As well, there are six initiatives in the area of freight, including the national harmonization initiative for the trucking industry to help remove regulatory barriers to the adoption of emission-reducing technologies for the trucking industry, the ecoENERGY for fleets initiative to reduce emissions from commercial and institutional road vehicle fleets, the freight technology demonstration fund to support new and under-used freight transportation technologies in real-world conditions, freight technology incentives to mitigate financial barriers to the adoption of new and under-utilized technologies, the partnerships on freight initiative ...[+++] to enhance domestic and international partnerships to reduce emissions from freight transportation, and the marine shore power program to support the installation and use of shore-based power for marine vessels in Canadian ports.

In particular, the Commission investigates with UIC, CER (Community of European Railways), UNIFE (European rail supply industry), UIRR (International Union of combined Road-Rail transport companies) and UIP (International Union of Private Wagons) the status and options for the reduction of noise emission from the existing European rail freight wagon fleet, including a third-party assessment of the UIC/UIP/CER Action Programme for Noise Reduction in Freight Traffic.

Projects supported under the Fifth and the Sixth Research Framework Programmes develop methodologies and tools for the reduction of noise at the source, the impact assessment of noise exposure of populations, the assessment of environmental noise and the calculation of the related external costs of transport.

To support the further development of the European noise policy, the Commission launched the "CALM" [3] thematic network under the Fifth Framework Programme for Research.

The proposed measures break down among the following priorities: - Support for new economic activity, such as: = the development of a derelict industrial site into a craft industry centre - Promotion of employment, training and further training, such as: = work schemes for the young unemployed, disabled persons, old people, drug addicts = design of a working space for the disabled - Improvement of facilities in the social, health a ...[+++]nd safety fields, such as: = housing projects specifically for the elderly and sheltered accommodation - Environment-improving projects, such as: = creation of green belts = noise reduction and air-pollution control programmes = studies of land contaminated in the past - Teaching and leisure facilities, such as: = improvement and creation of educational facilities and day-care centres for children and young people. The overall responsibility for execution of the programme rests with Thuringia's Ministry for Economics and Infrastructure (TMWI).

The priorities of the scheme include socio-economic studies to help define long-term transport policy, the construction of experimental transport systems to demonstrate novel concepts, and industrial research projects, like for example, noise and vibration reduction in trains, and technologies and systems for the development of low environmental impact buses.