Smart and sustainable mobility: Commission published new transport strategy and action plan

Following the European Green Deal, the European Commission published on 9 December 2020 a new strategy to reach efficient, digital and green transport by 2050. The strategy replaces the current White Paper on Transport – A Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a Competitive and Resource-Efficient Transport System that was published in 2011. The accompanying action plan lists 82 initiatives, which should promote smart and sustainable transport in the upcoming 4 years. The main features of the strategy concern all transport modes, i.e. road, aviation, rail and waterborne transport. Digital technologies will play a key role in making the transport less polluting.

The strategy for smart and sustainable mobility defines 3 milestones for reaching climate goals:

By 2030:

• Operate at least 30 million zero-emission cars.
• Make 100 European cities climate neutral.
• Double high-speed rail traffic across Europe.
• Ensure carbon neutral scheduled collective travel for journeys under 500 km.
• Deploy automated mobility at large scale.
• Make zero-emission marine vessels market-ready.

By 2035:

• Make zero-emission large aircraft market-ready.

By 2050:

• Make nearly all cars, vans, buses as well as new heavy-duty vehicles zero-emission.
• Double rail freight traffic.
• Have a fully operational, multimodal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for sustainable and smart transport with high speed connectivity.

The strategy for smart and sustainable mobility together with an action plan is available in English below.