Country Overviews

Introduction

The principal body responsible for transport research in the Czech Republic (CR) is the Ministry of Transport (MDCR). Transport research managed and funded from other public sources is negligible.

National research programmes in the CR are organised centrally, so that transport programmes are, in effect, sub-programmes of general research programmes. The primary research focus is on strategic research and complex transport issues. The intention is also to gain a greater share of supra-national research, in cooperation with other transport bodies and supply organisations. The research sector is currently being re-organised, in order to facilitate efficient communication and strengthen ties between research institutes and universities and to encourage their cooperation at an international level.
The selection of thematic priorities for R&D comes from recent trends in the European Research Area and current transport needs of the Czech Republic, resulting from the analysis of European, national and regional transport policy.

The R&D concept sets the following thematic priority areas:

• Tools for transport policy realisation support;
• Ensuring sustainable transportation
  development;
• Elimination of the dependence of transport demand on economic growth (decoupling);
• Transport safety;
• Development of traffic routes;
• Development of transport means;
• Interoperability on national and European scale;
• Support of public transport; and
• Intermodal transport.

Financing of the departmental R&D stems from the mid-term prospect on R&D support and it is specified every year along with the preparation and proposal of the state budget, which is the main instrument of R&D policy. The fact that the government is not successful in achieving the degree of R&D support to which it committed has great influence on meeting the goals of the concept. In 2007, 135 million CZK (approx Û4.8 million) was approved for R&D support.

The National Research Programme II commenced in 2006, financed from the sources of a single provider and therefore leading to reduction of the sources for other departments. National R&D Policy for 2007-2008 is based on two alternatives. The first one maintains the recommended inter-annual accrual of financial resources by 0.1% GDP in such as way that the indicator of 1% GDP for R&D from public resources is achieved in 2010, which is the goal of the Lisbon strategy. The accumulation of financial resources will be slower in the second alternative and the Czech Republic will only approach the Lisbon strategy target.

Most research projects are entirely funded by the Government, with only a small number being partially financed by research organisations. Co-financing (with international financing institutions, commercial banks or similar) does not take place. Non-governmental research and funding in the Czech Republic is largely carried out by manufacturers and by the technical faculties of five Czech universities.

National Government Departments and Agencies

Ministry of Transport (MDCR)

www.mdcr.cz

Government Council for Research and Development

www.vyzkum.cz

Czech Science Foundation

www.gacr.cz

Ministry for Regional Development

www.mmr.cz

Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic

www.env.cz

Support of Sustainable Transport Development Implementation

Ongoing programme with four sub-programmes: Road safety improvement and reduction of negative impact of transport on health and the environment; development of regional transportation infrastructure and public transport services; intermodal and multimodal transport development; and promotion of telematic and information tools for transport policy realisation.

Safe and Economic Transport

Research focus: public transport, sustainable mobility, safety, investment models and technologies for infrastructure maintenance. Part of the National Research Programme, with transport-related themes led by the MDCR (Ministry of Transport). This programme began in 2004.

Sustained Mobility-Chance for the Future

Ongoing programme which began in 2002. Main sub-themes: Enterprising in transport and harmonisation of market conditions; development of transport infrastructure; reliability and safety of road transport; transport and living environment; transport in towns and municipal agglomerations; equality of chances; globalisation in transport; and information technology in transport.

Research Institutes

CDV - Transport Research Centre

www.cdv.cz

Transport research is also undertaken by the transport faculties of the following universities: Czech Technical University of Prague (www.fd.cvut.cz), University of Pardubice (www.upce.cz), Brno University of Technology (www.fce.vutbr.cz) and Technical University of Ostrava (www.vsb.cz).