VOYAGER
Comprehensive vision of public passenger transport systems and services
Project Goal
VOYAGER was a Thematic Network on Public Passenger Transport in Europe, which was funded by the
European Union's 5th Framework Thematic Programme "Competitive and Sustainable Growth".
The VOYAGER project created a platform for exchange of experience, widespread dissemination and
consensus building in support of a more efficient, sustainable, customer-oriented and safe public transport
throughout Europe.
To this end VOYAGER established, in consensus with all key actors in the public transport sector in Europe,
a comprehensive vision of public passenger transport systems required in the future and developed in the
context of competitive markets and the changing mobility needs of citizens.
The project started from a "today's" perspective, analysing then current problems in the public transport sector
and existing solutions. It highlighted the potentials and limits to their transferability in order to establish the
current scope of action for stakeholders. Furthermore, VOYAGER addressed the key urban and regional
transport challenges (including congestion, pollution, accidents and economic inefficiency as well as changing
mobility patterns, increasing urbanisation and urban sprawl) and developped recommendations for future
research and policy agendas.
Results
The purpose of VOYAGER was to create an open European Network of key actors of local and regional
public transport (PT) for experience exchange, dissemination and consensus building. VOYAGER established
a platform where PT stakeholders (operators, suppliers, authorities, researchers and users) aired their views,
gave input on current and planned actions and ultimately provided recommendations to improve PT
environment. More particularly, VOYAGER aimed to:
• analyse the state of the art of local and regional PT
• select and develop "good practice" case studies
• identify key barriers and challenges for implementing competitive and attractive public transport
systems at local and regional level
• develop specific guidelines and policy recommendations for all public transport stakeholders on the
needed actions to realise efficient, safe and customer-orientated public transport systems
• widely disseminate the key outcomes of the project
After three years analysing future megatrends and the new challenges the sector will have to face, the
VOYAGER project consortium, led by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), provided a
coherent set of eight recommendations to be included into future policy agendas and future management
strategies of all European operators.
These recommendations are supposed to help decision makers and operators to develop strategic actions for
the implementation of attractive, clean, safe, accessible, effective, efficient and financeable European local
and regional public transport systems for the year 2020.
Role of Rupprecht Consult
• Implementation of all activities of the Thematic Network in the thematic area of "seamless intermodal
networks and services": analysis of state-of-the-art, development of good practice case studies, key
challenges and policy recommendations.
• Co-ordinating role in the horizontal workpackage on "Consolidation of results & identification of
good practices".
Project Duration
09/2001 - 12/2004
Project Coordinator
International Association of Public Transport (UITP), Brussels
Project Partners
• UITP - International Association of Public Transport, Brussels, Belgium
• Polis, European Cities and Regions Networking for Innovative Transport Solutions, Brussels,
Belgium
• Socialdata - Institut für Verkehrs- und Infrastrukturforschung, Munich, Germany
• CERTU - Centre d?études sur les réseaux, les transports, l?urbanisme et les constructions publiques,
Lyon, France
• TIS PT, Consultores em Transportes, Inovação e Sistemas, S.A., Lisboa, Portugal
• Rupprecht Consult GmbH, Cologne, Germany
• Azienda Mobilità e Trasporti S.p.A. (AMT), Genoa, Italy
• Bureau Zuidema, Leusden, Netherlands
• Babtie spol. s.r.o., Part of the Jacobs Engineering Group, Prague, Czech Republic
• University of West England - UWE, Bristol, United Kingdom