In a joint effort so as to elevate the status of public transport across Europe, the International Association of Public Transport- UITP along with a coalition of 43 European transport organizations, have gone on to get united in order to advocate for rising funding in the European Union’s- EU budget review. At the forefront of the campaign happen to be the call to amplify the budget allocated to the Connecting Europe Facility- CEF when it comes to transport, which happens to be a move deemed critical when it comes to the advancement of Europe’s transport network.
The coalition, which happens to be representing a diverse spectrum of Europe’s transport sector, underscores the strategic criticality of public transport when it comes to tackling environmental concerns and, at the same time, also enhancing mobility throughout the continent. The spokesperson for the UITP EU Committee, Thomas Avanzata, highlights the indispensable part of public transport in terms of syncing with Europe’s overarching environmental along with the societal policy goals.
Avanzata stresses the fact that public transport happens to be facing structural as well as long-term challenges pertaining to the rise of energy prices, shortages of staff, falling fare revenues, as well as the new mobility patterns. It happens to be more critical than ever that the EU goes on to support development when it comes to its local public transport.
The recent as well as ongoing crises have gone on to highlight the requirement for a resilient, adaptable, as well as an innovative public transport sector in order to effectively respond to disruptions and, at the same time, achieve the aims that are outlined in the Green Deal.
It is well to be noted that the oversubscription when it comes to the current CEF transport budget goes on to highlight the incongruity between ambitions as well as challenges of the transport sector and the kind of EU support that’s available. As per the coalition, in order to fortify Europe’s resilience, and also lead the transition to net zero emissions as well as finalise the Trans-European Transport Network, substantial funding for the sector is imperative.
Hence, European leaders as well as policymakers are urged to go ahead and seize this opportunity so as to reverse the trend of underinvesting in the public transport sector and to set some ambitious investment targets in the novel EU budget. A robust CEF instrument for transport is regarded as the optimal means in order to deliver high EU-added value, promote equitable choices across Europe, and also help with essential funding.
