To reinvent the modern transport system so it becomes part of a sustainable society cannot be achieved overnight."No, it is not an ordinary product to be put on a shelf and compared to another, similar product," says Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist, program director for TransportMistra.
TransportMistra consists of three components: Impact, Inform and Include. “Impact was the major part, but the whole research program functioned as an umbrella," explains Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist.
She envisions a holistic perspective and models influencing the decision processes in the research program. “To work in an interdisciplinary manner takes a long time. We have succeeded in starting cooperative projects, in order to understand one another´s concepts. In the beginning, we all spoke different languages, but now we have a better map to spot the obstacles in the road and different impact points," she says.
Part of TransportMistra is about the sustainable transportation concept itself. The concept contains many dimensions and to succeed in developing a variety of models supporting sustainable mobility TransportMistra´s research include a number of disciplines.
“We have found ways of working to enrich different disciplines. And today a couple of the political scientists continue to work with aspects of these issues. The link to users is something that will live on even after the TransportMistra program is concluded," says Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist.
TransportMistra can be viewed on many levels as a very successful research program. One example is the Stockholm Trial (see article next to this one), which managed to implement the congestion fees. But to think that this is an action automatically leading to a sustainable transport system is to overstate matters, according to Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist.
“Congestion fees in themselves contribute to better sustainability, but as a part of a larger context it might not be a sustainable solution. It depends on what else is happening in the system, for example if the congestion fees are spent on measures with counterproductive effects outweighing the achievements gained through the fees, says Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist.
“To communicate the complexity of the effects of different measures is extremely difficult. To develop a five point program for a sustainable transport system is relatively simple. Getting politicians to make decisions for this transition however is still an enormous challenge," she says.
The research program is focused on making it easier for decision makers to implement sustainable measures. The program has, to use one example, developed a model that creates better conditions for implementing decisions already made.
“We have been able to improve our decision-making background material for our politicians thanks to TransportMistra´s model," says Stina Nilsson at the local road administration in Malmö.
The research program TransportMistra will conclude here. Other programs continue to examine sustainable transportation issues. Among them is Tillhåll (Refuge), a venture to increase competition for sustainable transport solutions, such as walking, bicycling and public transportation, through collaborations and networking. This project involves 13 different partners from the county administrative board, the National Road Administration, the National Rail Administration, Lund´s Technical University, Region Skåne and Region Blekinge and several municipalities.
LETS is another venture dealing with, among other things, sustainable energy — some of the issues surrounding fair implementation, earlier handled by TransportMistra.
Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist is very passionate about these issues and thinks important knowledge is already in place. “I want to convey already existing knowledge. I want to increase the understanding of decision makers and politicians so they realize that we do not have an absolute firm need to move around and travel. Demand for transportation is controlled by conditions established by decisions and planning," she says.
How do you want to do it then?
“I want them to identify the problem and then ask an expert, maybe a researcher, to help find different solutions and describe the consequences the different solutions would have."
