only way
-Need the carrot (improved public transport services, good alternatives to
private driving) in place before the stick is applied
The "secrets" to making it work:
-Requires face to face contact with the people
-Should target big traffic generators - schools, major employers etc
-Needs backing up with high profile local PR campaign
-------------------------
We hope to be able to organise conferences like this on a recurring basis
in the future - possibly as a part of a long run NSC sustainable transport
programme (See separate section below).
An article on the conference appears in the last volume of the NSC
Newsletter. A summary of the best practice examples from each session, as
well as an excerpt from the corresponding debate [to be uploaded] can be
downloaded from a special section of the NSC Home page at http://www.northsea.org/news
Current issues & priorities of the group
Influencing EU policies on transport - response to EU White Paper
on transport
In December the group issued a response to the EU White Paper on the
Common Transport policy for 2010 - Time to decide. The response was
addressed to the EU Commission Directorate General (DG) for Transport and
Energy. The response is also being distributed to the national Transport
ministries of the NSC member countries. The response may be seen as a way of
fulfilling NSC's ambition of gaining a higher political profile in Europe,
as spelled out in the new strategy paper - From Vision to action.
The group believes that the White Paper's analysis of the current
situation is good. The group also welcomes the decision to redress the
balance between modes, away from road transport towards more sustainable
forms of transport. The need to de-couple economic growth and transport
growth is also supported.
However the group believes that the solutions proposed by the White Paper
are inadequate in three particular areas, and that a paradigm shift in these
areas is required to achieve the objectives laid down by the White Paper
it-self.
The White Paper fails to address the transport needs of peripheral/outlying
regions in a proper way. Too much attention is paid to core regions. When
there is a discussion of peripheral areas there is a preoccupation with
linking the periphery to the core, and too little attention is paid on the
need to link the peripheries closer to each other.
The policy proposed in the White Paper is not sufficient to tackle the
problems of the perceived acquired right to personal mobility, such as
congestion, emissions, noise, traffic accidents and land use. The response
is calling for a more active role on the part of the EU Commission in this
respect, including support for the promotion of best practice examples in
the regions.
- Modal - more emphasis on Sea Transport
The group believes that Sea transport, especially Short Sea Shipping,
needs to be given greater consideration and investment to redress the modal
imbalance and to solve freight transport problems. Consequently it is
believed that the White Paper in general puts too much emphasis on
rail-investments. (At the same time we acknowledge that there is a need for
rail-investments in areas where Short Sea Shipping is not a viable
alternative).
It is argued that Short Sea Shipping could be the link in achieving
objectives for shifting the balance away from road transport and improving
access to peripheral areas. This would reduce congestion between the core
and periphery, whilst bringing peripheral areas closer together.
The Commission DG for Transport and Energy replied to our White
Paper response in a round and diplomatical form. The letter from the
Commission is addressing the "peripherality concerns" and assumes
concurring interests with the NSC on this issue. The "perceptional"
dimension of our White Paper response is however not addressed. Finally, the
Commission seems to welcome our offer to work with them on issues like Short
Sea Shipping. The letter from the Commission should primarily be regarded as
a starting point and a reference for future contacts.
The group has in various ways contributed to the development of CPMR's
position to the White Paper. Our response has been distributed among the
CPMR member commissions and translated into French and Spanish.
Representatives of the group have furthermore attended two meetings in the
CPMR Intercommission transport group. Two members of the group also attended
a major CPMR seminar on European transport policy in Santiago de Compostela
in Spain on 22 March, with 130 participants from 13 countries. The
Commissioner for Energy & Transport, and Vice President of the EU
Commission, Ms. Loyola de Palacio, was the keynote speaker. Besides, there
were representatives from the Spanish EU Presidency, the EU Parliament and
the Committee of Regions, as well as representatives from national
ministries, transport companies, research institutions and universities, and
from CPMR member regions. At this seminar we had the opportunity to present
the main points of our White Paper response and one member of the group was
also asked to chair one of the sessions.
The group finds it natural and useful to also work through the CPMR on
this issue because the NSC shares many common concerns with the other CPMR
regions. Such concerns are thus assumed to be more effectively addressed as
part of a joint effort - strengthening our position towards the EU system.
The group will however maintain a "bilateral" channel in relation
to the EU Commission in order to address more North Sea specific issues and
concerns.
The group will work to develop the White Paper response according to
relevant points brought up at the aforementioned events and will present a
revised version. Furthermore, we will try to publish the response in a
relevant European vide journal. The group will also try to enlist a more
comprehensive, concrete and committed response from the EU Commission -
testing out their stated readiness to co-operate with the NSC on issue like
Short Sea Shipping.
The development of a Sustainable transport programme as an Interreg
IIIB-bid
The NSC Transport & Communications and Environment
thematic groups hope to develop a permanent Sustainable Transport programme
as an Interreg IIIB-bid. Such a programme would hopefully raise the
awareness and strengthen the efforts in promoting sustainable transport on a
permanent basis in the North Sea regions.
The great challenge in promoting sustainable transport is how to develop
a transport system which is able to promote economic and social welfare
without depleting natural resources, destroying the environment or harming
human health. The programme intends to apply a broad concept of
sustainability including environmental, economical and social aspects.
The main elements of such a programme will be:
-Recurring conferences of the Aarhus-type -Development of best practice
example tool kits -Launching a mobile education and awareness campaign in
the North Sea region
-Website development
-PR & media related work.
Aberdeenshire has agreed to co-ordinate the development of the project in
an initial phase - up to the September (or possibly later) Interreg
IIIB-application deadline. The selection of lead partner and other
administrative arrangements will have to be decided later. A project like
this, with the aim of disseminating best practice almost by nature needs
many partners to work properly. Potential partners to the programme will be
asked to commit contributions in kind - equivalent to an annual worth of €
5000 in working time over three years
To have more information about this programme and/or to register an
interest to participate, please contact Mr. Dennis Freeman, Aberdeenshire
Council
mail: dennis.freeman@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
The programme will be presented in more depth during my verbal
presentation of this report at the annual business meeting of the General
Assembly in Norwich on 21June
Increased co-operation with other NSC thematic groups
The group has decided to further explore the potential for
co-operation with other NSC thematic groups. Given the scope of thematic
overlap and common challenges across the groups, increased co-operation is
assumed to benefit the work of all the groups. The group has found the
thematic overlap to be greatest in relation to the Business Development
group and will start to explore the potential with this group first.
Business-related overlaps exist among others within the fields of ICT, rural
development, Sea transport and ports. It will also be considered how the
business perspective could be included in the sustainability work (Cf. the
economical dimension of this concept). The Co-ordinator of the Business
Development group has been invited to the next meeting in the Transport
group in order to further explore the potential for co-operation on these
and other relevant matters.
Exploring the potential for co-operation with the Baltic Sea
Commission
At the last meeting in Aarhus on 17 April, the group decided to
further explore the co-operation potential with the Baltic Sea Commission.
The Baltic Sea region (BSR) has a great potential for economic growth and
there is an increasing demand for transport & communications facilities/services
in the BSR. Sea links are of special importance in this picture. The
existence of common features, interests and institutional frameworks (CPMR,
Northern Dimension Intercom group) should thus constitute a good basis for
developing a co-operation with the BSC within the field of transport and
communication. It is assumed that such a co-operation could strengthen our
position towards the EU, as well as within the CPMR. The co-operation with
the BSC should be focused on areas where a clear common interest exists,
such as Short Sea Shipping, harbours and in relation to EU transport policy.
Relevant forms of co-operation could be exchange of information on
activities and positions, mutual "observership", informal
consultations and possible co-ordination of positions within the CPMR and/or
towards the EU White Paper and the Trans European Network (TEN-T).
Start to approach the issue of Information &Communication
technologies (ICT)
According the terms of reference the group is committed to
improve the access to and the application of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) in society, with particular reference to public services,
small/medium enterprises and isolated areas.
The next meeting of the group (31.10 -01.11.02, see below) will explore
how these provisions of the terms of reference could be made operational and
try to delimit the scope of the work within the ICT area. The group
particularly feels a need to further investigate and if possible clarify how
different aspects of ICT affect transport needs/volumes. ICT as a means of
making transport more efficient and sustainable is another relevant angle
and point of departure.
Planned meetings and events
- Meeting of the CPMR Intercommssion Transport group, Marseilles, 1July
The meeting is expected to elaborate on and derive proposals/actions from
the CPMR position paper on the EU White Paper on transport.
- The next meeting of the group will be held in Heide, Schleswig &
Holstein region 31 October - 1 November 2002
Special themes:
- ICT and transport
- Business aspects of transport
Kristiansand, 24 May 2001,
Jon Halvard Eide Co-ordinator NSC Transport & Communications group
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