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G. Emberger:
"Freight Transport - A Holistic Approach";
in series "Beiträge zu einer ökologisch und sozial verträglichen Verkehrsplanung", series editor: H. Zukal; Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Verkehrstechnik, Technische Universität Wien, 2005, ISBN: 3-9501909-2-9, 322 pages.

This thesis takes a closer look at freight transport within the context of sustainability. It is common knowledge that freight transport is necessary to support our present way of life. It enables the distribution of goods and thus ensures economic development. Most of the growth in freight transport in Europe and worldwide takes place in road freight transport. This growth causes a series of environmental problems for present and future generations. Presently applied measures are not able to reverse these trends, on the contrary they reinforce them. Additional to these primary recognisable problems, freight transport is responsible for the present structure of economy and it is a driving force for decentralisation and concentration effects in the land use system. The thesis analyses these ongoing trends in freight transport in Europe, and investigates presently applied measures to mitigate freight transport-related problems. Differences are shown between desired development paths and the ongoing development paths in the existing system. The structure of the thesis is based on a methodology developed by Prof. Hermann Knoflacher. The method was successfully applied to analyse passenger transport and here it is applied in the field of freight transport. The methodology helps to keep the focus on the system as a whole and avoids a too narrowly focused problem view. Finally a set of policy instruments is suggested, which are strong enough to reverse unwanted developments in the overall transport land use system. These instruments are: 1. No new road infrastructure construction - rather deconstruction of infrastructure at specific locations 2. Night time driving ban of HGVs in the whole of Europe 3. Allow HGV transport only within a radius of 50 km of either the origin or the destination of the goods. Transport in between has to be undertaken with environmentally friendly means of transport (rail, ship). 4. Improvement of rail infrastructure within Europe 5. Internalisation of all external costs (not only infrastructure costs of highway networks as today) The EU-wide implementation of these measures will lead to restructuring of the existing economy towards a more sustainable one. The measures will enable localised economy which will have a lower resource and energy consumption than the economy today.