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#TourismTraffic

Finding a balance between accessibility for tourists as well as local needs and the environment.
Tourism is a major economic activity for the Alpine Region. However, it does not only lead to positive economic impacts but also brings along challenges for preserving the precious environmental and cultural heritage of the Alps as well as considering specific needs of the local population. Most Alpine regions have recognised the need to develop environmentally-friendly tourism offers to remain competitive and to underpin standards of living in rural communities. These can however also bring along trade-offs and social conflicts that need to be considered in the planning process. At the same time, increasing traffic volumes can have negative impacts on tourism. For example, major touristic destinations are crossed by motorways and/or railway lines and an increase in traffic volumes and environmental impacts reduces the attractiveness of these regions.
Alps as recreation area / © Alessandro Cristofoletti, Alpine Convention
Tyrol: Road congestion caused by seasonal tourism
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 makes it increasingly challenging for residents to get around and threatens the attractiveness of the mountain regions. Tourists can be encouraged to use public transport by different measures. Offers can include guest cards offering free local public transport when booking accommodation, luggage pick-up services by hotels, or discounts on local tourist attractions when arriving by train. Cooperation between the transport and tourism sectors is required to offer such services.
Carinthia: Major transit corridor crosses important tourism area
The tourism region Carinthia - Wörthersee is crossed by an international TEN corridor, the Baltic Adriatic Corridor. Rising transport volumes on this railway line reduce the attractiveness of this tourism region. Building on Good Practices developed in other regions, it will be crucial to deal with this challenge.
Bavaria: Finding a balance between local needs and touristic attractiveness
In the Chiemsee region in Bavaria, the local population suffers from leisure and tourism traffic. Many local residents commute to other cities and face increasing travel times in the holiday season. On the other hand, the regions are economically strongly dependent on tourism. The further development of public transport services is one solution to deal with these challenges.

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#AcceptanceCommonMeasures

Development and harmonisation of modal shift measures requires common and coordinated approaches.
Most Alpine countries and regions have implemented policies to improve modal shift and to reduce the environmental impacts of freight and passenger transport. These measures reach from regulatory measures like driving bans or speed limits to pricing measures with the aim to improve the level-playing-field between road and rail transport. Uncoordinated approaches however lead to unwanted effects like traffic shifts between regions or corridors and can also influence regional economies in a negative way. Thus, also the development of measures requires common and coordinated approaches which involve not only different levels of policy-making but also relevant stakeholders and the general public.
Driving bans - Broad effects only through coordinated approaches
To reduce air pollution, several Alpine regions have implemented driving bans for high-emitting vehicles. For example on the Brenner motorway, heavy goods vehicles with motor technology EURO 0, I and II are currently prohibited – with an extension to EURO III at the end of 2017. Other corridors have not implemented such measures, with the potential of unwanted traffic shifts.
Tyrol: Speed limits - A broad application improves acceptance
Speed limits are currently implemented in several Alpine regions, for example Tyrol has implemented a permanent speed limit of 100km/h for all vehicles on the motorways. While this speed limit found opposition during the implementation phase, it is now broadly accepted. A more systematic application of this measure could further improve acceptance.
Toll+ - Only a harmonised toll system can set effective incentives
All Alpine countries have implemented pricing systems for heavy goods vehicles, however taking different approaches and ambitions. The Swiss HGV fee (LSVA) is the most ambitious pricing approach as it includes not only infrastructure but also external costs and implements the pricing system on the overall Swiss road network. In other countries, price levels are much lower as only infrastructure costs are considered in the motorway tolls. This leads to unwanted traffic shifts between corridors and to missing incentives to switch from road to rail. The Alpine regions have thus developed a proposal for a common pricing system, known under the name Toll+. This proposal argues for a harmonised approach for all Alpine corridors. A crucial issue for acceptance of this proposal is however a good solution to deal with potential negative effects for regional transport.