Clean Urban Transport

Examples of past and ongoing European Commission actions

The European Commission has proposed policy and legislative actions, supports research and demonstration projects into new technologies and policy approaches, and promotes and disseminates best practice in the transport and energy sectors.

DG TREN is responsible for research and demonstration activities in the field of alternative motor fuels that have an impact in the short to medium term in this field. The short to medium term research activities are concentrated on large-scale demonstration initiatives designed to identify and assess ways to remove existing technical, commercial, operational, organisational, and institutional barriers, which prevent motor fuels from significantly entering the market and progressive acceptance.

More information on projects:

	Biofuel Cities
	BIOGASMAX  brochure
	BEST (Bioethanol for Sustainable Transport)
	Hydrogen for Transport
	HYFLEET-CUTE
	HYCHAIN
	HYLIGHTS
	ZERO REGIO
	CUTE

In the field of urban mobility research, an extensive range of research, applied research and demonstration activities are being financed.
More information on many of these projects on  ELTIS, the European web portal on urban transport. 

The CIVITAS Initiative helps cities to implement and test innovative and integrated strategies that address energy and transport objectives. So far projects in 36 cities have been supported. The annual CIVITAS Forum brings together practitioners and politicians from the CIVITAS cities. A new CIVITAS call for proposals is open during the beginning of 2007 and a new action that should help the wider take up of the CIVITAS results and recommendations is under development.
More information on the  CIVITAS initiative, ongoing CIVITAS projects and funding opportunities.

 Future research activities will be implemented via the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development. The activities will cover the areas of alternative motor fuels (biofuels and hydrogen), energy efficient vehicles and the field of urban mobility research (covering the next generation of vehicles, new mobility concepts, the continuation of the CIVITAS Initiative, research into non-polluting modes of transport, demand management and tools to support policy development and implementation).

Activities that are funded by the transport part of the  Energy Intelligent Europe programme (STEER) promote the more sustainable energy use in transport (i.e. increased energy efficiency, new and renewable fuel sources, and the take-up of alternatively propelled vehicles). The specific focus is on alternative vehicle propulsion, policy measures for the more efficient use of energy in transport, and strengthening the knowledge of local management agencies in the transport field.

On 23 October 2007 the Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 has been adopted.

The revised text will enter into force on 3 December 2009 and will apply to land based passenger transport: bus, metro and rail. It will provide a clear framework suited to the needs of local authorities enabling them to organise public transport and finance public services.

In parallel the Commission has procured a study, which sumarises and evaluates different forms of contracting at present applied in Member States.
The study is subject to a disclaimer and copyright. The study have been carried out for the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport in the European Commission and expresses the opinion of the organisation undertaking the study. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the European Commission's or the Transport and Energy DG's views. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information given in the study, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.
Copyright in this study is held by the European Communities. Persons wishing to use the contents of these studies (in whole or in part) for purposes other than their personal use are invited to submit a written request to the following address:
European Commission - DG Energy and Transport - Library (DM28, 0/36)  - B-1049 Brussels e-mail
Contracting in urban public transport
Appendix: Contract Tables