Sweeping changes are in the offing for the European system
A change of attitude pertaining to the
I of transportation is currently
mg moo European countries. The
lb ww on giving a boost to the
,, somiport system, rather than
No* an using individual cars for
IMOr this looks good on paper,
qown obstacle yet would be in
JV dw mindset of the people who
od so the cosy comfort of their personal cars.
George Young, UK's transport secretary Mwrr is considerable pres1ppot higher priority to public
ML' He has chalked out a nationMmom campaign to draw the
Wa4dw people to the depressing
Mb 4d car-driving
kpmim poflution,
Mr sawd tune.
6@dW i ; of enviMd concerns has
wbwK motivating
Got dw call to
M P-- g habits.
V pordections on to
dhoom can do to
rmbot Awtage of
Onownts for the
commuter are
Ed ~ the Psv-
k people. The
sawid options is
q an effect on
ow a wbok. It is now undertyllons to build more motorW&V abandoned in a hurry.
w message is that the large
bg prognmmes of the '80s
Mb or no longer felt environ
states Young emphatically.
At a recent transport conference llor dw Observer and the mW Country Planning wom LAwdon. European transb4a%d for a stringent tax - mVm pollute' tax in place of
1%d mad road tax, which is M&M bw the European
Commission. The tax should go a long
way in greater monitoring of the pollution, argued some of them. Says
Christopher Boyd, a member of the
European transport commission office
that if congestion was to be reduced,
then the drivers had to also pay for using
their cars and not simply f6i owning
them. For the first time, pollution in the
countryside is also being looked into
with a different aspect and suggestions
include different road taxes for
motorists using clear rural roads
while travelling in the night and during
rush-hour traffic.
Another twist to the whole affair
would be the spinoffs on the automobile
industry. Analysts paint a bleak scenario
for the international truck industry in
the coming years. Germany has set the
ball rolling in downgrading the industry
by charging three times more from
trucks which use its motorways. Behind
its move is the decision to switch freight
more onto railways and inland water-
ways. This could endanger European
dominance of the world's heavy truck
production for some time to come.
While this is the scene in western
Europe, in parts of eastern Europe, the
outlook is just the opposite. For
instance, with Hungary's transition to
market economy, its roads are increasingly going the western Europe way.
With the parking system yet to be developed, increasing numbers of private
cars have made even walking unpleasant
with their haphazard parkings. Strangely, the government is bent on continuing the heavy subsidy for the domestic
automobile industry. Such is the
demand for the ownership of cars that
by the year 2000, there would be 500
cars per 1,000 inhabitants, according to
official estimates: a limit which is higher
than many west European cities. While
public transport was once a favoured
choice of the Hungarians, it is now the
private cars which rule the roost.
While Hungarians want to use their
cars, they are wary of paying for them
fully, in the form of road tax. Paradoxically, the international banking institutions - primarily the European Bank
for Reconstuction and Development,
the European Investment Bank and the
World Bank (WB) - are bailing them
out by pitching in billions of dollars for
new road construction in
the country. This is not
all. These institutions
have also put undue pressure on the government to
increase the public transport and the railway fare
charges and also curtail a
few of these services. All
this to encourage the
fledgling automobile
industry and undermine
the country's transport
system. The result: public
transit use in Hungary fell
by 12 per cent in the last two years alone.
The new motorways have been
planned in such a way so as to wreak
maximum havoc on the fragile eco-system of areas like the Buda hills. For the
Hungarians, the threat of growing
motorisation has led to the formation of
the Hungarian Clean Air Action Group,
which is seeking more careful environmental impact assessments on road projects and other eco-friendly measures.
But the major banking players including
the WB are also funding highways in
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and
Slovenia, an act which is inconsistent
with the Bank's policy on environmental sustainability.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.