Motorized road transport: Economic and environmental costs- A policy assessment framework

Abstract

Transport plays an essential role in economic and social development and in the creation of wealth for the societies. At the same time, transport contributes considerably to many environmental problems, e.g. air pollution and noise. According to European Commission's statistics, in the year 2000, the transport sector contributed 29% of all CO2 emissions in the EU, of which road transport was responsible for 83%. Another serious problem, with environmental and economic impacts, is congestion. Building new transport infrastructure is unlikely to give a reliable solution to any problem and thus the need for new approaches in transport policy has been recognized. In this paper, a policy assessment framework is presented, in order to assist the responsible bodies and policy makers to draw up a strategy for sustainable transport and mobility and to propose some simple measures for tackling the adverse effects of road transport. © 2009 WIT Press.