I was invited to contribute to a Lab Workshop which ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, convened to re-assess the rationale for EU freight modal split policy in a future era of low emission trucking.

A report by TML / Panteia, commissioned by ACEA, admirably set the scene for our discussions and was well summarized by one of its main authors, Dr Tim Breemersch, of Transport Mobility Leuven. 

My role was to broaden the discussion historically and in terms of the range of arguments that can be advanced to justify an overhaul of modal shift policy and to support the retention of public support for some rebalancing of the European freight market. My presentation also reviewed possible reasons for the past failure of modal split policies to achieve their goals, the choice of metrics, the changing relationship between freight decarbonisation levers and the contribution that multimodality can make to supply chain resilience. A copy, with weblinks to relevant data and referees, can be downloaded.

Re-assessing the Rationale for Freight Modal Shift Policy: some issues for consideration