The 9th IRU International Road Transport Conference on “Road transport: moving people, driving economies”, brought together some 200 representatives from 20 Eurasian countries  to discuss the main challenges and opportunities for the promotion, facilitation and further development of sustainable mobility by bus, coach and taxi in Eurasia.

Moscow – The International Road Transport Union (IRU), in partnership with IRU Associate Member, Rosgosstrakh, the CIS Coordinating Transport Conference and the National Taxi Council, today organised the 9th IRU International Road Transport Conference on the theme “Road transport: moving people, driving economies”.

Some 200 delegates from CIS countries and the EU discussed how to promote collective passenger road transport by bus, coach and taxi to ensure sustainable mobility across Eurasia through the safest, greenest and most flexible transport services they offer at the lowest cost to society.

Opening the Conference, IRU Secretary General, Martin Marmy, stressed, “The IRU launched the Smart Move campaign in 2009 and it has gained incredible momentum, turning into a major international movement and ultimately becoming a new policy instrument in the EU. If such a successful development was possible, it is exactly what we should expect to achieve together in Eurasia. A similar objective can also be pursued with the IRU initiative “Taxi - Anytime, Anywhere!” to place taxis on top of the political agenda, as the benefits provided by taxis have mostly been forgotten despite their tremendous unused potential to contribute to the improved effectiveness of a high quality public transport chain”.

First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Legislation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Board of the National Taxi Council, Vyacheslav Lysakov, actively supported IRU initiatives, stressing that the availability of taxis in Russian regions is a great challenge for the industry, which directly depends on Federal transport policies and strategies.

Conference delegates concluded that buses, coaches and taxis have an important social role to play in bringing safe, green, flexible and affordable mobility to people across Eurasia. They also agreed on the need to implement a strategy for collective passenger road transport to effectively enhance road safety, reduce congestion and pollution, increase service quality and offer the best solutions for sustainable mobility to all Eurasian citizens. Delegates also agreed that the best way to effectively promote and develop collective passenger road transport, as shown by European experience, is for the industry and the business community to work in genuine public-private partnership with legislative and executive bodies. 

Conference participants were also invited to submit candidates to the IRU City Trophy 2013, IRU Bus Excellence Award 2013 and IRU Coach Tourism Innovation Award 2013, which reward the best private business or public policy practices that support sustainable mobility by bus and coach in the framework of the global IRU Smart Move campaign.

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Learn more on IRU initiatives to promote collective passenger road transport:

·         See Conference programme, presentations and high resolution photos.

·         Smart Move campaign

·         Taxi – anytime, anywhere!

·         Smart Awards

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