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In order to understand the relevance and context of the topic, global megatrends need to be considered.
According to the UN, the current world population of 7.3 billion is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050<ref>United Nations. (2015). ''World population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050.'' Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.html</ref>. This '''global growth in population ''' comes with an increase in transport demand. An increasing wealth in many parts of the world accelerates an even faster growing '''demand for faster modes of transportation ''' such as aviation.
Today, more than half of the global population lives in cities. The UN estimates that by 2050, this share will increase to two thirds<ref>United Nations. (2015). ''World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas''. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html</ref>. As relevant for the topic at hand, this '''urbanisation ''' constitutes a major shift in individuals’ transportation needs. For the individual, transportation plays an important role in various aspects of life. The '''access to transportation ''' largely determines an individual’s access to healthcare, education and work and is therefore closely linked to social justice. While the demand for transport is increasing overall, there is also a growing need for cheap and ever faster transport.
At the same time, the issue is strongly related to '''sustainability'''. In 2010, the OECD projected the global emissions from transportation to double by 2050<ref>OECD. (2010). ''OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050.'' Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/env/cc/49082173.pdf
</ref>. Such a development would be highly incompatible with the efforts required to mitigate climate change, including the need to reduce [[GHG]]. With the continuous increase in transport emissions, reaching the [[Paris Agreement|Paris]] goal of a 20% reduction in [[GHG]] emissions between 2012 and 2030 becomes highly unfeasible. Climate change research, however, suggests that an achievement of the Paris goals is crucial for avoiding a critical threshold after which the effect of climate change would be disastrous and irreversible.
Taking the two factors of accessibility and sustainability together, a '''major challenge ''' for future transportation becomes clear: On the one hand, future transportation has to meet the transportation demand for faster and more accessible transportation for a growing number of people in an increasingly urban environment. On the other hand, the total amount of GHG emissions resulting from this transport have to be reduced.
Several factors constitute the current unsustainability of the transportation sector. Some key elements are listed to illustrate the situation:
[[File:Share of renewable energy in transport - EEA 2016.png|thumb|Share of renewable energy in transport - EEA 2016]]
*EU transportation is highly depend '''dependent on oil''', relying on it for 94% of its energy needs<ref>European Commission. (2017). ''Alternative fuels for sustainable mobility in Europe.'' Retrieved from
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/cpt_en</ref>.
*While the share of renewable varies largely throughout the Member States, it is overall still very low.
*There is a strong '''reliance on road transport'''. In 2014, passenger cars contributed to over 70% of the European passenger transport overall<ref>EEA. (2016). Term 2016: ''Fundamental changes needed for sustainable mobility.'' Retrieved from https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/term-2016-fundamental-changes-needed. </ref> *At the moment, '''aviation ''' is estimated to accounts for 4.9% of man-made global warming. It is, however, the faster growing and at the same time the least efficient mode of transport <ref>European Federation for Transport and Environment AISBL. (2017). ''Aviation.'' Retrieved from https://www.transportenvironment.org/what-we-do/aviation</ref>. *Today, 78% of European citizens live in cities<ref>Market Place of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities. (2017). ''Cities - key for Europe.'' Retrieved from https://eu-smartcities.eu/about/european_context</ref>. The GHG emissions from '''urban transport ''' constitute a large share of GHG emissions and many cities reliable heavily on road transportation.
''Lack of mobility is inextricably linked to social disadvantage and exclusion.''<ref>European Parliament / Legislative Observatory. (2016). ''2016/2327(INI) - 20/07/2016 Non-legislative basic document.'' Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/summary.do?id=1468976&t=e&l=en </ref>
Identifying the main links between accessibility to transport, diversity and social mobility allows to understand the sociological aspect of the topic. The fact that mobility is connected to many fundamental aspects of an individual’s life, lays at the basis of these consideration. Generally, low access to transportation threatens to limit a person’s opportunities to '''access health care, education and jobs'''. It is therefore that mobility is such a relevant topic for society and that barriers to the access to transportation are so closely tied to '''social inequality'''.
To a large extent, inequalities in the access to mobility stem from the varying user costs for different modes of transportation: Faster modes such as cars or trains are more often more expensive that slower modes such a walking or cycling. This is especially the case for rural areas, in which transportation infrastructure is often insufficient. There, individuals without private cars such as young, elderly or unemployed, are particularly vulnerable to the lack affordable mobility options<ref>The Telegraph. (2014). ''Rural communities more isolated as transport forgotten''. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/10569800/Rural-communities-more-isolated-as-public-transport-forgotten.html</ref>. The problem is, however, also increasingly important for urban areas. According to experts, there is and has been an overemphasis of “higher speed” in urban planning, meaning that the transportation infrastructure would be mainly designed in a way to respond for a growing demand of faster transportation. Thereby, the aspect of “high density” seems to be neglected. In such an approach, there is a stronger focus on transportation responding to the growing travel demand as a tool to achieving social justice, ensuring that transport is affordable, easy to access for all parts of the society<ref>Litmann, T. (2017). ''Evaluating Accessibility for Transportation Planning''. Retrieved from http://www.vtpi.org/access.pdf</ref>.
*'''Taxation''' constitutes a possible tool to encourage the development and usage of more sustainable alternatives, as for example fuel in the aviation sector. An '''internalisation of external costs''', such as environmental destruction, into the price of transportation could affect consumers decision in their mobility choices. However, high pricing of certain modes of transportation could also increase social injustice in access.
*Measures to '''lower the purchase costs of electric vehicles''' could increase sustainable private mobility, might however have a possible rebound effect resulting in higher emissions and energy-usage.
*'''Shared mobility''', including car sharing, on-demand ride services, ride-sharing, bike sharing, might be increasingly provided by local authorities or private companies such Car2Go or DriveNow in. There, however are concerns about a possible reverse effect of car sharing, with a decline in public transport ultimately leading to higher emissions<ref>The Guardian. (2017). ''What if Uber kills off public transport rather than cars?'' Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jan/13/uber-lyft-cars-public-transport-cities-commuting</ref<>. Additionally, there is a controversy about unfair competition of sharing mobility services, with several countries having banned Uber<ref>The Independent. (2017). ''Uber: Which countries have banned the controversial taxi app.'' Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/uber-ban-countries-where-world-taxi-app-europe-taxi-us-states-china-asia-legal-a7707436.html</ref>.
*'''Public-private partnerships''' promise a more competitive, higher quality and seamless transport. *'''Multimodality''': the combination of different modes of transport bring hope for a reduction of road transport in urban areas, offering even more public space for zero-emission mobility. At the same time, shared mobility can supplement public transport in more peripheral areas, that would otherwise be inaccessible.
*'''Information and communications technology (ICT)''' enables '''demand responsive transport services''', which could provide more efficient and accessible public transport in rural areas<ref>Ringalink. (2017). ''Demand responsive transport.'' http://www.ringalink.ie/demand-responsive-transport.html</ref>.