Strasbourg is the winner of the Second European Public Transport Prize. The Prize has been awarded by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and the Association of European Railway Journalists (AEJF). The Prize rewards innovative concepts in public transport in Europe. The Prize will be awarded to Roland Ries, Vice-President of the Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg on 12th December during the Association of German Cities' (Deutscher Städtetag) Transport Conference in Freiburg.
Launched in 1995 by GART (France), the Prize was organised this year by Deutscher Stadtetag. Of the 34 projects from European municipalities and regions which took part, Strasbourg excelled with its advanced transport policy. In 1994 the city reintroduced the tramway to its streets, improved the bus system, introduced a new parking policy and reduced the amount of private vehicle traffic in the city centre. Thanks to these concepts, the number of public transport users has increased by 23%, and the amount of private vehicle traffic has reduced by 17% in the city centre and surrounding areas.
The international jury, chaired by Dr. Rolf Böhme, Oberbürgermeister of Freiburg, also awarded the following prizes: Lindau (Germany) second place, a town which is running a common transport development policy, which has led to a giant increase in the use of its bus service; Innsbruck (Austria) 3rd place, for the reduction of city centre traffic; Landkreis Düren/Dürener Kreisbahn (Germany), Special Prize, for using rail for urban public transport; and Landkreis Kelheim (Germany), Encouragement Prize, for the integration between interregional lines and the urban network.
Information:
M Axel WELGE
Transport Adviser
Deutscher Stadtetag
Lindenallee 13-17
50968 Köln;
Tél: +49 221 37 71 123
Fax: +49 221 37 71 128
e-mail: staedtetag@t-online.de ou 101507,1706@compuserve.com