SOU 1996:26
Heading for a new transport policy : interim report
_ — Heading for a
new transport policy ., .____ _ .___)____.__,__W_
i" Interim. report by the Government Commission
on Transport and Communications
The Swedish Government Official Report SOU 1996:26.
Heading for a new transport policy
Interim report by the Government Commission
on Transport and Communications
Off-print of the summary and
the Committee terms of reference
_; 57: t../15,31 54%; m'W/HMZJVY/LL
The Swedish Government Official Report SOU 1996:26
The Government Commission on Transport and Communications/ Kommunikationskommittén Kommunikationsdepartementet S- 1 00 33 Stockholm Sweden
Translation: Roger & Kerstin Tanner, Ordväxlingen Cover: Elsa Wohlfahrt NORSTEDTS TRYCKERI AB Stockholm 1996
Preface
Sweden makes ten-year-plans for investments in transport infrastructure, plans which are revised every fourth year. In order to engage as wide circles of the Swedish society as possible in this planning process, the parliament decided that an ad hoc parliamentary committee should supervise the planning process for the plan 1998— 2007. The committee should suggest adequate » goals for the investments in road and rail infrastructure for this period and should also give advise for a revision of the present transport policy that dates from 1988. The committee is called the Government Commission on Transport and Communications.
This is an English summary of the Commission”s first report. The report focus on suggestions for relevant goals and financial resources for the construction of road and rail infrastructure. The Commission is expected to submit its final report in December 1996 which should be a proposal for a new policy for transport and communications in Sweden.
For further information, please contact the Commission? secretariat: Kristina Feldhusen, Hans Silbom, Matz Mårtensson and Marika Engström.
Stockholm, March 1996
Rolf Annerberg
Chairrnan of the Government Commission on Transport and Communications
! |
Juli—"
Heading for a new transport policy — Summary
We have been given the task of drawing up a national plan for communications in Sweden which will form the basis of a new resolution on transport policy to be passed by the Government and Riksdag (parliament) in the spring of 1998. That plan will be presented in our final report in December 1996.
In this interim report we present alternative approaches and a recommended approach to infrastructure planning for the period 1998— 2007. We also propose experiments in four counties for testing a planning process which strengthens political control of infrastructure planning.
In addition, we present an evaluation of the practical workings of present-day transport policy. This evaluation has given us a basis on which to specify the transport policy issues which we will be addressing as our work continues.
Heading for a new infrastructure planning
We believe that continued infrastructure development is necessary in order to safeguard social development and national welfare and to improve the competitive capacity of enterprise. In addition, the infrastructure must be planned in a manner compatible with long-term sustainable development. This means that infrastructure development must be guided by fundamental considerations of the environment and human health.
Socio-economic analyses have provided an important foundation for the framing of our proposals. Not all effects, however, can be analysed by means of socio-economic calculations, and many of our calculations are based on uncertain presuppositions. Deeper studies and supplementary analyses are therefore needed in a number of respects.
Deeper studies prior to the policy decision on focus
Our proposals on the focus of infrastructure planning lack several links of importance in a national and international perspective, for which the Riksdag and Government have previously declared their support. Several of the sections which can be included in the Trans-European Networks (TEN) could not be included in our proposals. Proposed investments in national trunk roads, and partly railways, are now being concentrated on the Mälaren Valley region. This is a result of the socio-economic calculations prepared in the course of our work and of the budget frames we assumed.
The socio-economic analyses indicate that the reduced scope for road investments has led to especially heavy cutbacks on investments in national trunk roads in southern and western Sweden. This is due to the severe profitability requirements defined and to the difficulty of attaining sufficient profitability in those parts of the country, such as western Sweden, where building is expensive. In northern Sweden the investments in national trunk roads also are cut down, but inputs for operation and maintenance and load capacity investments are heavely increased.
We do not take any stand at present concerning the appropriate distribution of road funds between different regions and investments. This question will be handled in the customary way as the planning process continues. This also has reference to the regional balance within the regions, i.e. how funds will be allocated between sparesly— populated areas and urban areas within the regions. Standpoints of this kind require analyses in greater depth and detail than have been undertaken in the planning focus study. Studies of alternative standards and designs may have the effect of altering the ranking order and with it the regional apportionment of funding.
It is our opinion that the distribution of trunk road investments which the socio—economic analyses have resulted in can aggravate regional imbalances. The transport system, however, must be able to go on developing nationwide, so that it will serve its purpose and be capable of contributing towards the achievement of various welfare objectives. This cannot be completely captured in the socio-economic calculations, nor is it possible in those calculations to estimate employment effects.
It is therefore urgently necessary, in our opinion, that continuing work should include analyses in greater depth of national and international links with reference to alternative budgeting and standard
levels and in a wider societal perspective. This should also be capable of leading to a more equal regional allocation of investments.
Problem fields demanding special further study in a national perspective include, for example, through traffic in Skåne, traffic between Göteborg and Norway and rail traffic in central Norrland (i.e. the centre of northern Sweden).
The national links should then be reassessed by the Government prior to the Riksdag debate on the focus of planning.
Preparedness for labour market policy measures
We have analysed a large number of projects which are socio- economically profitable but which have fallen short of the socio- economic requirements we have defined for the inclusion of projects in our planning frame. These profitable projects, presented in the focus alternative which we call the basic alternative, could, however, be included in special packages for creating jobs through infrastructure investments ("employment packages").
Infrastructure planning inseparable from traffic policy
Infrastructure investments cannot be viewed in isolation from society and overarching transport policy. Both the necessity and the focus of investments are heavily dependent on the objectives defined by society for transport policy. Equally crucial are the decisions made concerning economic instruments, the structure of cost liability, regulations on vehicles and fuels or State procurement of traffic in various forms.
Infrastructure planning must agree with policy objectives for transport and the environment. The actions proposed must, for example, as far as possible be environmentally appropriate and conducive to traffic safety.
Infrastructure measures, however, are of limited significance in the solution of environmental problems. The purpose of infrastructure is to provide good opportunities for the transportation of people and goods. The achievement of environmental objectives demands further measures over and above those affecting infrastructure. The same goes for traffic safety objectives.
In drawing up our proposals on the focus of infrastructure planning, therefore, we have made a general analysis of various other measures needed in order for the objectives to be met. A more concerted and cogent analysis of the transport policy and infrastructural measures needed in order to achieve the objectives will be presented in our final
report. Several of the measures to be considered are of such a kind that they may come to affect the sum total of traffic inputs and the balance between different types of transport.
Thus our Standpoints on general issues of transport policy may have an impact on the planning of infrastructure investments.
Analyses of alternative focuses
We have analysed five alternative focuses for the development and maintenance of infrastructure: . A basic alternative including all measures which are judged to be socio-economically profitable. . An alternative attaching special importance to the objective of a good environment. . An alternative attaching special importance to the objective of improved trafic safety. . An alternative focusing particularly on the attainment of regional balance. . An alternative attaching special importance to business enterprise issues.
These altematives are compared with a comparative alternative (zero alternative) which only includes measures which are expected to be completed or begun by the New Year 1998.
In the light of the analyses of the alternative focuses, we have drawn up a draft focus for infrastructure planning for the period 1998— 2007.
Proposals for the development and maintenance of infrastructure during the period 1998—2007
Our proposals imply a redirection of infrastructure planning. . Following a period of heavy expansion of the national trunk road network, operational and maintenance-related inputs will have to be increased. We propose an increase of rather more than 30 per cent for operation and maintenance of the entire national road network, compared with the present-day level (1995). 0 For the rail network we propose that the allocation for operation and maintenance be raised by 22 per cent compared with the present- day level. This includes the bringing forward of re—investments to raise the permissible axle load to 25 tonnes.
. Heavy investments are recommended to increase the carrying capacity of railway lines and of the regional road network.
. Of rail and road investments totalling MSEK 58,000 it is proposed that 60 per cent go on railways and 40 per cent on roads. . Investments in the enlargement of national highways are reduced by more than half compared with the existing plan. This is partly because the standard of the road network has been elevated through enlargements in recent years and because we have now given priority to operation and maintenance within a limited budgeting frame. It is also connected with a new view of development strategy. We endorse the systematic approach and the development of a functionally integrated road network which have characterised planning, but we no longer attach any intrinsic importance to a uniform geometrical and traffic-technical standard. Every part of the national routes should be enlarged at the rate and given the standards which are justified by its own traffic conditions. The parts we have studied are relatively large and naturally demarcated. There is no question of replacing investments in new trunk roads with spot measures, but the big national trunk roads can be divided up into sections with differing traffic conditions. . Traffic safety work, for socio-economic reasons, will concentrate on implementing measures under the national traffic safety programme. Measures relating to the road systern will be concentrated on spot measures for black-spot intersections and sections instead of larger road investments. . Our proposals imply a heavy reallocation from large road investments to the operation and maintenance of the road network. Since the poorest road standard is to be found on the minor road network in the forest counties, the increased operating and maintenance allocations and load capacity investments we recommend imply an equalisation of regional imbalances in road standards. We also recommend special measures for the further encouragement to regional development and business competitive
capacity.
We propose a planning frame of MSEK 190,000 for investments and road and rail operation and maintenance during the planning period 1998—2007. This fits in well with the investment cut in this field resolved on by the Riksdag for the coming budget period. We have also assessed the consequences of changing the planning frame by 5:15 per cent and of a 20 per cent rise in costs.
Other measures to meet the carbon dioxide target
Our analyses have shown that, of the environmental targets we have defined, the carbon dioxide target is the most difficult to achieve. As an intermediate target, we have assumed that carbon dioxide emissions in the road sector will decline by 20 per cent between 1990 and 2020.
Measures of several different kinds are needed in order to achieve the carbon dioxide targets. We have assumed heavier carbon dioxide taxation, regulation of the specific fuel consumption of vehicles and the rapid introduction of bio-based fuels.
Increasea' carbon dioxide tax
In our calculations we have assumed that carbon dioxide tax will be raised in such a way that the price of petrol, in real terms, will rise by 10 öre (SEK 0.1) per litre and year between 1990 and 2020. The real price rise for the period ending 2020 will then be SEK 2.30 per litre of petrol. A corresponding increase is assumed in the price of diesel fuel. A large part of the scope created by this taxation revenue ought, in our opinion, to be applied to State support for environmental measures in the transport sector. Some form of compensation will probably also be needed for persons travelling long distances to work. If the rise in fuel prices should prove to have unacceptable distributive effects to the detriment of rural areas, those effects should be offset by means of regional policy measures in the broad sense. We will be analysing the question of carbon dioxide tax and related supportive measures in closer detail in our final report.
Regulation of vehicle fuel consumption
In order for carbon dioxide emissions from car traffic to be substantially reduced, cars will have to be made more fuel-efficient. There are several conceivable ways of inducing improvements in the fuel economics of new cars, e.g. regulations or differentiated taxes. It is difficult, however, for Sweden to introduce such instruments on its own. International agreements are needed.
In a specimen calculation we have shown how fuel efficiency will have to be improved in order for our carbon dioxide target to be attainable. We assume that the specific fuel consumption of new cars will gradually decline until 2005. As from that year, new cars are on average to have a fuel consumption of not more than 0.63 1/10 km (the average fuel consumption of new cards today is 0.92). Technically this
is quite feasible, but it will make heavy demands on international co- operation.
Support for the introduction of bio-based fuels
In our calculations we have assumed that from 2010 onwards, bio- based fuels will on average provide 15 per cent of the energy content of fuel. This can be achieved through a combination of measures, including both the development of vehicles running on bio-based fuels only, e.g. ethanol or methanol, and low admixture of bio-based fuel to the fossil fuel.
In order for this to be possible, both technical development and some form of public support for the introduction of bio-based fuels will probably be needed. We intend to return with proposals on this subject in our final report.
It is also necessary for Sweden to make active efforts to secure amendments to the EEC directive on excise duties on mineral oils, so as to facilitate the introduction of bio-based fuels.
Consequences of our proposals and assumptions
Infrastructure measures in the national road network outside urban communities have only a marginal bearing on traffic generation and choice of transport. Our proposals, therefore, will have hardly any effect at all on the development of road traffic. The presumed increase in carbon dioxide tax and regulation of fuel consumption will between them make motoring cheaper in real terms per kilometre. Traffic growth between 1993 and 2010 is estimated at roughly 30 per cent.
As a result of heavy investments in railways, passenger rail traffic is expected to increase by about 80 per cent during the same period.
Summing up, our proposals have the following consequences: . Substantial travel time savings on certain links
Our proposals confer travel time savings both by road and by rail. On the Stockholm—Göteborg and Stockholm—Malmö routes, using the fastest trains, journey times can be reduced to 2'/z and 31/2 hours respectively. . Reduced emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide
The focus of infrastructure planning makes little difference to emissions of air pollution and carbon dioxide.
The possibility of achieving the carbon dioxide target with a 20 per cent reduction between 1990 and 2020 will depend entirely on the possibility of reducing specific fuel consumption in motor vehicles and
increasing the proportion of bio-based fuels to the extent which we have assumed.
Stricter exhaust rules are needed in order to achieve the aim of an 82 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions between 1980 and 2020. Failing this, the reduction is expected to be about 65 per cent. The aim of reducing emissions of volatile hydrocarbons will be achieved in the short term, but in the longer term the growth of traffic will necessitate stricter exhaust regulations. . Reduced noise problems on national roads
Targeted measures in the form of noise protection will remedy the noise problems of the 25,000 persons living alongside national highways and exposed to noise levels exceeding 65 dBA. The long- term target of 55 dBA will not be achieved, however, and serious noise problems will persist on the municipal road network. ' Improved traffic safety
By the end of the planning period (2007), the number of persons killed in road traffic is expected to have fallen to about 370, as against 589 in 1994. The number seriously injured is expected to decline from 4,221 in 1994 to about 3,600 in 2007. ' Equalisation of regional imbalances
The investments in operations and maintenance have a strong regional profile. Nearly half the increase will be in northern Sweden. Roughly 20 per cent of all frost-damaged roads can be remedied (4,000 km out of 19,000). . Improved opportunities for enterprise
The investments in operation and maintenance and in load capacity improvements will mean a great deal to business enterprise, since they will improve the scope for heavy goods transport both by road and by rail. Special investments totalling MSEK 5,350 are recommended for rail freight traffic.
Experiment in stronger political control
We recommend experiments in Skåne whereby responsibility for drawing up and finalising plans for county traffic facilities (LTA) for the period 1998—2007 is transferred from the County Administration Board to the Skåne Administration.
We also recommend that the Stockholm County Council be made responsible for LTA planning in the County of Stockholm (instead of the County Adminstration Board).
Both in Skåne and in the County of Stockholm, the planning process will be constructed in such a way as to strengthen political
control and improve co-ordination between different types of transport systems, between transport and infrastructure and between infrastructure and other physical planning.
In the Stockholm County experiment, special importance will be attached to developing and testing a planning process in which urban planning and infrastructure planning are integrated with the planning of mass transit, goods transport and motor traffic. There should be good opportunities for this type of integration in the County of Stockholm, where the County Council is responsible both for regional planning and for public transport.
The experimental activities in Skåne and the County of Stockholm must be co-ordinated with the Govemment's response to the proposals of the Regional Government Commission and with the experimentation which those proposals may lead to. A Government Bill is expected in May 1996.
In the Counties of Västernorrland and Jämtland we propose experiments aimed at strengthening regional influence on the maintenance of county roads. Certain measures at present classed as maintenance and funded out of the operations and maintenance allocation of the National Road Administration or the special load capacity plan, e.g. frost-proofing and road capacity reinforcement, are instead to be regarded as investments and transferred to the LTA allocations. The corresponding money is also to be transferred to the LTA allocations. In this way the counties will have more to say concerning which measures are to be taken and in what order.
The experimental activities are to be followed up and evaluated in 1998, after which it will be considered whether the experiments are to continue, to be changed or to be concluded.
We have only proposed experiments in four counties, but we see no objection to additional experiments being conducted if further preparation for the experimental activities should reveal any such interest.
We have asked the county administrations to concretise our proposals on the focus of infrastructure planning at regional level. They are to report back to us not later than lst September 1996.
We will also be instructing the National Rail Administration and the National Road Administration to describe how political control of national investment plans for the period 1998—2007 is to be established.
Evaluation of transport policy
Our terms of reference require us to analyse whether the transport policy aims in the resolutions passed by the Riksdag between 1988 and 1991 have been achieved.
The 1988 Transport Policy Resolution indicates five partial objectives: ' availability, efficiency, safety, environmental quality, regional balance.
The efficiency target has been evaluated on our behalf by the Agency for Administrative Development.
The National Road Administration has evaluated achievement of the availability and safety targets in the road sector.
The National Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated the extent to which the environmental targets have been achieved, while NUTEK (the National Board for Industrial and Technical Development) and the National Rural Area Development Agency have evaluated achievement of the regional balance target.
We have received further supportive documentation from the Civil Aviation Administration, the Central Board of National Antiquities, the Swedish State Railways and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities. In addition, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), acting on our behalf, has analysed the effects of a number of new train investments.
Our conclusions on the transport policy pursued
Much has been done since 1988 for the development of transport systems.
Traffic safety has improved and emissions of pollutants have diminished considerably, at the same time as traffic volumes have grown. Carbon dioxide emissions, however, have increased.
Much has been done to expand the national railways and roads. Air traffic has been deregulated and shipping still plays a crucial part in our foreign trade.
SJ (the Swedish State Railways) has developed into an efficient and highly competitive transport enterprise. High—speed trains have proved to be a successful venture, competing very effectively with air transport and motorism.
The organisation of the transport utilities has been developed and adapted to new requirements of efficiency and market adjustment. The utilities have been given closely defined sectorial responsibilities for the environment, safety, research etc., at the same time as a co- ordinated and integrated structure of transport planning is being realised for all types of transport.
Transport policy, then, is steadily developing, but there are problems involved in our way of controlling, organising and financing the transport system. Some of the targets set by the Riksdag for transport and the environment have proved difficult to achieve.
The following are some of the important conclusions resulting from the transport policy evaluation conducted on our behalf. . Input data need to be improved
In our view, the input data for investment planning must be improved and clearer guidelines are needed concerning the input data required for different planning situations. . Decisions must be followed up
In our view, clear rules and distinct responsibility are needed for follow-up at both national and regional levels. The results of infrastructure investments should be followed up in relation to the targets defined for transport policy and for individual projects. It is important to make clear whether costs and effects agree with those indicated in the input data. . Financial responsibility must be reviewed
The principles of financial responsibility need to be reviewed and ways of improving calculations of the marginal socio-economic costs analysed, because at present these calculations are surrounded by a great deal of uncertainty. . The balance between public planning and free competition in different types of transport systems should be analysed The evaluations show that the deregulations of air traffic and taxi services have had both positive and negative effects, although it is too early yet to pronounce on the long-term outcome. The deregulations appear to have favoured densely populated areas but to have had a number of negative effects on regions with lower traffic densities.
It is essential to analyse whether measures are needed to compensate rural areas for the effects of deregulation, and to study what may be an appropriate balance between public planning and free competition.
0 The target of regional balance needs to be defined more closely Our evaluation points to the difficulties of operationalising the target of regional balance and, accordingly, of analysing the degree of its achievement. An attempt must therefore be made to clarify the regional balance target. . The environmental targets must be defined The National Environmental Protection Agency points to many positive aspects of progress towards a better environment in the transport sector. The long-term environmental objectives are being drawn up in a co-operation project about an environmentally sustainable transport system, called the MaTs co-operation. It is led by the Swedish National Environment Protection Agency and transport authorities and industry take part. Through the MaTs co-operation there exists an established network which is compiling supportive documentation for an action plan, aimed at achieving an environmentally appropriate system of transport in the next 25—30 years. At the same time, the National Environmental Protection Agency notes that many of the environmental targets set by the Riksdag have not been achieved. Achievement of the stabilisation target for carbon dioxide emissions is especially difficult. It is urgently necessary to develop both long-term targets concerning the prerequisites of sustainable development and interim targets showing the rate at which the long-term targets are to be achieved. . Traffic safety work needs to be bröadened The National Road Administration reports a continuous improvement in traffic safety. The target set previously for reducing the number of deaths (to a maximum of 600) has already been achieved. Developments are less positive, however, concerning the numbers injured, although the number of persons severely injured has declined. It is imperative to develop the "zero vision", i.e. to show how the aim of eliminating fatal road accidents altogether can be achieved. . Co-ordination of infrastructure development decisions and traffic use needs to be improved The Swedish State Railways report a positive development of rail passenger traffic. Traffic on county lines has also increased, except in the northern part of the country, where passenger services have been discontinued on several lines. In many places, however, there is uncertainty regarding the future when the ten-year State funding allocation for services on county lines expires. Another problem observed by SJ and others is the risk of insufficient co-ordination between those deciding the infrastructure of the rail network and those
who will be using the lines. Studies are needed to show how this co- ordination can be improved.
. Bi-modal traffic needs to be developed SJ reports that bi-modal railroader traffic has not developed in accordance with the Riksdag target, and the need for special measures to strengthen the development of this traffic must therefore be analysed. In this connection, attention should also be paid to the need for State inputs for transshipment terminals.
Our continuing work
As our work continues, we will be addressing all the problem fields observed in the course of the evaluation. We will be studying the principles and general issues of transport policy concerning the way in which the transport system is to be organised, controlled and financed. In our overarching transport policy analyses of the structure of financial responsibility, the state of competition between different types of transport systems, State procurement of regionally necessary transport etc., air transport and shipping will figure much more prominently than they have done in our interim report, the main concern of which has been with the focus of investment planning.
Committee terms of reference
Dir. 1994: 140
Drafting for a national plan for Sweden's communications
Resolution adopted at a Cabinet Meeting on 22nd December 1994.
The assignment in brief
A Parliamentary Committee is to be appointed to draft a national plan for communications in Sweden.
With reference to the 1988 Transport Policy Resolution and the policy decisions taken thereafter concerning a good living environment, development sustainable in the long term, the development of an environmentally appropriate system of transport and investments in transport infrastructure, as well as investment plans adopted by the Government for roads, railways and county transport installations, the Committee shall: . analyse the extent to which the aims of transport policy expressed in the 1988 and 1991 Riksdag resolutions have been accomplished, . suggest a national plan of communications, based on a holistic approach and calculated to contribute towards the achievement of an environmentally appropriate transport system, while at the same time promoting traffic safety, wellbeing, long-term sustainable growth, regional balance and a competitive enterprise sector, . put forward proposals for financing communications within the frames of national government finance which have now been decided on,
' analyse the connections between a national plan of communications in Sweden and the planning of an environmentally appropriate, safe transport system in Sweden's larger conurbations and urban regions, . identify the measures needed in order to achieve better integration and co-ordination than at present of shipping, air traffic and information technology with the land transport system, . identify ways in which charges in the transport sector can be adapted so as to promote an environmentally appropriate, safe transport system and increase the sector's economic efficiency, . identify ways in which investment, maintenance and operational measures in the transport infrastructure, together with policy measures and instruments of other kinds, can help to accomplish the aims of transport, environmental and regional policies, . identify measures — e.g. with a view to making public transport more competitive — which can help to achieve the aims of transport, environmental and regional policies to a greater extent than infrastructural measures alone, . analyse the effects of various regional policy measures within the communications sector, viewing those effects in relation to the costs and to the extent to which the aim of regional balance has been achieved, 0 identify ways in which transport inputs can be reduced, subject to the desirability of free mobility and good communications, . analyse the effects of the development of information technology and mobility needs, viewing these effects in relation to the expansion needs of transport infrastructure, . identify ways in which the planning and funding system for transport infrastructure investments can be adapted and improved, partly in order to enhance the economic efficiency of the transport sector, ' recommend the main thmst of the revision of infrastructure investment plans for the period 1998—2007, . recommend ways in which Sweden, within the context of EU co- operation, can help to frame a Common Transport Policy (CTP) and, in the context of work on trans—European networks, can pursue the introduction of an environmentally appropriate European system of transport, . recommend measures capable of stimulating research and development in fields where the standard of knowledge needs to be elevated so that a transport system can be developed which will be sustainable in the long term.
Background
On l6th March 1994, the Riksdag resolved (Prop. 1993/94:100 Bil. 7, Bet. 1993/94:TU16, Rskr. 1993/94zl54) that a Committee should be appointed to draw up a national plan for communications in Sweden. The Riksdag stated that the basic concern must be for investments to be given such a focus that we can achieve an environmentally appropriate transport system which at the same time will contribute towards greater wellbeing and growth. The plan is also to include proposals for the long-term financing of communications.
The remit
The starting point for the inquiry consists of the 1988 Transport Policy Resolution and the 1991 resolutions Enterprise Policy for Growth and A Good Living Environment. It is especially important to analyse the extent to which the principle of the cost liability of transport and the sectorial responsibilities of the different types of traffic for the environment have led to more efficient utilisation of transport and the pursuit of a more environmentally appropriate system of transport. The Committee is to propose ways of developing this principle further.
In a holistic perspective, the Committee is among other things to investigate transport use questions, environmental adjustment, infrastructure design and the focus of investment planning, the dimensioning of traffic and measures in the IT sector. The Committee's proposals will form the basis of a unitary draft resolution on communications policy.
The Committee is also to take as its starting point the Riksdag Resolution on sustainable development (Prop. 1993/94:111, Bet. 1993/94zJoU19, Rskr. 1993/942256) and a sustainable transport systern (Prop. 1993/94:100 Bil. 7, Bet. 1993/941TU16, Rskr. 1993/94:154), together with the investment plans for road and rail expansion adopted by the Government in its resolution of 24th March 1994.
In the light of the Riksdag Resolution on investments in transport infrastructure and of the investment plans approved by the Government for investments in roads, railways and county transport installations, the Committee is to identify measures needed in order to achieve a better integration than at present of shipping, air transport and information technology with the land transport system.
The purpose of this inquiry is for the system of communications to be directed towards an environmentally appropriate system of transport which will at the same time contribute towards greater wellbeing and
sustainable growth in the various parts of the country. Access to efficient communications is also very much a question of wellbeing and distributive justice.
The expression "environmentally appropriate system of transport" refers to a way of organising and carrying out passenger and goods transport operations within the frames defined by what human beings and nature can tolerate.
Balances must therefore be struck on the basis of political deliberations. This applies, for example, to the relationship between the different types of traffic, availability, regional policy commitments and questions concerning finance and the apportionment of costs between the different types of communication.
The Committee has therefore to analyse various scenarios in which an environmentally appropriate traffic system as a whole is geared to various prioritisations of the aims of transport policy. The consequences of these prioritisations for the achievement of other goals of transport policy are to be presented in each scenario, as are each scenario's distributive effects. The analysis should be undertaken in the light of various proposals for reducing emissions in keeping with goals defined by the Riksdag. The scenarios are to be accompanied by an account of the way in which the infrastructure should be expanded during the next planning period (1998—2007).
The Committee should also suggest the best way in which Sweden can contribute towards the framing of a Common Transport Policy (CTP) within the European Union (EU). Work is also in progress within the EU on designing an integral, all-European transport network. A network of this kind will facilitate integral transport solutions based on multiple transport. The Committee should identify ways in which Sweden can strongly encourage the implementation of an environmentally appropriate European transport system. Furthermore, the Committee should analyse the consequences of the EU transport network for Sweden's communications and transport system, as well as considering and recommending measures whereby Sweden's communications will be suitably interlinked with the trans- European networks.
One basic principle underlying the work of the Committee should be that it is good communications in the broad sense which are to be pursued. An aim of this kind can be accomplished in various ways. New and advanced technology, such as information technology, can provide opportunities for the enhancement of transport efficiency. Furthermore, each type of transport should be used in the very context where it has its advantages. From an environmental viewpoint it is important in this respect that transport inputs can be distributed to the
means of transport which are economical of energy and in other ways have a low environmental impact. This means that several different kinds of transport can be used in a single transport operation. In a network of this kind, an important role is played, for example, by terminals and nodal points in the transport system. Reloading costs and transfer times can be minimised with efficient terminals in the right locations. Multiple transport operations can then become an efficient alternative to operations using one type of transport only. Integration with information technology can also have the effect of enhancing the quality of the services performed, while at the same time reducing sacrifices of time, natural resources etc. The Committee should therefore investigate the feasibility and necessity of improved nodal! points and development of new technology in the Swedish goods and passenger transport system and should recommend measures to be taken.
The efficiency improvement resulting from the introduction of information technology can have a restraining effect on the close connection between transport inputs and economic development. The Committee is therefore to analyse whether this improved efficiency will affect the need for infrastructure capacity expansion.
Evaluations of the investment plans of the transport utilities have shown the system of road and rail investment finance to be an imperfect means of accomplishing the aims of transport policy, e.g. those of an environmental nature. The Committee is therefore to identify ways in which the system of planning and finance can be adapted and improved so as to encourage an environmentally appropriate system of transport and so as to improve the economic efficiency and traffic safety of the transport sector.
Owing to the change in the length of time for which the Riksdag and other representative assemblies are elected, State investment plans for transport infrastructure will in future be revised at four-yearly intervals. The Committee is to analyse the need for changes in the political basis of planning proposals at both national, regional and local levels. As regards the political basis at regional level, it is possible that changes will be introduced as a result of the ongoing deliberations of the Regional Government Commission (C 1992:06).
The Committee should recommend ways in which the Govemment's task of following up the investment resolutions should be carried out.
Sustainable development depends on the pricing system containing accurate information on resource consumption and benefit. The preparation of a national plan of communications, therefore, requires external factors in the national economy to be taken into account and
adjusted in one way or another. The Committee is therefore to analyse ways in which charges in the transport sector can be adapted so as to promote an environmentally appropriate transport system, enhance the economic efficiency of the transport sector and limit the use of finite resources. The consequences of changed price relations between fossil and renewable fuels should be illuminated.
On instructions from the Government, the county administrations are preparing regional traffic and environmental analyses with a view to laying down guidelines for the long-term development of environmentally appropriate transport systems within the counties. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is working, on the Govemment's instructions, with a national vision, addressing environmentally appropriate communications among other questions. A report, Sweden 2009, is currently being circulated for comment. In the light of the work done by the county administrations and the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, the Committee should analyse the feasibility of an environmentally appropriate transport system in the various parts of Sweden and the connections between a national plan of communications and the planning of an environmentally appropriate transport system in the larger conurbations and urban regions of Sweden.
The Committee should also analyse ways in which investments, maintenance and operational measures within the transport infrastructure and measures and instruments of other kinds can help to accomplish the various aims of environmental, regional and transport policies.
The Committee is to consider whether a change is necessary in the present allocation of responsibilities between national authorities involved in the planning of communications.
The possibilities of steering use of the transport system solely through infrastructure investments, however, are relatively limited, and the Committee is therefore to identify measures which can help to achieve the aims of transport and environmental policy to a greater extent than infrastructure measures alone. Development of public transport and its competitive capacity can be an effective means to this end. This analysis will include recommendations concerning finance and possible steering instruments.
The feasibility of regional development and of balance between regions can be variously affected by measures in the communications sector. The Committee is therefore to evaluate the effects of various regional policy measures within the communications sector, viewing those effects in relation to the costs.
One precondition of sustainable design of a national communications plan is that the measures proposed can be financed in both the national and local government sectors. The Committee is therefore to consider and recommend ways of financing the various measures within the frames of national government finance already decided on.
Partly in the light of this analysis, the Committee is to consider and recommend a national plan of communications based on a holistic approach to the transport systern. An environmental impact assessment is to be prepared for the proposals. The thrust of the proposals must be such that the plan will contribute towards the achievement of a safe, environmentally appropriate transport systern while at the same time promoting wellbeing and growth in the various parts of the country.
The Committee is also to consider and recommend measures to encourage research and development in fields where the standard of knowledge needs to be elevated so that a transport system can be developed which will be sustainable in the long term.
Further points
The Committee is to keep itself inforrned of the work of the Traffic and Climate Committee (K 1993:01), the Commission on Further Development of the System of Environmental Classification for Cars etc. (M 1993:08), the Road Pricing Commission (K 1994:27), the Commission on the Feasibility of Greater Environmental Relation of the Taxation System (Fi 1994:11) and the Regional Government Commission (C 1992:06). The Committee is also to keep itself inforrned of the work of the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning on a national vision and the work of the National Environmental Protection Agency on an environmentally appropriate transport system. In keeping with Dir. 1992z50, the Committee is to declare the regional policy implications of its proposals, and in keeping with Dir. 1994: 124 it is to declare the equal opportunities implications of its proposals, as well as taking into account the Govemment's instructions to all committees and special investigators to scrutinise public commitments (Dir. 1994:23).
A draft plan of national communications is to be included in the final report which the Committee is to present by lst December 1996 at the latest. An interim report setting out alternative courses and recommending the main thrust of infrastructure investments for the period 1998—2007 is to be submitted to the Government on 15th
January 1996. This interim report is also to include any proposals for changes of political control at various levels of the planning system.
(The Ministry of Transport and Communications)
Heading for a new transport policy Interim report by the Government Commission on Transport and Communications
The focus of infrastructure
How can we develop infrastructure for the next planning period (1998 — 2007) in the direction of an environmentally appropriate transport system? Proposals on the focus of investments, operations and maintenance of roads and railways.
Stronger political control
How can political control of the planning of infrastructure be strengthened at both regional and national levels? Proposals on experimental activities in Skåne, Stockholm and Jämtland/Västernorrland.
Evaluation of traffic policy How successful has traffic policy been hitherto? Have utilities and authorities been able to live up to the traffic policy objectives defined, for example, in the 1988 and 1991 resolutions? Presentation of the results of an evaluation.
The Government Commission
on Transport and Communications is a parliamentary committee in which all the parliamentary political parties are represented. In the final report, the Committee will be presenting proposals for a new transport policy.