Nikolina Brnjac

Reducing Congestion in Urban Transport by using Intermodal Transport Solutions

The impact of cargo transport on the economy, society and environment has been defined and recognized as an essential element of the European integrations. The increase in the cargo transport share has raised also the density of traffic on the urban roads, which in turn raised the problem of traffic flows in the cities, congestion, traffic sustainability and environmental pollution. The past research related to solving the congestion problem in the cities was based on the tendencies to improve the entire transport system. One of the ways is to shift a certain volume of cargo from road to other transport branches, which results in the reduction of the number of heavy cargo vehicles on the roads, reduction of the adverse impact, i.e. use of intermodal transport which is more environmentally friendly and influences the increase of longevity and organization of urban and suburban traffic. Arguments supporting the mentioned hypotheses include: Interoperability as the basic precondition for the development of combined transport can be technical, functional, and market-oriented. Interoperability insures the continuous flow of cargo through the entire transport chain, and easier and faster transport of cargo and people through the urban areas (between the starting and end terminal or sender and receiver). Traffic infrastructure has to support the need for different modes of transport ; railtransport, road transport and water transport. Successful operation of combined transport (neutral to the mode of transport) requires the management of the entire transport chain (logistics), cargo control, so that cargo can be tracked at any moment, as well as the cargo safety in the transport chain.

Integration of the Railway Line in Corridor VB in the Traffic System of Croatia and Europe

Significant and generally well-known advantages of railwayscompared to other transport branches, considered in theframework of the traffic development of Croatia and the widerenvironment, put an emphasis on the significance of high-qualityrailway connections in the Pan-European VB corridor. In orderto raise the quality of the traffic services on this railwayroute to the level that is required by the contempormy Europeancriteria, it needs to be modemized. This would at the same timecontribute to the integration into the overall European trafficsystem.The paper presents the possibilities of improving the mentionedrailway connecting of the Adriatic coast with other partsof Croatia and Europe. Special significance belongs to theRijeka-Zagreb-Botovo (Hungary) railway line. Significant improvementof the railway traffic in this area would be achievedby constructing a new railway line from Rijeka to Trieste, whichis the logical extension of the Pan-European VB corridor. Theconstruction of a railway line in the Adriatic-Ionian corridoralong the Adriatic coast from Trieste to Dubrovnik and furthertowards the border would contribute to better connecting of allthe regions, cities and ports which it would pass through and itwould have a positive impact on the overall economic developmentof the Republic of Croatia. Regarding the interests and requirementsof the intemational traffic, the Adriatic railway linewould present the shortest way of connecting the North-westEurope with the South of Europe and the Near East. The levelof service quality expected on the new line would contribute togreater attraction of cargo and passengers to the tourist, portand other capacities in Croatia.