1. Travel in a globalised world
Buses, coaches and taxis – the green and safe mobility solution of the future Graham SMITH CEO Heyfordian Travel (UK) President of the IRU Passenger Transport Council Vice President of the IRU
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues, good afternoon.
It is a pleasure for me to address this distinguished audience on behalf of the many thousands of bus, coach and taxi operators and their drivers around the globe, whose services are made available day, and often, night to billions of commuters and travellers all over the world.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

2.  Green and safe mobility for all
Bus and coach – the largest collective mobility provider
After the private car, buses and coaches are the largest transport mode in the world
90% of all commercial travel in Turkey is carried out by buses and coaches
In Europe, 700 billion km are travelled yearly by bus and coach
In the USA, buses and coaches carry 8% more passengers than airlines, and 67% more than Amtrak and commuter rail combined
In 15 years ( ), bus and coach travel between Russia and China increased 80 times
Together with taxis, buses and coaches are the only mode than can successfully compete with the private car
Indeed, as you probably know, after the private car, buses and coaches are the second largest travel mode, with, in some countries such as Turkey, buses and coaches transporting more than 90% of all travellers.
Together with taxis, buses and coaches are the only modes of travel that can successfully compete with the private car, since this unique combination offers all the advantages of the private car, such as comfort, speed and customized door-to-door service.
We also offer essential complementary services to other transport modes, such as air, rail and cruise shipping, thus we make the travel chain work.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

3.  Green and safe mobility for all
Buses and coaches - the genuine travel alternative for the future
Cleanest mode of transport
In interregional transport, coaches are 3 times more energy efficient than rail, 5 time more efficient than private cars, and 10 times more efficient than airlines (data, France)
Overall, buses and coaches are 2 times more CO2 efficient than rail (data, UK)
Safest road transport mode
In Australia, travelling to school by bus is 7 times safer than the family car
Last year in the EU, 13 out of 27 Member States reported no single bus and coach fatality
Bearing in mind our excellent safety and environmental record, bus and coach transport, and also taxis, are the genuine travel alternatives of the future. It is essential that they have the unconditional support of policy decision makers, be it at local, national, European or international level.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

4.  Green and safe mobility for all?
12-day derogation in international coach tourism
Years of industry advocacy
Final result: only 10% of its original value (before 2006) obtained
Rights of passengers in the European Union
Extremely high costs to be borne by operators
City restrictions and low emission zones (LEZs)
Venice, Rome, Florence etc.
Low emission zones with various rules spreading all over Europe
But is this actually the case?
Let me give you some examples of recent decision making in the EU, just to demonstrate that we still have a long way to go before we – public and private partners – can claim that we have placed buses, coaches and taxis at the heart of the policy attention and care.
First, as you probably know, in 2006 the new EU driving and rest time rules entered into force, removing the vital, 12-day derogation for international coach tourism. After two years of lobbying day and night, we succeeded in taking back this derogation, but in a form which is worth only 10% of its original value. And this, in spite of the fact that the removal of the derogation was publicly recognised to have been an error. In spite also of the fact that we are recognised as the safest and most environmentally friendly mode of travel and that drivers were still losing a great deal, both economically and socially.
Second. A month ago, at the end of April, the European Parliament voted in the first reading on the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport in the EU.
The results of the vote were so obviously politically biased in favour of customers, that one could ask oneself if MEPs were voting on legislation or if they were already in an election campaign.
Third. When European cities, the largest tourist destinations, with thousands of visiting coaches every year make decisions about taxation and restriction’s, the easiest target is always the visitor, who is not a voter in that city. And the easiest amongst the easiest is the coach visitor, who can simply be taxed upon entry into the city, sometimes in quite a medieval way, as we have witnessed in some cities in the South of Europe.
Finally, a similar example is the low emission zones, which are constantly spreading all across Europe, and where every city tends to invent its own rules, limitations, certificates, etc. At this rate, we may arrive at a situation where only part of the fleet is able to visit Paris, another part just London, and yet another part is confined to German and Italian cities, carrying on board a set of individual certificates, each with differing criteria.
Hopefully this is a nightmare scenario which will never come to pass, but it demonstrates the absurdity of the situation if it continues without any framework guidelines from the European authorities. This is something we are going to address in the months to come.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

5. Green and safe mobility for all
The need for a Travel Policy
to address citizens’ mobility also in its travel and tourism dimension as a mobility and travel chain
to overcome market and legislative failures, leading to inefficiencies and loses for businesses, consumers and society as a whole
to provide a political framework to support travel business through incentives
to place buses, coaches and taxis at the centre of political attention and care
These examples also show that when we request that the role of buses, coaches and taxis be recognised by policy decision makers, we are dealing with finite issues; that is concrete legislations and concrete rules for all, which we can recommend to authorities – local, national, European, international - to be implemented within a coordinated approach, namely, a genuine travel policy, in partnership with the travel industry, including buses, coaches and taxis. This has to be the sensible outcome and we are determined to do all we can to achieve it.
As far as the European Union is concerned, we believe that the introduction of the concepts of “co-modality” and “logistics” in the mainstream Community transport policy has been one of the most far reaching policy innovations in recent years, opening new productive ways for policy-making and market enabling at EU level.
A similar innovative approach is also needed to address citizens’ mobility, not only in its urban transport dimension, but also in its travel and tourism dimension, as a mobility and travel chain, under the common umbrella of a future European Travel Policy, which does not exist for the moment.
It is true that progressive market liberalisation in the majority of the transport modes has been accompanied by a steady improvement in personal mobility and travel conditions for all citizens. This and the recognition of individual travel documents and, for the EU, the abolition of controls at internal borders within the Schengen area has led to a de jure and de facto free movement of travellers inside the EU.
The result is the creation of a free EU Travel Area and a free EU Travel consumers’ Market. But the requisite supporting measures and policies at EU level have been absent due to inherited and highly dispersed competencies, approaches and practices at local, national and EU level, and these continue to cause unnecessary and expensive restraints.
Meanwhile the travel dimension of mobility and tourism is almost completely ignored by international and EU policy-makers. As a result, a large number of market and policy failures arise in terms of:
discrimination,
distortion of competition,
over-regulation and over-taxation,
scarcity or lack of provision of appropriate infrastructures
not to speak of barriers to travelling, such as
visa restrictions, even for professional drivers,
problems and waiting times at borders,
inappropriate or missing legislation
leading to inefficiencies and losses both for businesses, consumers, economies and society as a whole.
The problem is that lack of genuine travel policies to achieve a joined-up travel chain also means that national and local governments, as well as international and EU institutions, lack the appropriate conceptual political framework to support the travel business to create incentives for its development and to facilitate its operations. Without such a coherent policy, problems are tackled in isolation and outside the integrated travel chain.
As far as collective bus and coach transport is concerned, in most cases, there is a complete absence of any comprehensive and coherent framework and approach both at international, national and local level. Yet at the same time collective bus and coach transport is safe, environmentally-friendly and affordable travel in line with today’s society and policy preferences. We need progressively to make collective bus and coach transport a preferred travel choice for European citizens and visitors in the next decades.
Tackling these problems within a coordinated framework – namely, a Travel Policy, which does not exist for the moment - will create a tangible added value for citizens, consumers and businesses, whilst bringing both short and long-term political and operational benefits to policy and industry stakeholders involved.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

6.  Green and safe mobility for all
Encouraging signs
Berlin just allowed unrestricted entry of EURO III coaches to its low emission zone
City of Dresden won the IRU City Trophy in 2005, for a model coach-friendly policy
City of Leipzig – runner up in 2005, with excellent facilities for coaches and tourists
Expected candidates for IRU City Trophy 2009: Beijing, Copenhagen, Bucharest, Bremen…
Today’s economic crisis prompts individual car users, travellers and decision makers to question established mobility and travel patterns. We believe that a time has come to re-evaluate the role and contribution of buses and coaches, and to place them at the heart of the policy attention and support.
There are encouraging signs:-
We can see several good examples here in Germany, where this shift may already have started.
A month ago, the city authority of Berlin decided to allow unrestricted access to EURO III coaches to the low emission zone in Berlin, thus recognising the outstanding environmental and economic benefits coach travel brings to the city of Berlin.
In 2005, the city of Dresden won the prestigious IRU City Trophy Award for a comprehensive coach parking and guiding scheme, established in full cooperation with the industry.
The runner-up for the City Trophy Award in 2005 was the city of Leipzig, where today’s debate is taking place, excelling also in practically all criteria, such as consulting the industry, promoting coach travel, providing excellent and multilingual information to coach operators, drivers and visitors.
The IRU will do its utmost to assist and make known other such initiatives which strive to achieve change in their localities.
Meanwhile our aim is to change the emphasis of policy makers and to build up pressure for change at all levels, so that citizens, travellers, businesses and authorities can reap the benefits of model coach-friendly policies.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009

7. I thank you for your attention.
© International Road Transport Union (IRU) 2009