iMONITRAF! Political Roundtable 2020

iMONITRAF! will remain the common voice of the most affected transit regions in the Alps. During a virtual round table discussion, political representatives from the iMONITRAF! regions agreed on a new cooperation phase 2021-22 and discussed priority topics for further activities. Specific regional demands linked to these focus topics are highlighted in a new political resolution.

The recently published iMONITRAF! policy scenarios 2030 provided the basis for the future agenda of the partnership. The "Combined Scenario", which takes into account the optimised development of modal shift policies as well as technological innovations, emerged as the one that all partners agreed to pursue. In their discussion, the political representatives underlined the additional needs for action to achieve this scenario, in particular with regard to further efforts to improve price incentives for modal shift - as proposed by iMONITRAF! in its Toll Plus proposal. The Alpine Crossing Exchange approach was also mentioned in the discussion as a potential steering instrument to support an ambitious modal shift strategy.
The Round Table also provided the framework for the signing of the new iMONITRAF! Resolution 2020, which highlights three priority areas for action::

• The first element of the resolution includes any additional efforts to advance the implementation of Toll Plus, including additional needs to support the revision process at EU level of the Eurovignette Directive.
• The second element focuses on policies to promote innovations in rail and combined transport to ensure that combined transport can keep up in the innovation race. In this respect, iMONITRAF! will closely follow the revision process of the EU Combined Transport Directive.
• As third element, iMONITRAF! will focus more on technological change in road transport, in particular to ensure that the best available technology is used in the sensitive mountain environment.

The topographical characteristics of mountain regions pose specific challenges for Alpine regions, such as high construction and maintenance costs of transport infrastructure and higher emission rates compared to flat areas. Technological developments, on the other hand, are not specific to the Alps and fall within the competence of other actors. For this reason, the iMONITRAF! network should focus its efforts on the implementation of an ambitious modal shift policy, along the lines of the Toll Plus system proposals, with an emphasis on the internalisation of external costs.