ABSTRACT
Since the early 1950s all developed countries have witnessed a ‘mobility explosion’. Indeed, across the fi fteen countries in the European Union (EU15), overall passenger transport use (in cars, buses, coaches, trams, trains and aeroplanes) rose by 121% between 1970 and 1996. This translates into an increase in the average distance travelled by each EU citizen per day from 16.5 km to 35 km over the same period. Transport demand across the EU was calculated as 4700 billion passenger-kilometres in 1996 (EC, 1999).
