Transport & Environment

Transport through sensitive areas

The environmental impacts of transport can be of greater concern in some areas than in others. A typical example is freight transport through mountain areas which is concentrated on a small number of corridors where the local topography and microclimate exacerbate the effect caused by pollutant emissions and noise. In order to address this situation at the EU level, it would help to have a workable definition of sensitive areas in connection with transport at that level. This is why DG Environment has undertaken a study on sensitive areas.