Transport

Limited use of cross-border public transport

The average modal share of public transport in cross-border flows is around 7%. The limited use of public transport compared with that of the private car can be explained by a mismatch between a poorly adapted or insufficient transport supply and an unknown demand due to a lack of surveys and statistics.

Despite the growing need for cross-border public transport in Europe, cross-border transport provision retains an “experimental” character, and its development faces significant technical, institutional and political difficulties
differences between systems and technical regulations on either side of borders (environmental requirements, electrical power supply, safety, training of personnel, etc).
– great diversity of levels of competence and working procedures between transport authorities on either side of borders (operator selection, fare-setting, funding sources, etc.) 

The organisation of a coherent cross-border transport network thus requires, in some states, the involvement of a large number of organising authorities in order to bring together the necessary competences, whereas in neighbouring countries, there may be a single competent authority with more substantial financial resources.

Due to the low use of some routes (often road for that matter) public authorities can be unwilling to improve transport provision, for example by adapting them to peak hours likely to interest the most people (in particular cross-border workers) or by optimising routes to maximise their catchment area. Such improvements would have to be based upon up-to-date information on journey patterns within the cross-border territory concerned.

 

 

Photo : Le Léman express, train transfrontalier à la frontière franco-suisse, Grand Genève
Copyright : CFF