European Mobility Week and UITP on the same track towards decarbonised cities

Brussels, 19 September 2011

During a whole week, starting from the 16 September, about 2.000 European towns and cities are taking part in the 10th edition of European Mobility Week. With the focal theme of ‘Alternative Mobility’, participating cities are invited to promote any means of sustainable transport, be it public transport, cycling or walking, with the goal of encouraging citizens to rethink their travel habits. The EMW aims to highlight the amount of energy that can be saved by a modal shift from private car use to more sustainable modes of transport. 

The transport sector is the largest energy-consuming sector in Europe, with a yearly consumption of 140 million tons of oil equivalent and GHG emissions of 470 million tons of CO2 equivalent for urban transport alone. The increasing volume of travel by private cars, which rely predominantly on fossil fuels, is one of the major challenges to be tackled in order to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency in our society and economy. In light of this, alternative mobility can help make urban life healthier, safer and more enjoyable due to greatly improved air quality and reductions in CO2 levels. 

Supported by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the 2011 campaign is in line with UITP’s PTx2 strategy, which aims at doubling the market share of public transport worldwide by 2025. Concretely, in Europe, achieving PTx2 would mean doubling the market share of public transport from 15 to 30%, which would result in tripling the number of daily trips made by public transport. This would result in a reduction of urban transport GHG emissions in Europe from 470 to 380 million tons of CO2 equivalent in the year 2025, thus achieving EU targets of decreasing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020. 

UITP is also calling for a modal shift to public transport, as this is indispensable for better management of transport energy consumption. Indeed, public transport consumes more or less 60% less energy per passenger/km. In addition, between 40 and 50% of vehicles are powered by electricity, which decreases public transport’s carbon footprint. Public transport is therefore an essential factor in order to achieve the EU’s 20/20/20 objectives and can certainly play a major role in achieving low- or zero-carbon mobility.

Read more about “Decarbonisation: the public transport contribution” here: http://www.uitp.org/news/media-backgrounders.cfm 

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Notes to editors:

UITP (International Association of Public Transport) is the international network for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. It is a platform for worldwide cooperation, business development and the sharing of know-how between its 3,400 members from 92 countries. UITP is the global advocate for public transport and sustainable mobility, and the promoter of innovations in the sector. Visit  www.uitp.org .

To learn more about European Mobility Week, visit either www.uitp.org/advocacy/Public-awareness.cfm#0 or www.mobilityweek.eu. 

UITP Press Contact: 

Sarah D’Angelo | Press Junior Manager | +32 (0)2 6636639 | sarah.dangelo@uitp.org