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#ConnectTheAlps

Improving connectivity and accessibility: closing links and providing new solutions for cross-border travel information.
A well connected public transport network will become a crucial element in preserving liveability and economic activities in remote Alpine areas. The Alpine Region suffers from an unbalanced demographic trend, whereby cities and peri-Alpine areas grow constantly in population while remote areas suffer from ageing and depopulation. In order to guarantee the connectivity within the Region and to improve cross-border services it is thus important to identify missing links in the existing public transport network, to identify relevant bottlenecks and to improve the quality of services, especially across borders. High-quality and well-connected public transport services are also an important factor for tourism mobility: tourists will only leave their car at home and travel to the Alps by public transport if good services and easily accessible information is available at the destination. One current objective of some Alpine regions is thus the development of a cross-border travel information tool, which integrates all available information on public transport services and, in the long term, allows an integrated ticketing system.
Tyrol: Connecting remote areas
Some remote provinces of Tyrol that are economical­ly less developed remain poorly connected by public transport. For Example there are no direct rail connections from Reutte and Lienz to Innsbruck, making travel times by public transport much more time consuming compared to the private car. Thus, the con­nection of these areas will become a priority for future public transport development.
Friuli Venezia Giulia: Reactivation of cross-border connections
Italy and Slovenia are not connected with public transport services. Most notably, the railway link on the line Venice-Trieste-Ljubljana was cancelled in April 2008, due to different national safety regula­tions. Therefore, the reactivation of a cross-border connection is a priority to ensure reliable and sustainable public transport options, to be achieved through close cooperation with the relevant stake­holders at local and national levels.
STRIPE – Developing an integrated travel information system
Easily accessible and transparent information on public transport and other sustainable mobility services is a crucial precondition for incentivizing modal shift of passenger transport. Especially for journeys crossing national or even regional borders it is however difficult to get information on public transport and other sustainable mobility services in one integrated platform, especially for journeys crossing national or even regional borders. A border crossing, single information system would make travelling by public transport much easier and more attractive. This should also include additional information services on shared mobility and soft modes, accurate real-time information, information on tariffs and ticketing as well as the environmental footprint including CO2 emissions and air pollution. Some Alpine regions as well as major public transport providers are currently joining forces in a new project to develop such an integrated platform.
Styria: Missing cross border connections between Slowenien Styria
The central region around the regional capital Graz is destination for many comuters living in Slovenia. Dispite the existing railway line most of them are comuting by car, because the cross the border connections are very limited and are not linked up with the connections within Slovenia. Bus services cross the border operate mainly on long-distance transport and leave the short-distance cross border transport beside. To strengthen the cohesion between the EU member states cross border services in public transport should be much more intensified.

conflict 5

#LimitingTrafficPeaks

Congestion in the Alps: smart solutions for an optimised capacity use and for limiting safety and environmental impacts.
Increasing transport volumes do not only lead to environmental problems but also cause congestion, especially on the major Alpine corridors. On some of these motorways, capacities are already fully used during regular working days and come to their limits during peak holiday travelling times. Resulting congestion leads to a further increase of air pollution but also to safety issues, especially on corridors with tunnels. In order to maintain the competitiveness of regional businesses which depend on reliable transport services as well as to avoid unwanted traffic shifts between corridors, the Alpine regions have implemented different measures to deal with congestion.
Switzerland: Phase red on the Gotthard corridor
To guarantee safety in the 16.9 km long Gotthard road tunnel, several innovative safety measures have been introduced at the Gotthard tunnel in response to the tragic fire in the year 2001. The traffic control system includes a “phase red” warning which will be issued once the number of cars entering the Gotthard and neighbouring San Bernardino tunnel exceeds the rate of 1,000 per hour. At this point, Swiss border officials will stop truck drivers from using the routes leading to the tunnels. This measure reduces congestion on the Gotthard motorway which is however only relevant during peak travelling times.
Tyrol: Congestion on the Brenner motorway
Due to comparatively cheap tolls for heavy goods vehicles on the Brenner corridor and cheap fuel prices in Austria (“fuel tourism”) congestion levels caused in particular by road freight transport remains high on motorways in Tyrol. The situation is aggravated during peak travelling times, as the majority of visitors to Tyrol arrive by private car, resulting in severe road congestion on the motorways and at the entrance to the main tourism valleys. This leads to an increase in commuting time for residents and increases transport costs for local businesses. Thus, drastic measures to control the number of HGV are being taken by the regional government, with block admission systems imposed on certain days.
Piedmont: Increase of level crossing closing times on the Alpine Rhine Corridor
The impacts generated by numerous intersections of the railway lines with the local road are already evident. In some particularly busy roads, the possible increase of level crossing closing times, due to increased freight train traffic, may cause heavy traffic road slowdowns and traffic jams with higher local impacts such as acoustic impact and air pollution. It would be necessary to map the points of possible conflict and study the most suitable solutions to solve the problems, acting both at the territorial level (suppression of level crossings and alternative road construction), and at the technological level (reducing the closing time of the level crossings themselves).