Budapest hosts June meeting on sustainable transport

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) organised the Regional Meeting of Transport Stakeholders on Sustainable Public Transport Policies in South-Eastern Europe (SEE), which took place on June 21-22 in Budapest, Hungary. Contributing support to the meeting was the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment.

The overall objectives of the meeting were to assist the SEE region in achieving a better understanding of sustainable transport policies and practices within an EU context and to encourage the use of available best practices in sustainable urban transport planning and operation. Twenty public transport stakeholders (municipalities, transport operators, NGOs and other groups) from SEE cities (including representation from Turkey) took part in the discussion, as did several EU and REC speakers. What emerged quite clearly during the event is that the greatest challenge in the SEE region is to implement measures to mitigate the negative effects of a car-based lifestyle.