Brussels, 01/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - As the European Commission is stepping up efforts to make travel and mobility in Europe more sustainable, promoting alternatives to road, transporters have sought to show that they can contribute to driving European growth and that their first priority is to reduce carbon emissions. At the second International Road Transport Union (IRU) conference in Brussels, on Wednesday 29 February, association President Janusz Lacny said that “no EU growth objective can be successful without including the facilitation of an efficient transport system, where commercial road transport today is and will remain a key driver of economic development”. He highlighted the fact that “commercial road transport is the only transport mode which provides door-to-door service and complements all other modes”. He called for all the available trade and road transport facilitation instruments to be applied without delay, among which the IRU highlights eco-combis and the European modular system. The IRU is calling for current rules on lorry weight and size to be amended “to allow aerodynamic and road safety improvements for vehicle and equipment, and to promote connections between modes”. Among the ways to make road transport more environmentally friendly, the IRU is emphasising bus and coach. At the conference, the IRU announced that a high level group was to be set up, bringing together the European institutions and the road transport industry, to prepare an action plan within the next 12 months to double bus and coach passenger numbers over the next decade. (MD/transl.rt)