La conférence finale du projet européen Weastflows a eu lieu le 12 février 2015 à Bruxelles en présence de 200 personnes : l'ensemble des partenaires et observers du projet et des représentants des programmes européens. L'AURH était présente pour présenter les conclusions de son travail. Pilote de l'action "Identification des infrastructures multimodales et de leur capacité", l'AURH a en charge la cartographie et l'analyse des infrastructures de transport pour l'Europe du Nord-Ouest. Elle a mis au profit de ce projet ambitieux son expertise géographique et géomatique.

1. Identifying future opportunities for sustainable and more efficient
supply chains requires an understanding of current and planned
freight transport infrastructure in North West Europe (NWE). Europe’s
freight network suffers from congestion and bottlenecks, especially
on the roads, but available capacity on other modes, presents
opportunities to alleviate this growing issue.
Weastflows partner, Agence d’Urbanisme de la Région du Havre
et de l’Estuaire de la Seine (AURH), has undertaken comprehensive
qualitative and quantative analysis of freight transport infrastructure
from seven countries across NWE. Using Geographical Information
System (GIS) data and OpenStreetMap, open data software, this
analysis has been transformed into an‘atlas’of regional and
European maps showing the roads, railways, inland waterways
and coastal infrastructure of NWE, highlighting bottlenecks and
congestion points as well as routes that are currently under-utilised.
To help transport buyers and suppliers develop greener supply
chains, AURH has also included freight flows by each transport mode
and freight type, identifying where more sustainable alternatives
could be employed.
Additional regional characteristics such as demographics and land
use are also included in the analysis to identify potential greener
corridors for freight transport. For example, enabling route planners
to avoid built up areas.
One of the aims of this work is to be able to identify strategic
infrastructure or projects which should be included in the TEN-T
(Trans-European Transport Network) network. TEN-T is one of the
most important means of European-wide infrastructure funding,
which supports a network of key projects to deliver an integrated,
technology-led and user friendly Europe wide transport system.
AURH has worked with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and
Technology (LIST) to import the atlas’data sets into an interactive
cartography platform to give public access to the mapping and
layers. The GeoWeastflows online platform enables users to show
or hide layers of information on road, rail, inland waterway and short
sea shipping transport corridors, typical congestion on routes and
at modal interchanges in each country. The platform offers users the
ability to save, print and download information and view the maps
free of charge. The users are encouraged to upload their own data
into the tool to continue to add to the knowledge base, keeping the
platform up to date. To access the GeoWeastflows portal, visit
http://geo.weastflows.eu.
Major ports in North West Europe
www.weastflows.eu
Weastflows case study: 05
Comprehensive freight mapping

2. Transnational engagement
Transnational and close collaboration
between partners has been a crucial element
in ensuring the success and relevance of the
logistics data in this analysis. Weastflows
partners provided logistics data from seven
countries, supported by the freight network
knowledge emerging from the wider project,
at every stage.
Results and benefits
The new European Union policy for transport
infrastructure, made public in October 2013,
lists priorities that the Weastflows project
shares as goals, including the development
of intermodal connections, the reduction
of traffic congestion, bottlenecks and
greenhouse gas emissions.
Knowing the characteristics, strengths and
weaknesses of NWE freight routes helps
logistics and freight operators maximise
the use of existing infrastructure capacity
and identify alternative transport solutions.
Goods can be transported more efficiently
and sustainably through more integrated
multi-modal options, which ultimately helps
reduce transport costs, the environmental
impact and congestion.
Feedback from organisations using the
analysis to date has been positive. Private
stakeholders have said this helps them
incorporate more sustainable modes of
transport into their logistics activities.
They also felt it was important to be able
to contribute their own data to help keep
the analysis up to date.
Lessons and recommendations
Currently there isn’t a standardised open
source database of European transport
logistics information. This activity
highlighted the importance of using
open source data and sharing common
data across NWE to encourage the build
of a common vision and inter-operability.
The project is using the atlas and analysis
to inform policy recommendations and
influence investment and infrastructure
improvements at both regional and EU
level. These recommendations, along with
information on over and under-used routes
and infrastructure, will be compiled into
a report, which will be published soon
detailing potential solutions to improve the
region’s freight capacity. To access this report
and the range of analysis developed through
this activity, visit www.weastflows.eu.
By the end of 2014, the Geoweastflows
platform was accessed in 17 countries by
287 users. Given the success of the platform,
AURH and LIST will continue its development
by populating it with more data and
promoting it to industry representatives.
Transport corridors across Europe Concentration levels of railways in North West Europe
For further information, please contact:
Institute for Sustainability 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH, UK
T: +44 (0) 20 7517 1830 E: info@instituteforsustainability.org.uk
www.weastflows.eu
Weastflows (west and east freight
flows) – an INTERREG IVB North West
Europe (NWE) project funded by the
European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) – aimed to improve and enhance
freight logistics across a west-east axis
in the NWE region. The project brought
together experts from all sectors of the
freight transport industry to work towards
connecting supply chains in the region
with the wider freight network across
the rest of Europe and Asia. Through
a combination of freight mapping,
innovative technology and a drive to
promote sustainable logistics, Weastflows
has worked to generate a step-change
in the industry. This helps deliver
economic, social and environmental
benefits to both communities and
businesses across the region.
Lead partners
• CRITT Transport et Logistique (FR)
• Institute for Sustainability (UK)
Partners
• Agence d’Urbanisme de la Région
du Havre et de l’Estuaire de la Seine
(AURH) (FR)
• Beter Bereikbaar Zuidoost-Brabant
(BBZOB) (NL)
• Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij
(BOM) (NL)
• Centre for Quantitative Methods
(CQM) (NL)
• Communication and Tracking Services
(CTS) (FR)
• InforIT (NL)
• Institut du Droit International des
Transports (IDIT) (FR)
• Intermodality (UK)
• Irish Exporters Association (IEA) (IE)
• Limerick City and County Council
(LCCC) (IE)
• Liverpool John Moores University
(LOOM) (UK)
• Logistique Seine-Normandie (LSN) (FR)
• Luxembourg Institute of Science
and Technology (LIST) (LU)
• Mobycon (NL)
• Portsmouth International Port (UK)
• South East Scotland Transport
Partnership (SEStran) (UK)
• Transports Terrestres Promotion
Northern France (i-Trans) (FR)
• Universität Duisburg-Essen
(UNI-DUE) (DE)
• University of Science and Technology
of Lille (USTL-LAGIS) (FR)
• Verband Region Rhein-Neckar
(VRRN) (DE)
Comprehensive freight mapping