Report Of The Hundred And Twenty Fifth Round Table On Transport Economics Held In Paris On 28th 29th November 2002 On The Following Topic

Europe's rail-freight market is undergoing sweeping changes. While an expanding long-distance export market is favorable to rail transportation, railways have been steadily losing market share to the truck industry. The reasons for this are numerous and range from a sub-standard quality of service, lack of advanced computer technology and transport logistics, and a shortage of commercial marketng technique. As rail networks open up to competition, new rail firms are springing up. Will the current operators keep pace with change or are they threatened with extinction? Are new firms going to be commercially viable in areas in whcih traditional operators have always failed? The Round Table attempted to answer these questions by taking a look at how the European railway landscape is being reshaped. In doing so, it learned lessons which stand to benefit transportation policy throughout Europe.

The Round Table looks at how the European railway landscape is being reshaped. In doing so, it presents lessons which stand to benefit transport policy throughout Europe.

Do roads induce mobility? This might sound like a strange question, yet it only stands to reason that building new roads - or other infrastructure - may actually encourage people to use the new additional capacity to travel more. Induced mobility is a hotly debated issue, but the experts are no longer in any doubt that it is a very real phenomenon. However, measuring it is another matter, since we do not have sufficient data or experience in this area. This Round Table presents the data that is available to date on infrastructure-induced mobility. From the introductory reports and discussions, it is clear that much progress has been made in the last few years. As recently as ten years ago, many experts would have disputed the very existence of the induced mobility phenomenon. Today a consensus is emerging: Round Table 105 gives the full report.