TRANSPORT POLICIES * Europe - Commission's White Paper: back to forced modal shift

The European Commission its new White Paper on Transport, a transportation vision on the horizon

Brussels,Belgium -Truck & Business, by Claude Yvens -29 March 2011:  ...  For freight transport, the watchwords of this new version, which will shape European policies in the years to come, are the modal shift, the abolition of barriers, new methods of financing infrastructure and wide application the polluter-pays principle... Here some points:
- Options chosen for the transport of goods in urban areas: "The interface between transport over long distances and the 'last mile' should be organized more efficiently. We must limit individual deliveries, which is the less efficient route"

* Encourage the vehicles clean, safe and quiet for all modes of transport

* Aim city logistics 'zero-emissions' in 2030

* Promote the procurement of low emission fleet vehicles for delivery

- Selected options for transporting goods over medium distances (less than 300 km): "It is unlikely that more efficient vehicles and cleaner fuels are sufficient to reduce emissions sufficiently. In addition, they do not solve the problem of congestion. But these items will remain mostly on the road"


- Selected options for transporting goods over long distances: "Beyond 300 km, the decarbonization of technical solutions are limited, and multimodality becomes more attractive to shippers" ...