Indicators to Assess Sustainability of Transport Activities - Part 1: Review of the Existing Transport Sustainability Indicator Initiatives and Development of an Indicator Set to Assess Transport Sustainability Performance

The major focus of this study is the review of the existing transport indicator initiatives of the EU and other international organisations as well as the development of an indicator set to measure sustainability of transport systems. Initially, the major characteristics of environmentally sustainable transport are defined and indicator quality selection criteria and quantitative targets as guideline criteria for selection of transport related indicators are presented. The following parts are dedicated to a review of a number of major EU and international indicator initiatives. On the basis of 10 transport related international initiatives which include EC Sustainable Development Indicators, EC ETIS study, the EEA TERM indicators, Eurostat transport indicators, transport indicator sets from OECD, US EPA, World Bank, UNECE, VTPI as well as taking into account the EC JRC Well-to-Wheel study a set of 55 sustainable transport indicators has been identified. In addition, causal chains among the selected indicators are analysed according to the DPSIR framework. This selection of transport sustainability indicators may serve as a valuable framework for the assessment of European transport sustainability performance and for the development of policy scenarios and strategies to mitigate negative impacts from transport activities. Their use in the so-called "Dashboard of Sustainability" (JRC) will point out areas where transport performance shows particular success or problems in the EU27.JRC.H.4-Transport and air qualit

Indicators to Assess Sustainability of Transport Activities - Part 2: Measurement and Evaluation of Transport Sustainability Performance in the EU27

Inspired by the growing interest of academic and policy environments in the field of transport sustainability, this work focuses on the measurement and assessment of transport activities in the European Union (EU) with the use of transport sustainability indicators. On the basis of major international transport related indicator initiatives a set of 55 transport sustainability indicators has been developed (as defined in the first part of the report by Dobranskyte-Niskota et al., 2007) where due to lack of data 32 indicators have been assessed in quantitative terms and the JRC SusTrans Index has been developed. The Joint Research Centre software tool entitled ¿the Dashboard of Sustainability¿ based on a simple graphic interface has been applied to the JRC SusTrans Index in the assessment of transport sustainability performance in the EU Member States. The Dashboard tool has compared indicator groups using the EWA method and communicated a quick impression by pointing to areas where transport indicators showed particular success or problems. Additionally, the Dashboard tool has been also applied to the Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) indicator set developed by the European Environmental Agency and the TERM Index has been calculated. The TERM Index has been used as a reference point to benchmark transport sustainability performance results of the EU Member States obtained by the SusTrans Index. The outcomes of the two indices (the SusTrans and the TERM) have revealed the highest rank of transport sustainability performance in Germany and Netherlands while the lowest performance ranks - in Greece and Bulgaria. The results of the two indices have revealed many similarities, while some differences in the outcomes observed are due to the variations in the structures of the indices. This in-depth analysis of EU 27 transport activities by the selected sustainability indicators using adequate modelling tools serves as valuable guidelines for forming transport policy strategies and scenarios. These policies aim to reduce negative impacts of transport activities with the final goal of achieving a sustainable transportation system in the European Union.JRC.H.4-Transport and air qualit