Skip to main content

EU investment fund ‘important for transport’

The new EU Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, said that the US$392 billion investment fund unveiled by President Juncker last week will have big significance for the transport sector. In a speech today to the Committee on Transport and Tourism at the European Parliament, Ms Bulc said that the new European Fund for Strategic Investment set up with the European Investment Bank (EIB) offers new opportunities to finance transport needs, particularly in urban mobility. “Investment needs in urban mob
December 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The new EU Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, said that the US$392 billion investment fund unveiled by President Juncker last week will have big significance for the transport sector.

In a speech today to the Committee on Transport and Tourism at the European Parliament, Ms Bulc said that the new European Fund for Strategic Investment set up with the 4270 European Investment Bank (EIB) offers new opportunities to finance transport needs, particularly in urban mobility.

“Investment needs in urban mobility are massive since they are generating most of the traffic and most of the emissions,” she told the Committee. “The infrastructure and the fleets for new collective transport systems, to make our cities smarter, need to be put in place.”

Ms Bulc said that more investment was needed for cleaner modes of transport, particularly at borders, to have a unified and more efficient European transport system and to bring it into the 21st century.

She said: “Intelligent Transport Systems should be deployed at European level to make the best use of the existing and future infrastructure and to develop a transport system which is at the service of the users— citizens and companies.”

The new fund, Ms Bulc emphasised, will complement and not substitute financial instruments already in place, such as the Connecting Europe Facility, the Cohesion and EIB loans. It will also target more ‘risky’ transport projects not currently funded by the EIB.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • FTA calls for infrastructure investment in Chancellor’s Spending Review
    September 11, 2015
    The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has told the Chancellor that investment in roads and rail infrastructure is key to the UK’s future growth in its submission ahead of his 2015 Spending Review. Chancellor George Osborne will publish his review on 25 November, setting out how the Government will invest in priority public services and deliver the US$31 billion further savings required to eliminate Britain’s deficit by 2019-20. FTA says the UK economy’s reliance on freight means investing in the s
  • Smoothing out city freight movements
    May 28, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes a national first. Urban freight movements, while commercially and socially vital, are a growing logistical headache for planners and people alike. Figures from France’s Lyon Laboratory of Transport Economics indicate that goods transport in major urban areas accounts for: 20% of traffic; 35% of CO2 emissions made by all urban trips; and 50% of the diesel used; while final km delivery runs account for 20% of the total cost of the transport chain.
  • How technology is propelling the development of urban shared transport
    April 11, 2024
    Over 18 million people use ride-hailing apps in the UK alone, says Mariusz Zabrocki of Freenow
  • AI: a means to an end
    October 12, 2022
    Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool to create a balance between safety, resilience, sustainability and inclusivity when it comes to connected and automated driving, says Margriet van Schijndel of TU/e