Exploring the effects of economic crisis in road transport: The case of Greece

Abstract

The transport sector is closely related to the economy of a country. This mainly applies to urban areas, which play an essential economic role in a country’s GDP. According to the EC’s Green Paper 2007 for urban mobility, approximately 1% of the EU’s GDP is annually lost due to the increased passenger and freight flow demands in city centres and its consequent impacts (e.g. pollution, delay, etc.). Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008 the economies of many countries were affected and their transport sectors encountered a serious decline. On this basis, the principal aim of this paper is to explore the extent of the economic recession to the Greek passenger and freight road transport system. European transport data is exploited to compare the trends between the Greek transport system and the average European one. The analysis determines the key elements that influence road transport focusing on freight and passenger movement by identifying potential relationships between transport performance and socioeconomic factors. Keywords: Economic crisis, Greece, Urban road passenger transport, Urban road freight transport, GDP