With the contribution of the LIFE programme of the European Union - LIFE14 ENV/GR/000611 and       the co-financing of Green Fund, Greece

Transport trends and issues in Czech Republic, Greece and Slovak Republic

Transport activity across Europe is high, and set to continue growing. Estimates suggest that passenger transport will increase by 42% by 2050, and freight transport by 60%. This is good news for passengers and trade, but puts pressure on the transport network as well as the environment. Europe cannot advance without the further optimization of transport services and changes to the design of vehicles and infrastructure.

In Czech Republic, the development of new infrastructure projects and maintenance of the existing infrastructure remain low. Moreover, Czech Republic have one of the lowest shares of electric vehicles in newly registered cars and a below of EU average number of electric vehicles charging points. On the other hand, it records a much higher use of busses and coaches than the EU average, and a slightly higher than the EU average use of public transport. Regarding road fatalities, despite that they have significantly decreased, they are still above the EU average.

In Greece, the number of road fatalities, although it has significantly decreased in the last years, is one of the highest in the EU and it is mainly attributed to motorcyclists fatalities, low traffic law enforcement, low seat belt wearing rates and drink-driving offenders. The modal share of rail passenger transport in land transport is one of the lowest in the EU. This could be attributed to the density of the rail network per surface and per population, which is also one of the lowest in the EU. Greece records a high use of passenger cars and a much lower use of railways than the EU average. Yet, the share of buses and coaches passenger transport is twice the EU average.

In Slovak Republic, the issue of low load factor of some trains and busses has been attributed to unwanted competition. Road safety needs to be improved in general, with greater attention needed for the safety of pedestrians, since the share of pedestrian fatalities is significantly higher than the EU average. The use of passenger cars is below the EU average and Slovak Republic records a high use of busses, coaches and rail transport.

Source: European Commission

The LIFE GYM [LIFE14 ENV/GR/000611] project is co-funded by the LIFE programme, the EU financial instrument for the environment.

The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Start Date: 15 September 2015 – Duration: 35 months