Mohamed Mezghani, Director, Programmes and Studies, UITP

The 55th World Congress of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) will take place in Madrid, Spain, from 4 to 9 May 2003. This Congress is being held at a time when mobility issues are experiencing major changes. This changing context brings with it the need for continuous improvements and a diversification of transport services to satisfy passengers’ needs. The solution must be found in the provision of a door-to-door, seamless service, and no longer in a succession of fragmented transport modes. The theme of UITP’s Congress this year therefore is ‘The Challenges of Integration: Turning Multimodality into Seamless Mobility’.

A topical issue
There has never been a time when mobility issues have been as topical as they are today. Indeed, rarely in the course of recent history has there been such a favourable economic climate for public transport. This can be explained by two main factors. Firstly, urban transport is a booming market that is characterised by an ever-growing and ever-changing demand. Secondly, serious concerns regarding the environment and the quality of urban life are making the general public more supportive of collective transport.

Population explosion and urban sprawl
The last 50 years have been characterised by an urban population explosion. Today, over 50% of the world’s population lives in urban zones. By 2015, there will be over 500 cities with populations in excess of one million and 50 metropolitan areas with over 10 million inhabitants.

Demographic growth in cities has been accompanied by a significant expansion of built-up areas. The consequences of urban sprawl are well-known: severing of social ties between neighbours, car dependency, longer journeys, an increase in transport expenditure, traffic congestion and environmental damage.

A high price
In developed countries, the cost to the community of urban journeys amounts to 5% to 7% of GDP in cities of average density in which over half of all journeys are made on foot, by bicycle or on public transport. In contrast, this percentage can be as high as 15% of GDP in sprawling cities where the car totally dominates.

Precious urban space
Car traffic takes up valuable space in urban areas. For example, in order to transport 50,000 passengers per hour in the same direction, one could choose a right-of-way measuring nine metres in width for a metro or RER … or one measuring 35 metres for buses … or one measuring 175 metres for cars. Furthermore, parked cars waste even more urban space, especially since they spend 95% of their time parked.

Energy consumption
Public transport consumes three to five times less energy per passenger carried. For example, a single person with 1 kep (kg equivalent petrol) can cover 48 km by metro, 39 km by bus or 18 km by car. If we are to adhere to the commitments made in Kyoto, a reduction in energy consumption during urban journeys is necessary. This can only be achieved by increasing public transport’s market share at the expense of the car. At the same time, this increased market share will enable us to reduce pollution in our cities, as public transport is three to ten times ‘cleaner’ than the car (depending on the type of emissions taken into consideration).

Road safety
Road accidents kill 45,000 people in Europe each year. In cities boasting well-developed public transport networks, however, there are half as many road-accident victims as there are in cities where virtually all journeys are made by car.

Mobility for all
Although vehicle numbers are increasing steadily, not all households possess a motor vehicle. Even in developed countries, 25% of households do not own a car, and over 50% of city-dwellers have no car at their disposal for travel at certain times of the day. As a result, public transport is needed to ensure that everyone has full access to urban activities.

The challenge for public transport
These changes that are creating a favourable climate for collective transport also represent daunting challenges. What makes the challenge all the more difficult is the fact that the needs of citizens have changed dramatically in the past few years.

A complex journey chain
First and foremost, the patterns of work, whose normal hours and places provided the basis for the development of traditional public transport networks, are changing. Working hours are becoming more flexible (for instance night work is becoming more common), while distance-working and delocalised working are also on the rise. Consequently, traditional morning and evening peak periods are extending throughout the day.

Furthermore, home-to-work journeys are losing market share in the face of a greater numbers of journeys motivated by factors such as leisure and shopping. Such trips take place at times and frequencies that are harder for network managers to predict. This is why most networks are recording bigger and bigger rises in mobility at night and during weekends.

Thus, the average citizen’s journey chain is being made ever more complex by the diversification of motives for travel and irregular mobility hours. We are therefore seeing a quantitative increase in mobility that cannot be catered for solely by using the private car. This would simply inundate the road infrastructure and choke our cities.

More demanding passengers
At the same time, citizens are becoming more demanding: they expect the shortest possible journey, a high-service frequency, clear and reliable information, a comfortable and peaceful journey, a clean and attractive environment and, of course, a high level of safety. This higher level of public expectancy means that it is no longer enough to transport passengers – they must also be satisfied customers, whose loyalty has to earned.

The solution
This multi-faceted challenge can only be addressed by adopting an integrated approach to mobility issues with the support of all protagonists: political decision-makers, organising authorities, operators, manufacturers, providers of funds, etc. This approach must be based on twin foundations: on the one hand, the coordination of urban policies with journey policies, and, on the other hand, modal integration between transport networks.

Integrated regional planning
First of all, integrated regional planning is a vital component within such an approach. It can be achieved by curbing the spread of people’s habitats and activities so as to allow built-up zones to keep their inhabitants and the jobs within them. To achieve this, it is recommended that consistency be maintained between urban-planning and transport policies. This can be done by establishing urban-planning blueprints that restrict building on vacant land on the edges of cities while promoting densification, chiefly in the vicinity of stopping points and stations. Integration of land use and transport is a prerequisite to any co-ordinated policy of urban mobility.

Encouragement must be given to integrated planning initiatives that combine the locating of offices, businesses and leisure activities with the building of new public transport networks. Furthermore, housing policies should favour the construction of new residential areas of sufficient density, as well as the proper maintenance of the existing housing in city centres.

Integrated networks
In order to offer a genuine alternative to the car, public transport must be able to offer the most comprehensive and flexible service possible. It is vital that integrated networks be developed between the various modes and various operators. In the eyes of users, the network must appear unique and offer complete solutions. Whatever the number of operators or modes, we must guarantee the network’s physical and operational continuity, a single ticketing system and a single source of information about timetables and services. Recent developments in terms of information and communication technologies should favour the integration of fares and information.

Synergies with the private car
Users need to be offered additional mobility solutions that allow them to travel from door to door. The only way in which to achieve this goal is by forging partnerships between all modes, including the private car. During off-peak times and in zones of low density, solutions involving demand-responsive transport or car-sharing make it possible to provide the missing link in a mobility chain which is traditionally structured around main routes.

Institutional coordination
The ultimate goal of integration is to facilitate public transport use. To do this, the system in its entirety must be efficient, not just each individual component. Consistency between the various modes and intervening parties is therefore vital. This raises the issue of how institutions coordinate urban mobility. Institutional coordination is vital since without it there can be no lasting integration. The integrating body, be it the organising authority, main operator or a third-party organisation, must have the means to ensure the transport system’s oneness and continuity in partnership with all actors. The aim is to achieve unrestricted mobility at all levels: physical, operational, fares, information, and so on.

Creating liveable urban areas
This is the challenge that must be met if we are to safeguard the quality of life in the cities of tomorrow. Public transport now has the opportunity to play a central role in creating urban spaces that are fit for people to live in.

Aspects examined in this article will be developed during the UITP Congress’s working sessions.

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The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is the international organisation 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 co-operation and the sharing of know-how between its 2,500 members from some 80 countries.

The UITP Mobility & City Transport Exhibition will be held in parallel with the World Congress. Some 300 exhibitors will display the latest innovations to the 20,000 visitors expected to attend this exhibition, which is the world's showcase for passenger transport technology, equipment and services.