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SHORTSEA MOTORWAYS OR MUDDLE?
01 Mar 2005
Whilst transport is a perennial problem for any government, handling the issue across 25 nations is bound to constitute a major headache. The European Commission has been struggling with transport issues since its inception but with freight on Europe's roads increasing by around 60 billion t/km each year and one in nine freight deliveries arriving late due to road congestion, Brussels is increasingly looking towards the sea as part of the solution. Mike Elsom reports.
Reducing the number of people using the roads is not a realistic option but removing freight is, and that has been the driver behind the current Motorways of the Sea initiative. Part of the Trans-European Network - Transport (TEN-T), Motorways of the Sea seeks to establish a network of streamlined maritime links connecting member states with the central objective of reducing road congestion through encouraging modal shift. A secondary objective is to increase links with periphery or island states.
