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Transportation, Energy and Environment in Hungary: The Role of Government Policies and the World Bank

Panel: Panel 6: Transportation, Urban Planning and Land Use

Author:
Christopher Zegras, International Institute for Energy Conservation

Abstract

Since 1989, growth rates in private motor vehicles throughout most of Eastern and Central Europe have increased substantially, while public transport modes have experienced declines in use and support, and non-motorized modes have become increasingly unsafe. Perhaps nowhere in the region are these trends more apparent than in Hungary. Despite deep economic recession, motorization rates in recent years in Hungary have approached 1 I percent per year. Thus paper will examine the policies affecting transportation developments in Hungary and the potential implications of these policies on infrastructure investment costs, energy use, and air pollution.

Specifically, the paper will analyze government policies addressing: road construction and maintenance, vehicle manufacturing, public transit infrastructure investment and operating support, non-motorised transport, privatization of transport services, inter-city land transport, parking policy, and land use and zoning regulations. In addition, the paper will look at recent World Bank activity in the country, including lending for: motor vehicle manufacturing and purchasing, transit operations, road construction and maintenance, and sector restructuring.

The paper will then examine the impacts of these policies and investments on transport modal splits in the country, traffic growth, land uses and suburban development, energy consumption, air quality, health, and overall economic development.

The paper will conclude with a discussion of methodological, technological, and policy proposals to help move the country towards sustainability in the transport sector.

Paper

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