The 26 Nov 2024 was the UN World Sustainable Transport Day, which was officially decided last year after a Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2023.
For those who have been dealing with Intelligent and Sustainable Transport since the early 1990s like myself, it is a great achievement. There are many UN World days dedicated to many topics and having one dedicated to Sustainable Transport should make public and private organisations more sensitive and aware of the importance of transport and sustainability linked together.
I remember when 40 years ago the European Commission started giving importance to transport. Initially, the focus was on technology. Some colleagues with grey hair may remember the acronym RTTT (Road Transport and Traffic Telematics) that then evolved into TTI (Traffic and Travel Information). The latter was introduced when the new term ITS/Intelligent Transport Systems replaced previous acronyms.
These terms generated incomprehension and conflicts: for the first time the transport experts (usually awarded a Civil Engineering degree) were called to work together with ICT experts (usually Electronic Engineers). Associating electronics to transport allowed to optimise transport service and infrastructure.
The claimed innovation was – in particular for road transport – optimising the capacity of the existing road network and making it more effective without building new roads, so saving lands from being covered with tarmac and cement.
From the point of view of public transport – starting with buses and then extended to other modes such as river transport – ITS improved the quality of service, the fleet management, the accuracy and reliability of information to passengers. Between late 1990s and early 2000s two buzzwords emerged: pre-trip and on-trip information to highlight the new possibility of planning the journey at home (or office) and/or receiving timely updates while on the go.
Only during late 2000s and early 2010s did the concept of sustainability appeared in conferences, discussions, plans, projects. As a matter of fact, also transport needed to become more sustainable. It was good to enjoy an effective transport infrastructure and system, but the means of transport needed to be cleaner. This regarded first the kind of fuels used: a transition from the old, smelly and polluting diesel to natural gas was welcomed; then the transition to fully electric buses, and hydrogen-powered ones is undergoing.
Nevertheless, some other forms of transport were needed too. That is when the concepts of soft modes (e.g. cycling, walking) were introduced and encouraged. New cycling lanes were built in cities and while sustainability was promoted, safety was still very low. So this was another issue to solve and in some cities full safety is not yet ensured in these days.
The introduction of e-scooters initially received enthusiastic feedbacks, but then the combination of lack of regulations about how to use them and where to park them generated some problems in cities up to the point that some of them decided either the cancellation of the service or stopped their introduction.
I could continue for pages, showing that Intelligent AND Sustainable Mobility is now an essential part of our modern life.
In the webpage describing the reason for having a UN Sustainable Transport Day we read:
“Sustainable transport — with its objectives of universal access, enhanced safety, reduced environmental and climate impact, improved resilience, and greater efficiency — is central to sustainable development“.
This is very true: sustainable transport and sustainable development of cities and countries are directly connected. Local authorities, municipalities and private organisations – including each of us as a community of citizens and travellers – should put all the possible effort to ensure this is carried out efficiently and effectively to really improve the quality of our lives.
Stefano Mainero
EPN Consulting and EPN Consulting Research and Innovation Founder & CEO
Article written by human beings without any use of AI. EPN Consulting Ltd. copyright 2024
Previous EPN Consulting Newsletters are available here.