Road safety depends also on driver behaviour, infrastructure quality and vehicle safety. Improvements can be achieved only by considering all these contributing factors and through adequate legislation modelled to respond to local circumstances. In order to break the cycle of increased casualties, road infrastructure safety and vehicle safety legislation, standards, traffic rules, management and programmes need to be strengthened, with special attention to vulnerable road users (motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians). The main precursors to railway accidents remain level crossing incidents along with high trespassing rates on railway infrastructure which leads to fatalities. Certain parts of Africa and Asia are suffering from a high rate of accidents on internal waterways involving commuters, often resulting from vessel overloading, poor construction and a lack of appropriate safety measures and their enforcement. Safety in transport of dangerous goods is a special focus area and deserves more attention as it presents severe risks for the population in general, property and the environment. Security -The notion of transport security encompasses acts ranging from ordinary infliction of damage and everyday delinquency to highly orchestrated acts of terrorism directed towards transport systems infrastructure, passenger and freight vehicles. Due to their open areas, inland transport systems are relatively unprotected from security threats in comparison with maritime ports and airports. Transport related crime rates are high in many parts of the world, while analytical and statistical data on the phenomena needs to be strengthened in many others. A high volume of cross-border transport related crime in certain regions calls for a strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of responsive actions. Both public and private transport systems stakeholders must, in cooperation with the relevant security services, work to establish national, regional and international frameworks that can ensure security of persons, infrastructure and freight. Economic cost of transport crime must not be overlooked and security systems in place should not interfere with the efficiency of operations and the movement of persons and freight within and across transport modes. In taking actions to guarantee such collective security, the stakeholders involved must safeguard the personal freedoms of individuals. Environmental impact - Transport can affect or be affected by the environment in many ways and at different spatio-temporal scales. Inland transport requires infrastructure, the construction of which could involve extensive land use and, consequently, potential loss of natural habitat. Transport also requires energy. Unfortunately many of the most popular transport modes, despite energy efficiency improvements, depend on increasing amounts of non-renewable energy sources which contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases that severely affect the environment at the global level. Air pollutants from transport (nitrogen oxides, particles, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons) reduce air quality and can have damaging (local) impacts on human health and ecosystems. Moreover, transport produces noise, which can also have significant implications for human health, particularly in urban agglomerations, and ecosystems. Keeping vehicles environmentally friendly throughout their lifetime and adjusting to a more environmentally acceptable transport modal split are key challenges today across the world. Transport is not only a major contributor to the observed carbon emission growth and, thus, a probable contributor to climate change, but it is also a ‘victim’ of the effects of climate change and extreme weather events which can have a range of diverse impacts on transport infrastructure and services. These impacts will vary significantly by mode, climate change factor, and will depend on the local or regional circumstances and vulnerabilities, including those associated with the natural environment, as well as a broad range of socioeconomic factors.
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