3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
and externalities, but also a source of revenues for the country, representing about 75% of fuel
sales in Luxembourg, and accounted for an earning of almost 1,500 euros per resident in 2008.
In saying that, we are aware that it is difficult for Luxembourg “to reform any tax unilaterally, as
cross border impacts on the economy can be significant. Germany and France, which border
Luxembourg, can absorb small changes which would significantly affect the Luxembourg
economy in their considerably larger territories.” 96
Another important obstacle is that the high income level of Luxembourg makes the demand for
cars less elastic to the costs. For this reason, we also recommend that further regulatory actions
be taken in the form of“push” measures that limit the non-sustainable transport modes.
4.5 Educational
4.5.1 Encourage new usages and behaviors – the cultural shift.
A cultural shift is underway right now in all developed countries: car ownership is not a
paramount objective for Millennials, and “high powered car” ownership is no longer a powerful
status symbol as it was only ten years ago. This cultural shift will be pushed by new “symbols”
which could come from IT technologies, and could be aided if the new transport solution and
the technologies will be able to approach the levels of comfort, flexibility, reliability and
security of the cars. All the transport systems and related technologies must always take into
account the needs of the people. If alternatives to cars will be able to do that, we believe that a
cultural shift will be easier.
Pursuing the vision of transitioning from a “traditional” carbon-intensive and inefficient
transport system to a “Mobility Internet,” combined with active mobility, is “revolutionary” and
not just incremental, and requires an equally ambitious cultural shift to make it happen. It is
important to stress that a change in cultural values means a change in individual preferences.
The cultural shift should be promoted immediately and aggressively in order to match the
speed of meaningful change brought on by vehicle sharing in driverless electric and fuel cell
transport on an automated intermodal Mobility Internet. For example, a public education
campaign should be launched around the benefits of sustainable modes of transportation in
reducing environmental pollution and improving personal health, with a focus on the four main
drivers in people’s transport choice: speed, comfort, cost and safety.
96 Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential for the EU, published 15 January 2016. Page 449.
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