More and better public transport is part of the solution towards an eco-efficient economy
During a recent meeting with Åsa Torstensson the Swedish Minister and EU Council President responsible for Transport, Tony Depledge, chairman of the UITP EU Committee emphasised the strong support of UITP for the Swedish Presidency’s overarching priority towards an eco-efficient economy
“Eco-efficiency in cities means community-focused growth that is more space and energy efficient” said Tony Depledge. “The current development model of cities is not viable; the severity of climate change and the looming prospect of peak oil mean that we can no longer delay. The European institutions must play a facilitating role to bring about a shift towards more sustainable urban
transport patterns. This means enabling a change in personal mobility choices leading to modal shift towards public transport.”
Speaking about the proposal on passenger rights, currently under discussion in the Council, Tony Depledge underlined that “UITP Members are committed to customer focus ass an essential element in the development of high quality public transport. However, the passenger rights proposal under discussion ignores the specific characteristics of local and regional passenger transport by bus.”
For that reason, Tony Depledge proposed to bring the professional knowledge and advice of UITP into the current European decision-making process through the organization of regular meetings with the Council Presidency.
