Conclusions by Francesco Pacifico

Communicating Sustainable Development - Safety of Coaches

Conclusions by Francesco Pacifico

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The 3rd European Bus and Coach Forum, staged jointly by the IRU, BUSWORLD and the Belgian bus and coach operators' association FBAA, addressed today the subject "Communicating Sustainable Development - Safety of Coaches".

Up to now, the road transport industry is the only mode of transport that made striving for sustainable development a constitutional obligation. The IRU has a clear strategy to achieve sustainable development and we have developed several tools for transport operators to reach that goal. Many of these tools focus on road safety, and safety is an integral part of the IRU's 3 "i" strategy for sustainable development, based on innovation, incentives and infrastructure.

Nevertheless, it is important that the industry's achievements are communicated properly. The coach sector needs to make sure that the customers are aware of its efforts to perform better, both in improving safety and in reducing the environmental impact. Finally, policymakers need to acknowledge in their policy work that coaches offer a much safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to private cars.

The participants of this year's edition of the European Bus & Coach Forum included European policy makers, technical experts and representatives of the industry. They all examined the questions of safety and sustainable development in the coach industry from a number of different angles, including political and media perceptions, innovative technological developments, analyses of actual accidents and European Union policy initiatives, plus the human dimension.

All panellists and key note speakers came to similar conclusions: Coaches are one of the safest modes of transport, but public perception can easily be swayed by one or two dramatic images of coach accidents. Policymakers need to take a balanced view and adopt measures and incentives that reflect the enormous contribution that buses and coaches can make to sustainable development - of course on condition that adequate infrastructure is provided. Whilst the coach sector continues to invest in high standard like safer and cleaner vehicles, it cannot neglect the human side. The black sheep have to be banned from the street. Anyone who is putting the live of his passengers at risk needs to be banned from the roads. On the one hand this can be done by better enforcement of the law and, on the other hand, through training and information of employees. In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the results of yesterday's IRU press conference where the industry presented the new Driver Checklist cards as well a crisis management system.

Last but not least, allow me to say a few words of appreciation about the two IRU award winners: The winner of the IRU City Trophy: Medway Council governing Rochester has won the award because local decision makers clearly recognised the importance of coach tourism for the local economy and therefore provided necessary coach transport facilities in their city.

The IRU Eurochallenge Award went to the Flemish operator De Lijn for its weekend night bus scheme in the city of Ghent, showing that buses and coaches are a sustainable alternative to the use of the private car.

Both winners have shown how the coach industry can benefit from its advantages if they are communicated in the right way and recognized by the customers and decision-makers.

As a final statement, I would like to thank the speakers and our moderator Peter O'Donnell for their very valuable contributions as well as the team of the IRU Secretariat General who has helped to make this 3rd European Bus and Coach Forum a success.

And, of course, many thanks to you, the audience, for your active contributions during the debates.

Thank you very much for your attention.

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