CIVITAS Plus Cluster Report - Clean Vehicles and Fuels
The future of urban transport is likely to entail continued dependency on the private car (since the complexity of personal trip patterns is unlikely to change greatly in the short to medium term), the modal share of bus use is likely to increase, and (notwithstanding the emerging technologies associated with 3D printing and manufacture) goods vehicles will continue to play a significant role in supporting the business activities of urban centres throughout Europe. In addition to measures aimed at encouraging urban sustainability, the development of cleaner vehicles and fuels remains a key activity within the CIVITAS programme; this cluster report assesses the results from those measures.
The number of measures in CIVITAS Plus has increased since CIVITAS II, with 41 measures relating to the introduction of clean fuels and vehicles, compared to the 26 measures in this area in CIVITAS II. In a similar pattern to CIVITAS II, the majority of measures for CIVITAS Plus are based on the introduction and operation of new or modified vehicles to either the public transport or municipal fleet. A small number of measures consider the strategic development or feasibility of such schemes. A similarly small number of measures are aimed at altering driver behaviour and public perception and attitudes towards new fuel technologies.
While the aim of many of these measures has been to deliver more environmentally sustainable fuels, the Europe-wide economic downturn has impacted particularly on support from business, and as such, a number of measures were scaled down from their original implementation plans.
This report was compiled for the CIVITAS Plus phase of the Initiative by the CIVITAS POINTER project.
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