AIt is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport system. Although modern information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by facilitating teleworking and teleservices, the requirement for transport continues to increase. There are two key factors behind this trend. For passenger transport, the determining factor is the spectacular growth in car use. The number of cars on European Union (EU) roads saw an increase of three million cars each year from 1990 to 2010, and in the next decade, an even more substantial increase is expected.
BAs far as goods transport is concerned, growth is due to a large extent to changes in the European economy and its system of production. In the last 20 years, as internal frontiers have been abolished, the EU has moved from a 'stock' economy to a 'flow' economy. This phenomenon has been emphasized by the relocation of some industries, particularly those which are labour-intensive, to reduce production costs, even though the production site is hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from the final assembly plant or away from users.
CThe strong economic growth expected in countries which are candidates for entry to the EU will also increase transport flows, in particular for road haulage. In 1998, some of these countries already exported more than twice their 1990 volumes and imported more than five times their 1990 volumes. Although many of these candidate countries inherited a transport system which was concentrated on rail, since the 1990s the distribution of transport there has tipped sharply in favour of road transport. By 2016, road haulage will have increased by 112%, while rail freight will have grown by only 47%.
DHowever, a new imperative – sustainable development – offers an opportunity for adapting the EU's common transport policy. This objective, agreed by the Gothenburg European Council, has to be achieved by integrating environmental considerations into Community policies, and its ambition is to decouple economic growth from the demand for transport, thereby achieving a balance between growth and environmental protection.
EIn 1998, energy consumption in the transport sector was to blame for 28% of emissions of CO2, the leading greenhouse gas. According to the latest estimates, if nothing is done to reverse the traffic growth trend, CO2 emissions from transport can be expected to increase by around 50% to 1,113 billion tonnes by 2020, compared with the 739 billion tonnes recorded in 1990. Once again, road transport is the main culprit since it alone accounts for 84% of the CO2 emissions attributable to transport.
FThe European Union's transport system stands at an important turning point. Time has come to achieve a genuine rebalance between transport modes: curbing road transport while revitalising railways, short-sea shipping, and inland waterways. Without concerted policy intervention, saturation will paralyze key arterial corridors.
GThe first approach would consist of focusing on road transport solely through pricing. This option would not be accompanied by complementary measures in the other modes of transport. In the short term, it might curb the growth of road transport through the better loading ratio of goods vehicles and higher occupancy rates of passenger cars. However, in the absence of an alternative, this approach would not guarantee the ideal shift of freight to other modes.
HThe second approach also concentrates on road transport pricing but is accompanied by measures to increase the efficiency of the other modes (better quality of services, logistics, technology). However, this approach does not include investment in new infrastructure, nor does it guarantee a genuine rebalancing of modal split.
IThe third approach, which is not new, comprises a series of measures ranging from pricing to revitalising alternative modes of transport and targeted investment in the trans-European network. This integrated, ambitious strategy is designed to achieve modal split shifts and allow transport to meet European economic and environmental demands by 2020.
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A–I. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A–E and G–I from the list of headings below. (Paragraph F is given as an example: vii. The need to achieve transport rebalance).
List of Headings:
i A fresh and important long-term goal
ii Charging for roads and improving other transport methods
iii Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported
iv Taking all the steps necessary to change transport patterns
v The environmental costs of road transport
vi Restricting road use through regulations
vii The need to achieve transport rebalance (Example)
viii The rapid growth of private transport
ix Plans to develop European rail networks
x Restricting road use through charging policies alone
xi Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? Write TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN.
22. The need for transport is growing, despite technological developments.
23. To reduce production costs, some industries have been moved closer to their relevant consumers.
24. Cars are prohibitively expensive in some EU candidate countries.
25. The Gothenburg European Council was set up 30 years ago.
26. By the end of this decade, CO2 emissions from transport are predicted to reach 739 billion tonnes.