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Road transport is the key enabler for the free movement of people and transport of goods in Europe at local and regional levels that are key objectives of the Community. It has a major impact on the daily lives of European citizens as a primary means of their access to employment, services and social activities. Road transport creates links and these links are a major role in developing social, regional and economic cohesion in Europe. Road transport impacts the environment and general quality of life of every European citizen.
There is increasing demand from European citizens for individual mobility, but at the same time society as a whole must reduce the environmental impact of road transport and increase its efficiency. Europe wants a clean, energy-efficient, safe and intelligent road transport system and a highly competitive road transport industry is essential to the business community.
Funding priorities in road transport research are:
Creating 'greener' road transport
Under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8% from its 1990 level during 2008-2012. However, if current trends continue emissions will in fact rise. One principal factor causing this rise is increased volumes of road traffic.
Research will develop technologies for reduced pollution of the air, water and soil and diminished environmental impact of vehicles and their infrastructure. Major topics will be improvements to the cleanliness and energy efficiency of power trains including hybrid technology and the use of alternative fuels for transport applications - in particular hydrogen and fuel cells. Reduction of environmental and noise pollution will also be pursued.
This will include the development of advanced low-mass materials, structures and components for optimal environmental performances and study of innovative 'end of life' strategies for vehicles to maximise the recycle and reuse of their components during dismantling.
Encouraging modal shift and decongesting transport corridors
A key priority will be to develop seamless, door-to-door transport systems for people and goods, as well as technologies to ensure effective intermodality - the use of a number of different forms of transport. This includes activities addressing the interoperability and operational optimisation of local, regional, national and European transport networks, systems and services and their intermodal integration.
Research topics will include development of sustainable, innovative, intermodal and interoperable regional and national transport and logistics networks, infrastructures and systems in Europe. Methods for the true internalisation of external costs - such as environmental impact - will be elaborated and work on systems for information exchange between vehicles and the transport infrastructure initiated. Models for the optimisation of current and future infrastructure capacity will be developed and modal shift strategies to encourage energy efficient means of transport sought.
Ensuring sustainable urban mobility
About 80% of the population of the European Union lives in cities and the cost of urban congestion is equivalent to 2% of EU GDP. Reducing this figure could make a significant impact on European competitiveness. Research will focus on the mobility of people and goods. This will include 'next generation vehicles' and stimulation of their market take-up to bring together all elements of a clean, energy efficient, safe and intelligent urban road transport system.
Within the remit of ensuring sustainable and accessible urban mobility for all citizens, including the disadvantaged, new innovative transport organisation schemes, including clean and safe vehicles and means of transport with lower levels of pollution will be developed. New high quality public transportation modes will be proposed together with rationalisation of private transport. New ideas for communication infrastructure, integrated town planning and transport will include their relationship with growth and employment opportunities.
Improving safety and security
Ensuring safety and security for drivers, riders, passengers, crew and pedestrians is another key priority. There are currently over 42 000 fatalities every year due to road transport in Europe. Advanced engineering systems and risk analysis methodologies will be developed for the design of vehicles and infrastructures. Emphasis will be placed on integrative approaches linking human elements, structural integrity, preventive, passive and active safety, rescue and crisis management.
Improving safety and security topics will include inherent design of vehicles for safety and security, the use of intelligent safety systems and integrated safety including a particular focus on Human-Machine Interfaces in vehicles and systems. There will also be emphasis on post-crash rescue technology and methods and new training systems to improve awareness of safety and security issues.
Strengthening competitiveness
European industry has been quick to take advantage of the freedom and flexibility offered by road transport. Ensuring the competitiveness of the road transport industry will involve delivering new products and systems that meet customer expectations, and developing design and manufacturing processes for an efficient production base.
To strengthen the competitiveness of the European industry will require improvement of design processes, development of advanced power-train and vehicle technologies together with innovative and cost-effective production systems. Advanced and low cost infrastructure construction concepts will also be developed and cost effective vehicle and infrastructure maintenance concepts evolved. Integrative architectures and new production organisations will allow the rapid realisation of innovative product concepts.