Transport of Goods!

As populations grow and urbanization continues, demand for goods also increases as much if not more. Not only should we be concerned about how people achieve sustainable mobility, but also how the things they consume and produce (food, clothes, all kinds of waste) are moved from place to place. A prominent idea within sustainability issues is the need for regional independence (local goods, esp. urban agriculture), meaning less reliance on transportation of goods/waste between cities. However, we cannot really limit free trade to reduce energy consumption and other environmental impacts since our global economy is currently based on the importing and exporting of goods. So, the need for technological innovation is vital and urgent in this sector of transportation reform.

European Union: Transport

http://europa.eu/pol/trans/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/transport/intermodality_transeuropean_networks/index_en.htm
Summary: ...to be cont'd.

Prof/Tom's comments;

If you go to the first link above, and go to the tab for "more info" you will find the 2011 White Paper report from the EU at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/strategies/2011_white_paper_en.htm 
In 2001, the EU issued a White Paper that set out its goals for alternative transportation for the next ten years.  In 2006 there was an interim report on the progress and, now, there is the new report which gives the EUs goals to 2050.

Since the EU is the premier location for a coherent, progressive policy to go to alternative transportation, I think it would be very useful to study this history.  They have spent 100's of billions of Euros on this effort.