Director General of the European Commission’s DG Move, Henrik Hololey, outlines the challenges and opportunities for the European transport sector, including climate change, as well as research and innovation.
This metaphor may have been overused, but it has never been more true. Transportation today is at a crossroads. Transportation activity has never been higher and continues to rise. By 2050, passenger transport is expected to grow by 42% and freight transport by 60%. At the same time, our transportation network has never experienced such pressure before. Capacity shortages are already evident for some modes of transport, and unless we act, the pressure will become even tougher. For example, if capacity remains the same, it is estimated that by 2040, annual demand for flights in Europe will exceed the number of potential flights by 1.5 million flights. This means that 160 million passengers will not be able to fly.
In addition to limited capacities, the challenge posed by climate change has become a major challenge for the transportation sector. We need to intensify our efforts to ensure sustainable, energy-efficient and safe mobility. At the same time, we need to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the changing transportation landscape, where digitalization, big data and the collaborative economy play a much larger role. These changes profoundly impact the way people move, but they also impact the way we, stakeholders and policy makers, ensure that our regulatory environment is fit for purpose.
To make the most of these developments, it is clear that we need research and innovation. It is logical that the Commission’s research policy is inextricably linked to its transport policy. Whether we seek to make transport more sustainable, more efficient, safer, or more automated – progress towards all of these goals is possible through EU-funded research.
The European Commission cannot be the sole source of funding for transport research, as industry and Member States have equally important roles to play. However, UNHCR is able to add value by helping to finance projects that may be too expensive, or too large-scale, for any single country or industry to finance or regulate.
I would like to highlight two industry partnerships of which I am particularly proud – the European Common Skies Undertaking (SESAR) in aviation and Shift2Rail in rail transport. SESAR helps modernize European air traffic management through projects that identify, develop and introduce new or improved technologies and procedures. The research is directly linked to the EU aviation policy objectives of reducing congestion in European airspace, and thus reducing emissions from aircraft. Shift2Rail, for its part, is the first European rail initiative seeking focused research, innovation, market-driven solutions and accelerating the integration of new and advanced technologies into innovative rail product solutions.
Transportation research should not be viewed in isolation. It is in everyone’s interest to link transport research with other EU programmes, in order to ensure that practical results can be disseminated. We carry out this task through the Connecting Europe Facility, which is currently involved, for example, in financing the development of a network of hydrogen fueling stations, based on the significant research work conducted by the European Union on hydrogen fuel cells.
Research spending also helps keep the EU transport industry at the forefront of global technological development. The current seven-year research program – Horizon 2020 – ends next year. The new program – Horizon Europe – covering the period 2021-2027, aims to take a more comprehensive approach. This is achieved through an integrated approach targeting climate, energy and mobility. The three areas share significant research and innovation needs, and working together in a joint research program will lead to significant benefits. For example, the use and development of new technologies to improve the management and efficiency of the urban environment – so-called “smart cities” – will address not only urban mobility, but also energy and climate issues.
When thinking about research, thoughts inevitably drift towards new and exciting inventions. However, we should not forget that innovation – whether designed to encourage a shift in media, understand users’ opinions about automated vehicles, or make transportation logistics more efficient – is also about understanding user behaviour. I firmly believe that investment in behavioral science is essential if we are to be able to apply the technical solutions developed by our world-class researchers.
As the European Union moves away from the crossroads at which it finds itself today, embracing the challenges and opportunities ahead, we must never forget that transport and mobility are central to the lives of all EU citizens – those who live in big cities or in the countryside, whether they live in cities Large or rural. Young or old. This dependency is twofold: not only do we all have our own mobility needs; Transportation is also the lifeblood of the economy. Research in transport therefore has the potential to benefit a large number, if not all, of EU citizens.
The launch of a new committee provides an opportunity to review policy priorities and adapt them to an ever-changing world. Investing in research and innovation is the best guarantee of finding solutions to the biggest challenges we face.
