KEY ROLE FOR INTERMODALITY AS EU FIFTH FRAMEWORK TRANSPORT PLANS UNVEILED

More than #250M will be available for transport research during the next four years from the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Union (EU). Details of this programme were revealed in March 1999, and this article reports on the types of projects which the European Commission (EC) aims to support. W Block, the EC director of transport research, detailed 50 transport projects which will receive EU funding in 1999, and promised that 150 more would be included in future rounds, to be launched on 15 December 1999, 15 June 2000, 15 December 2000, and 15 June 2001. The article discusses the themes of the whole programme, with most research being concerned with competitive and sustainable growth, and briefly outlines the subjects of most of the first projects. 19 will cover infrastructures and their interfaces with transport means and systems, including the topics of infrastructure development and maintenance, environment, safety, security, and human factors. 13 will cover modal and intermodal transport management systems, including the topics of traffic management systems and transport and mobility services. 11 will cover socio-economic scenarios for mobility of people and goods, including the topics of quantitative tools for decision making, driving forces in transport, and policies for sustainable mobility.