Policy strategies for the promotion of combined transport
April 4, 2000
This project, as part of the Swiss National Research Programme «Transport and Environment», deals with «multi-modal transport links» and analyses the various ways of promoting combined transport media at the international and national level. This subject is highly topical from a political standpoint within the context of the flanking measures taken in conjunction with the bilateral land-transport agreement between Switzerland and the EU, above all as regards Alpine transit. In view of the various link-ups that it involves, the promotion of combined transport media is more complex than other transport initiatives, as a large number of agents (railway market, road haulage market) as well as additional technical components (transshipment systems between transport media) must be taken into account. Current promotion initiatives at the EU level and in various individual countries focus on providing support for infrastructure and for pilot projects and on tax incentives for road transport. These promotion policies should be seen in the light of developments in railway reform, which should, particularly as the railway markets open up, lead to increased competition between the combined-transport operators and the railways.
