The Competitive and Sustainable Growth (GROWTH) Programme ran from 1998 to 2002 under the Fifth Framework Programme(FP5). Funding for industrial research is currently covered by the thematic priorities of the Sixth Framework Programme(FP6) from 2002 to 2006, designed to support the creation of a European Research Area:

• Research funded under FP5 key action 2: Sustainable mobility and intermodality is now part of FP6 thematic priority 6: Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems – see the FP6 Surface transport website.

The following text was first published in March 2000.

  Main fields of research

There are three main research areas:

1. Mobility of people and goods;
2. Infrastructure and integration; and
3. Modal and intermodal transport management.

The aim is to develop strategies and tools for managing the impact of economic, social, political, demographic and technological factors on mobility demand and transport policies. The research is delivering:

Quantitative tools
Knowledge of present and future driving forces in transport; and
Effective policies that will form the building blocks for a European transport strategic decision support and information system.

As a result, policy makers, public authorities, industry and operators are being given the decision-support tools to develop integrated transport systems further and address the goal of sustainable mobility.

The goal of seamless intermodal door-to-door transport chains across Europe requires research into cost-effective development and maintenance of infrastructure and into promising alternative transport concepts. Research is also focusing on:

Methods of assessing and minimising the environmental impact
Improving safety and security in transport systems
Human factors such as boosting the performance and skills of people who interact with automated systems and the comfort and accessibility of transport for users.

Improving the efficiency and sustainability of the transport system requires the development of new traffic management tools and transport services. Research in this field aims to:

Develop, integrate and validate advanced traffic-management systems
Establish a coherent traffic-management architecture across the transport chain
Fine tune demand-management tools and policies Enhance intermodal door-to-door freight and logistics services
Improve passenger transport systems and services
Contribute to the development and implementation of a second generation satellite navigation and positioning system.