No city today can function efficiently without public transport. Indeed the development of public transport is a prerequisite for sustainable urban development. It is all the more critical in the light of some recent megatrends:

• Galloping urbanisation, congestion and the threat of traffic paralysis;
• Air quality concerns;
• Peak oil production and use;
• The pressing need to take action to mitigate permanent and damaging climate change;
• The need to maintain or improve the quality of urban life for citizens.

The time has come for UITP to highlight this universal debate, taking into account the various professional opinions and arguments. The aim of the Congress is therefore to:

• Review the available options with their advantages and drawbacks;
• Review all parameters to take into account;
• Provide participants with a broad view of the issues and a framework for analysis, enabling them to take the best possible decisions for the short, medium and long term.

Decision-makers will never avoid a debate about this complex issue, but the Congress will contribute to providing all stakeholders with appropriate tools to perform a comprehensive analysis.

Traditionally, UITP World Congresses offer delegates a variety of sessions and topics addressing the needs of a wide range of participants’ profiles. This successful ingredient will be maintained in 2009, but this time UITP will also put a special focus on a major planning issue – how to choose from the full spectrum of modes of public transport. The various aspects of this theme will be dealt with in a number of sessions. Throughout the Congress, delegates will have the choice between this focal theme and alternative sessions. The sessions dealing with the focal theme will serve as a basis for consolidated Congress conclusions and possibly recommendations, to be delivered during the closing session. UITP thereby intends to voice strong messages and to assist stakeholders who are facing difficult investment choices. To provide a comprehensive professional programme, the alternative sessions will address other hot topics of the sector, of which climate change and finance are probably the most critical.