Skip to main content

UITP reveals promising growth in public transport modal share

Back in 2009, the public transport sector set itself a goal: double its market share worldwide by 2025 to make cities more liveable and more productive. Today, in 2015, on the occasion of the biennial UITP World Congress & Exhibition in Milan this week, UITP presented a report to illustrate the urban policies that are moving cities closer to that goal. In a report presented at the plenary session of the World Congress, UITP research points to a general increase in public transport modal share thanks to
June 10, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Back in 2009, the public transport sector set itself a goal: double its market share worldwide by 2025 to make cities more liveable and more productive. Today, in 2015, on the occasion of the biennial UITP World Congress & Exhibition in Milan this week, UITP presented a report to illustrate the urban policies that are moving cities closer to that goal.  

In a report presented at the plenary session of the World Congress, UITP research points to a general increase in public transport modal share thanks to efforts to boost supply, control private car use and increase urban density. This is particularly noticeable in cities in developed countries.

The growth has been particularly marked in Oslo, London and Paris where there has been more than a 10 per cent increase in modal share, whilst cities such as Prague, Berlin or Rome show a reversal of a previous trend whereby public transport’s market share had been decreasing. There are also positive developments in cities with already significant modal shares, such as Vienna, Geneva, Singapore and Hong Kong. Other cities such as Munich and Stockholm have taken great strides in boosting walking and cycling with a marked decrease in private car reliance.

In developing countries, however, whilst efforts are being made to increase public transport supply, there is also increasing motorisation due to a general lack of measures to manage private car use, meaning that globally, there is still much work to be done to fulfil the goals of the UITP strategy.      

Professor Lewis Fulton from the University of California Davis commented on the report during the plenary session at the congress and presented his conclusions on the economic implications of a high shift to public transport scenario.

“Our strategy to double the market share of public transport worldwide by 2025 is about cities: making them better places to live and work,” said UITP secretary general Alain Flausch. He went on to say that the data shows that cities with a higher public transport market share use less of their urban space for transport, releasing space for recreational as well as economically-productive functions. He said the results so far show great cause for optimism but also highlight the work that still needs to be done in terms of increasing urban density and managing private car use in order to reach UITP’s ambitious 2025 objective.

Related Content

  • The connectivity congress
    October 22, 2012
    By the time this 19th ITS World Congress officially ends on Friday with Plenary Session III and the Closing Ceremony, over 1,000 presentations will be have been made through the huge programme of sessions - Executive, Special Interest, Technical/Scientific, and Interactive sessions. However, it is the three plenary sessions that will encapsulate this whole event and its legacy. The theme of the year’s ITS World Congress is ‘smarter on the way’. The stated aim is that all citizens and businesses have at al
  • Sustainable mobility? Only possible with a multifaceted approach
    May 25, 2023
    ITS European Congress 2023 was scene for 'full and frank exchange of views'
  • Vianova to boost micromobility in Stockholm 
    April 30, 2021
    Voi electric scooters are involved in integration of shared mobility services in city
  • €10,000 prize will go to best start-up idea in new CARTES challenge
    October 28, 2014
    CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS is a melting pot for key players in the sector from more than 140 countries all over the world. Many of these are established companies with an impressive track record in the field – but those which are just starting out on their commercial journeys are being given a boost of their own this year. For the first time, the CARTES Startup Challenge will offer five young companies the opportunity to pitch their ideas to experts, who will then decide on a winner.