There are some qualitative descriptions concerning transport and logistic sector related assumptions, which underlie the EU Reference scenario 2013. Until 2030 the most important are:
Fuel prices will increase;
In general, freight transport activity is closely following the GDP development, especially road transport;
The completion of the core network corridor until 2030 (and of the comprehensive network by 2050) will provide more adequate transport infrastructure which supports the concentration of trans-national traffic and long distance flows. These are expected to support the logistic functions and improve the intermodal integration of road, rail and inland waterways;
Until 2030, innovative information management systems will reduce time loss by road congestions;
Concerning rail and inland waterways activities, the completion of the TEN-T core and comprehensive network will have substantial positive effects, improving competitiveness of the modes. Especially inland waterway freight transport is expected to benefit from the improved network, as it will support logistics functions and intermodal integration.
The description of the EU Reference scenario 2013 (European Commission 2013a) does not reveal the specific quantitative assumptions which underlie the expected development of the logistics sector and the corresponding freight transport performance. In this respect it is not feasible to determine the impacts of any modifications within the reference (baseline) scenario to form the subsequent four scenarios and quantitatively assess them in terms of transport performance. Disregarding this, in the following an attempt is given to quantify the AAGR of the overall EU transport performance (measured in Gtkm) compared to the EU baseline scenario as a “best guess” based on our expertise.
In general, between 2030 and 2050 freight transport will increase at lower rates due to the GDP slowdown and the shift from economic activities towards services and limits to distant sourcing and off-shoring.
3.5.2 Scenario development
Step 1: Identifying external factors (cf. chapter 3.2)
In the first step the relevant external factors were identified. This was done by the determination of the relevant PESTLE factors in chapter 3. These have been additionally validated by means of the results from the questionnaire to stakeholders.
Step 2: Assessing the impact level and uncertainty of external factors
In the second step the impact and uncertainty of each external factor was assessed by experts of the consortium. Bearing in mind the questionnaires' results, a two axis diagram was developed, where the horizontal axis indicates the level (low to high) of impact of the external factor on the logistic sector. The vertical axis indicates the external factors’ future development (un)certainty. The more unlikely the occurrence of the external factor, the higher the factor has been placed in the diagram.
The allocation of external factors was conducted by experts of the Lot 1 consortium by means of an internal interactive workshop. Wherever possible, the allocation and assessment of external factors according to their relevance for the logistics sector as well as their level of certainty, was amended by questionnaire findings.
The factors in the right top corner of the diagram became the leading factors in the second step, because these are assessed to have the largest impact on the logistics sector while their occurrence is uncertain and hence their occurrence or non-occurrence will be the main cause of different developments of the market (different scenarios). By picking these factors the ‘extremes’ can be formulated. The following figure shows the output of step 2.
Figure 3.12 Allocation of external factors– Assessment of impact and uncertainty