Transportation and Public Safety

This study was prepared under the umbrella of the Transport Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP). It is directly related to the achievement of Priority Goal 2: "Manage sustainable mobility and promote a more efficient transport system” which describes what is managed mobility and how it can help local regional and national authorities to achieve their urban traffic and congestion reduction goals.

C’est la troisième édition d’un document d’orientation sur la situation actuelle les tendances et les défis du transport par voie navigable sur les voies de navigation intérieure européennes d’importance internationale dans la région de la Commission économique pour l’Europe. Le livre blanc décrit l’état actuel du réseau de voies navigables E l’évolution du cadre institutionnel et réglementaire de la navigation intérieure depuis 2011 les programmes et activités récents de la CEE de l’Union européenne et d’autres organisations internationales. Le livre blanc identifie huit domaines prioritaires pour rendre les transports par voies navigables dans la région de la CEE plus durable et concurrentiel et formule des recommandations de politique générale pour les actions de la CEE pour chacun d’eux.

Improving the competitiveness of Kyrgyzstan as a transport logistics centre at the crossroads of Europe and Asia could enable the country to unlock significant untapped benefits of growing cargo flows between the two continents. This study identifies the transport infrastructure and services available in Kyrgyzstan reviews the country’s extensive recent and future transport investments and sets out recommendations to ensure its transport network is ready to harness the growth in inland transport from rising East-West trade particularly in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative within which Kyrgyzstan could occupy a strategic geographical position. To further capitalize on Kyrgyzstan’s pivotal role in Euro-Asian transport logistics this study also presents the benefits of adhering to and implementing the full spectrum of UN Transport Conventions and Legal Instruments administered by UNECE and through its continued participation in UNECE initiatives such as the Euro-Asian Transport Links project. The study also highlights strengthening the harmonization of legislation as one of the most important conditions for the development of the transport infrastructure of Kyrgyzstan and the broader region of which Kyrgyzstan is a member.

The European Code for Inland Waterways (CEVNI) was first established in 1962 and has since that time been maintained by the UNECE Working Party on Inland Water Transport (SC.3). It contains the core uniform rules applicable to the traffic on inland waterways such as marking on vessels visual signs on vessels sound signals and radiotelephony waterway signs and markings rules of the road berthing rules signalling and reporting requirements and prevention of pollution of water and disposal of waste. The provisions of CEVNI are traditionally based on the relevant regulations of river commissions for the Danube Moselle Rhine and Sava and adjusted to the pan-European scope of the code. The fifth revised edition of CEVNI (CEVNI 5) is the most harmonized version of the document and brings together the best practices from the existing traffic regulations of River Commissions and ECE member States. Implementation of the European Code for Inland Waterways” held at the sixty-first session of SC.3 emphasised that the main practical value of unified navigation rules for inland waterways was ensuring harmonized standards for navigation safety. Other values were the unification of vessel documentation and procedures the contribution to national and regional regulations which prevent accidents on inland waterways and the common standards for the education and competencies of crews. The majority agreed that in order to make CEVNI more viable it should have the status of an international agreement. Such an agreement could also take into account the specific requirements of a particular river section or a river basin. To ensure the necessary transparency whether CEVNI becomes an international agreement or not a depository is needed to keep track of the implementation of CEVNI and of all deviations from CEVNI as well as additional requirements in river basin/regional/national regulations. Ideally this could be achieved by elevating the status of CEVNI to an international agreement representing a blueprint regulation which is accessible for River Commissions and national governments to amend the rules according to regional national and local needs.