Does Europe need more roads? 1 Wednesday, 7 October 2009 Steer Davies Gleave Upper Ground London, SE1 9PD +44 (0) Ex Post Evaluation of Cohesion Policy Programmes co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development (Objective 1 and 2). Work Package 5a: Transport Presentation at the DG REGIO Open Days

Does Europe need more roads? 2 Presentation agenda Ι ERDF objectives for transport for the period Ι Physical outcomes from investment co-financed by the ERDF Ι Evaluation of transport needs Ι Emerging findings and recommendations from the Draft final report Ι Conclusions

Does Europe need more roads? 3 ERDF objectives for transport for the period

Does Europe need more roads? 4 ERDF objectives for transport in programming period Ι Improving the effectiveness of transport systems by modernising and repairing infrastructure, fostering better management and encouraging measures to enhance interoperability; Ι Seeking a balance between the different modes of transport by investing more in modes other than road transport, developing coherent intermodal and combined transport systems and creating transfer hubs; Ι improving access to the regions by connecting the main networks to local small-scale transport systems; Ι reducing the harmful effects of transport by complying with environmental protection rules. (Source: Guidelines for the programme)

Does Europe need more roads? 5 Financial outcomes from investment co-financed by the ERDF

Does Europe need more roads? 6 Allocation and expenditure (1) Objective 2 Objective 1 Ι 33.8 billion allocated Ι 29.1 billion spent by end of 2007 Ι 96% in Objective 1 regions. Ι 81.5% was allocated to 5 Member States.

Does Europe need more roads? 7 ERDF contribution (Based on case studies) Ι Expenditure followed OP strategy, but not always key challenges for example the little attention placed on intermodality, improving the quality of rail or improving urban transport. Ι Where challenges addressed there were positive results relieving bottlenecks -> reduced of journey times; increasing airport capacity -> increased passenger numbers. Ι Exogenous macroeconomic factors limited some achievements for example investments in public transport being cancelled out by increases in car ownership

Does Europe need more roads? 8 Expenditure split

Does Europe need more roads? 9 Physical outcomes from investment co-financed by the ERDF

Does Europe need more roads? 10 Projects over the programming period Ι Over 13,000 transport projects (61% road based) Ι 96% in Objective 1 and 95% in the EU15.

Does Europe need more roads? 11 Transport investment statistics -1 Nearly 100,000km of roads & motorways Ι 13,000km new build Ι 62,000km reconstructed Ι The rest unclassified Almost 4,000km of railway Ι 600km new build Ι 2,300km reconstructed Ι The rest unclassified

Does Europe need more roads? 12 Transport investment statistics -2 Airports Ι 31 airports modernised & substantial terminal surface area added. Many targets were not met. Ports Ι 130 ports have been modernised (in a selection of countries) and target achievement varied from 50% to 650%.

Does Europe need more roads? 13 Transport investment statistics -3 Ι Over 1500 multimodal centres were completed. Ι Almost 7000 parking spaces. Ι 2,476km of cycle paths were completed.

Does Europe need more roads? 14 Evaluation of transport needs

Does Europe need more roads? 15 Did Europe need more roads at the start of the programming period? Arguments for Ι Quality of the road network poor in many EU10 Member States (especailly in Baltic States) Ι Missing links, particularly connections to ports, needed to be completed (France, Germany) Ι Journey times needed to be reduced (Greece, Czech Republic) Ι Key connections needed to be built (Spain, Greece) Ι Road safety needed to improved (Portugal, Poland)

Does Europe need more roads? 16 Did Europe need more roads at the start of the programming period? Arguments against Ι Some Member States already had an extensive road network. Ι Some investment driven by the fact that it was easier. Ι Strategy and EU policy said that investment should be focused on other modes. Ι Building more roads creates more congestion

Does Europe need more roads? 17 Emerging findings and recommendations From Draft Final Report

Does Europe need more roads? 18 Emerging findings (1) Ι ERDF contributed significantly to the development of transport in terms of the addition of additional transport infrastructure and reducing journey times. A number of key projects completed (see major projects in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc.) Increased connections to the TEN-T (Portugal, Poland, etc.) Increased capacity (Motorways in Spain and Greece; railways in Italy, etc.) Ι Focus on road was within the strategies. (11/12 case studies focused on different aspects of road improvements in their strategy) Ι EU10 MS have seen a substantial improvement in the quality of roads across their network. (Journey times and road standards in Baltic States) Ι Some States have seen a substantial improvement in road safety. (Portugal)

Does Europe need more roads? 19 Emerging findings (2) Ι Little emphasis on modal shift (9/12 regions included it in their strategy, only Lisboa invested significantly.) Ι The spend culture directed funds to the easiest projects which may not have been the most optimal. Ι Direct impacts of transport investments can be measured (journey time reductions, accessibility increased capacity, etc.). Ι Indirect impacts are harder to measure: difficult to draw link to regional development. They need effective measurement & monitoring which needs to be done over a much longer timeframe than the limited time in the programming period. Ι Clear objectives need to be defined Ι Generally little value for money appraisal in the development of projects. (Although good practice examples have been seen in the UK).

Does Europe need more roads? 20 Examples of good practice Ι Athens Metro – Modal shift Ι Eco Bus line in Funchal – Zero Emissions Ι Removal of level crossings in Cadiz – urban road safety Ι Egnatia Motorway – Journey times Ι AVE Spain – High speed rail

Does Europe need more roads? 21 Emerging recommendations (1) Ι EC to provide guidance on: Setting clear objectives and areas that should be targeted The type of expenditure (current vs capital) How transport investment is managed nationally (national vs local roads) Road

Does Europe need more roads? 22 Emerging recommendations (2) Ι Projects need to be accompanied by a sound cost benefit analysis Ι The defining of indicators, the setting of targets and the monitoring of outcomes needs to be improved: Journey times at scheme or corridor level Changes in capacity Changes in safety Changes in modal split Freight impacts Ι Increased knowledge exchange between regions to identify good/best practice Ι Linking OP strategies more explicitly to EU, national and regional challenges and strategies.

Does Europe need more roads? 23 Conclusion: Does Europe need more roads going forward? Ι It depends on: What type of roads? (motorways/national/local) What type of road interventions? (new/upgraded/maintenance) Where? (Which part of the EU?) Why roads have been chosen? (Is there a need or is it easier compared to rail?) Ι Road investment still necessary but targeted at micro interventions aimed at filling missing links or removing bottlenecks. Ι ERDF investment needs to switch away from roads and more towards ensuring sustainable transport which is not limited only to rail.

Does Europe need more roads? 24 Thank you