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READING PASSAGE 12
EUROPEAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
1990-2010
What have been the trends and what are the prospects for
European transport systems?
A
It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport system. Although modern
information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by facilitating teleworking and
teleservices, the requirement for transport continues to increase. There
are two key factors behind
this trend. For passenger transport, the determining factor is the spectacular growth in car use. The number of
cars on European Union (EU) roads saw an increase of three million cars each year from 1990 to 2010, and in
the next decade the EU will see a further substantial increase in its fleet.
B
As far as goods transport is concerned, growth is due to a large extent to changes in
the European economy and
its system of production. In the last 20 years, as internal frontiers have been abolished, the
EU has moved from
a ”stock” economy to a ”flow” economy. This phenomenon has been emphasised by the relocation of some
industries, particularly those which are labourintensive, to
reduce production costs, even though the production
site is hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from the final assembly plant or away from users.
