Urban nodes along the trans-European transport network

As the 2021 EU urban mobility framework states, Europe is one of the most urbanised regions in the world with a huge variety of cities that are important economic and social activity hubs. As main connection points, urban nodes (cities and their surroundings) are key components of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), the backbone of the Single European Transport Area (SETA), and are essential for a well-functioning single market. Congested rail and road networks, trains, trams, buses and metros can face constraints that hinder not only the flow of traffic within urban nodes but also in the entire TEN-T network. More suitable infrastructure is needed to facilitate traffic flows within, around and through urban nodes. Urban nodes should make the first and last miles of journeys or transit travel smoother for both passengers and freight. Multimodal passenger hubs should serve as main gateways between the urban nodes and the TEN-T network. These should be complemented by an increased sustainable urban mobility offer building on a strong public transport system. This means, for example, multimodal hubs with stations/stops that are effectively interconnected with urban rail, metro, tram, bus, coach, shared mobility services and better and bigger park and ride facilities that are better equipped with appropriate bike parks and publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points for low- and zero- emission vehicles. The TEN-T Regulation has been revised in this regard. It includes an extended list of urban nodes (432), and for the first time sets out new functional requirements for them. What are the specific issues to be addressed? Many stakeholders in these urban nodes are newcomers to the TEN-T world. This means that they will have to be integrated to work in a functioning network. Therefore, urban nodes are a means to establish and reinforce links between key stakeholders and specific transport policy roles: national ministries in charge of long-distance transport, cities, local and regional authorities in charge of urban mobility and transport, public transport operators, rail operators, logistics companies, urban planners and others. The challenge is that work at the level of urban nodes is just about to start. There are no common coordination principles to implement the objectives of the TEN-T policy for urban nodes so far, not to mention the fact that there is often misunderstanding over what urban nodes are: are they entities within cities, cities themselves, so-called ‘functional cities,’ metropolitan areas or something else? It is therefore vital to facilitate establishment of a local set-up that allows coordination/interaction among these stakeholders, not to mention that the definition of an urban node and its governance are of course closely linked. This 13th Intermodal Forum discussed the question of coordination of urban nodes (at this point for passenger transport only). What would appropriate, basic and commonly agreed mechanisms be? Who could/should be in charge of coordinating and representing the stakeholders in an urban node? Is there a one-size-fits-all structure or at least some common principles? What options could be envisaged?