58th UITP World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition

Milestones of the event

See the press releases

31 May 07

The 57th World Congress and Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) closed its doors on May 24 in Helsinki, Finland.
During this biennale event, public transport operators, authorities, industry and academics have exchanged ideas and best practices related to all the aspects of public transport such as financing, technical innovations, management and marketing among others. Complementary of the congress sessions, the exhibition has allowed number of exhibitors to make world first presentations of their innovations. UITP has welcomed over 9000 participants including:

4,453 trade visitors to the Exhibition including 2,068 Congress delegates
282 exhibiting companies representing

The fact that debate about public transport is gaining resonance around the world was largely acknowledged by all actors as well as the need for a holistic approach involving citizens, operators, authorities, industry and academics in a close cooperation. Public transport is today recognised as a civilisation issue that goes far beyond the mere transportation question. It is a critical element in the major societal debates such as climate change, energy efficiency or poverty alleviation.

Roberto Cavalieri, president of UITP underlined "by the year 2050, the world population is expected to be a third larger than it is today: 2.5 billion more people. If just 12% of them have vehicles it represents another 240 million car and trucks. That kind of growth and development raises some tough challenges, especially in light of our need to greatly reduce our carbon emissions".

This is why today public transport needs increasingly to involve decision and policy-makers from an international, national and regional scale. "The debate about transport should not be left to experts or to engineers" stressed Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN-HABITAT Director-General, United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON). This link between urban development and public transport was formalised by a Memorandum of Understanding concluded between UN-Habitat and UITP.

"An efficient urban planning is closely linked with strong urban policies. With no political will no sustainable and ambitious development is possible" highlighted Hans Rat, UITP Secretary General. "UITP believes that a clear definition of roles between the actors is essential. This congress has stressed the progress made in this direction."

The Urban Decision-Makers summit that concluded the week welcomed over 40 mayors and national and regional ministers from all continents. By their participation they formalised their commitment to build urban mobility for future generations.

Notes for editors:

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is the international organisation for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. It is a platform for worldwide co-operation and the sharing of know-how between its 2,900 members from some 90 countries