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Mobility and Transport

Access to transport for all is a political priority of the European Commission. The European Pillar of Social Rights, jointly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 17 November 2017, places transport among the essential services to which everyone has the right to access (Principle 20). It stresses that such services should be of good quality and that support for access – intended in broad terms and covering availability, accessibility and affordability – shall be available for those in need.

Report on access to essential services in the EU (2023)

According to the Commission’s report, people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU have difficulties in accessing essential services such as energy, transport and digital communication. Key findings on transport: according to the latest available data (which for transport dates back to 2014), 2.4 % of all people in the EU and 5.8 % of those at risk of poverty could not afford to use public transport regularly. In addition to cost, access to transport depends on other factors, including the quality and frequency of services, the state of the infrastructure and accessibility (both digital and physical). The lack of up-to-date EU-level data on transport affordability underscores the need to regularly collect this data, to be able to fully assess the situation.

Study on the social dimension of the future EU transport system regarding users and passengers (2022)

This study on the social dimension of the future EU transport system maps the challenges and opportunities posed by the modernisation of the system to different groups of transport users in terms of affordability, reliability and accessibility. Different groups of people have different needs as transport users, and it is important to ensure that the transport system is inclusive and available to all. The study provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by different user groups and across different Member States and presents recommendations on how these may be tackled.