Region Blekinge together with HIE-RO (Pawel Warszycki) and Team Red (Matthias Nuessgen) at the request of PP4, Hanseatic City of Rostock were contributing to the regional seminar & workshop with proposals on how to initiate a cross‐sectoral dialogue on public transport in the South Baltic area and how to integrate the cross‐border perspective of public transport services in the sustainable development policies of the partner areas (Friday, 18 October, 09:30-15:30, Karlshamn, Sweden).
Although the importance of integrating information technology into transport is highlighted by the EC’s White Paper on Transport from 2011, the challenge of providing favourable passenger information systems (across borders) is not yet sufficiently reflected by the described EU policies. The German government names, however, that digital innovation shall be utilised more strongly such as for interconnected real-time information, digital planning as well as automated and connected driving. Estonia’s national policy refers to information systems by its goal to introduce smart mobility and intelligent transport systems. Similar intentions have also been mentioned in the described policy documents Sweden, Poland and Denmark.
According to the EC (2001: 13), “smart inter-modal ticketing, with common EU standards that respect EU competition rules is vital”. However, the ambition of providing (cross-border) ticketing standards is not (yet) reflected as a main focus in the described EU policy documents.
The cross-border dimension, as referred to in the White Paper on Transport from 2011 or the EUSBSR, is addressed by the fact that the single European market and transport area includes all EU member states. Hence, it is aimed at integrating national public transport systems to form a larger single network instead of keeping a puzzle of national patchworks of infrastructure, technological and incompatible standards and rules. A single, competitive, efficient, sustainable, interoperable and multimodal transport system will support the EU’s cohesion processes and ensure future economic growth, job creation and a high quality of life for its citizens. Competition of transport services should be possible within the EU without obstacles across borders. This is also reflected in the German coalition agreement where the improvement of cross border mobility to strengthen the European cohesion is named.
Urban-rural linkages are addressed by EU policy on transport such as by the White Paper on Transport from 2011 as well as by the EUSBSR by e.g. concentrating on the accessibility of remote areas or areas with underdeveloped infrastructure. Urban-rural linkages are also highlighted by referring to urban transport and commuting as an important area where the consumption of fossil fuels can be reduced, i.e. “cleaner” mobility can be promoted by higher energy efficiency and a fleet using alternative propulsion systems, a higher share of public transport in general and better infrastructure for e.g. walking and cycling (EC 2011: 8). Swedish national policy on transport (the National Infrastructure Plan) addresses spatial accessibility by e.g. supporting rail infrastructure development and enabling combinations of efficient door to door travel chains with different modes of transport and improved traffic information, online and digitized infrastructure.
The Transport Development Plan for 2014-2020 is a national-level policy elaborated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications as well as the Ministry of the Interior, Estonian Road Administration and local governments. It provides a framework of guidelines that mostly public authorities use for developing the transport sector until 2020.
National Transport Development Programme 2014-2022
The National Transport Development Programme 2014-2022 has been developed taking into account the multifaceted benefits provided by the transport sector to the state, society and the economy of the country. The program is necessary for the sustainable development of the Lithuanian communication system, efficient management of state resources and the use of structural funds of the European Union, to increase the competitiveness of the transport sector.
Guldborgsund Municipal Plan 2017 – 2029 (Kommuneplan 2017-29)
The Municipal Plan 2017-29 outlines the overall planning guidelines for the municipality’s physical development. It is the first digital municipal plan in Guldborgsund Municipality. This policy was approved by the Guldborgsund City Council in 2017 and is valid until 2029. However, every fourth year a new plan is produced; always covering a time horizon of 12 years. It is addressed to citizens, businesses and other public institutions and authorities in the Guldborgsund Municipality.
The Mobility Plan Future or “MOPZ”, i.e. “Mobilitätsplan Zukunft” is the succession plan of the traffic concept document from 1998: “Integrierte Gesamtverkehrskonzept der Hansestadt Rostock (IGVK 1998)”. The MOPZ as a planning tool represents an informal framework plan for the development planning of the Hanseatic City of Rostock. Unlike the Urban Development Guidelines “Rostock 2025” (see policy above) the MOPZ is solely focussed on mobility. In fact, fundamental goals of traffic development in Rostock were already defined with the “Rostock 2025” guidelines from 2012. But in the process of preparing the MOPZ, these goals were again checked for their completeness (regarding traffic planning requirements), discussed, modified and finally communicated to the citizens in 2017 by the city in collaboration with IVAS, an engineering company for traffic systems and systems. Its time horizon extends to about 10 to 15 years and it is aimed at informing the city’s inhabitants as well as stakeholders involved in city planning (primarily the Department of City Planning).
According to § 7 of MWP’s transport law (see the corresponding paragraph on this law), Middle Mecklenburg and, respectively, the rural district Rostock and the Hanseatic city of Rostock are the responsible authorities for public transport within its borders. The city and its surrounding districts are therefore obliged to create the Regional Transport Plan for its geographical area of responsibility (Middle Mecklenburg and Rostock) in order to provide a framework for the public transport’s further development for itself, public authorities and public transport service operators.
According to § 6 of MWP’s transport law (see the policy above), the federal state is the responsible authority for rail transport and state-wide coordinated public transport. MWP is therefore obliged to create the integrated federal-state transport plan for its area of responsibility in order to provide a framework for the public transport’s further development for itself, public authorities and public transport operators in MWP. The current document has been published 16th February 2016 and its time horizon extends into the year 2030.
Coalition agreement between the ruling parties CDU, CSU and SPD (Koalitionsvertrag)
The elections for the German Bundestag in 2017 did not lead to an absolute majority of a single party so that a coalition was necessary to ensure the capacity to act of the future government. Therefore, and to have a national strategy, the CDU/CSU defined a coalition agreement together with the SPD in order to have a guideline for action for the government itself and to inform the population as well as public authorities. The document was finalised in February 2018 for the coming period of governance of Germany until 2021.
The Metropolitan Area’s Transport and Mobility Strategy sets goals and the priority of actions into perspective with a time horizon until 2030, taking into account local, regional, national and EU strategic documents on transport policy and socio-economic and spatial development as an important dimension conducting interventions in the field of cohesion policy.
Polish National Transport Development Strategy until 2020
The main goals of the Transport Development Strategy apply to the creation of an integrated transport system through investments in infrastructure (strategic objective 1), as well as favourable conditions for the efficient functioning of transport markets and development of effective transport systems (strategic goal 2). The implementation of the main transport goal in the perspective of 2020 and beyond is associated with five specific objectives referring to different modes of transport:
