A better integration of transport modes contributes to a more efficient transport system. The current status in Europe is heterogeneous - to travel across Europe on a single ticket and with door-to-door information is a splendid vision. To align co-operation with competition is a big challenge.

The LINK Forum aimed at bringing together the relevant stakeholders to overcome market and policy fragmentation. The project's objectives were to foster the integration of passenger intermodality policies and to facilitate co-operation for intermodal solutions.

Exchange, knowledge transfer and promotion were the three principal aims:

1. Exchange, building up a European network for intermodal passenger transport to exchange experience and work on better (trans-national) solutions

2. Transfer, setting up a knowledge centre for intermodal passenger transport which structures research, defines research questions, formulates policy recommendations and disseminates information

3. Promotion of passenger intermodality across Europe, activation of political support and stakeholders and eventually development of a long term perspective for the Forum as an active organisation.

The work of the LINK Forum was focusing on international long-distance travel and cross-border services. The particular relevance of transport services on the urban and regional level for any intermodal trip has been taken into account by including a working group on this topic.

• Awareness raising and policy recommendations
  - The LINK Forum will promote participation and exchange on passenger intermodality in concrete networking activities (working groups, LINK conference, see overview on LINK website: www.linkforum.eu).

- A wide range of relevant stakeholders was involved via consultations.
- LINK provided guidance material and disseminated knowledge about passenger intermodality across Europe.
- Decision makers were addressed via political marketing activities, also on the national level.
- LINK developed a set of concrete policy recommendations on how to enhance passenger intermodality in Europe (see downloads below)

• Networking
  - Five working groups brought together administrators, operators, researchers and users. They dealt with the following intermodality key issues: door-to-door information/ ticketing, intermodal networks/ interchanges, integration of long-distance transport and "last urban mile", planning/ implementation and context conditions.
  - Two LINK Conferences and over 25 national workshops offered unique meeting places for stakeholders.

• Knowledge transfer
  - The LINK Forum structured and monitored research in the area of passenger intermodality.
  - A virtual library and best practice database have been made available to provide better accessibility to existing knowledge (access via LINK website).
  

Rupprecht Consult co-ordinated the networking activities of the LINK Forum (Work Packages A.2 and A.3). This included among other tasks the coordination of the 5 working groups and the development of the LINK policy recommendations.

The consortium of LINK was made up of 17 partners coming from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

Sebastian Bührmann
Tel: +49-221-60 60 55 14

Project Website (with detailed results)
http://www.linkforum.eu/