Internationally, the traditional role of the state as virtually the only developer and financer of large infrastructural projects is no longer a point of discussion. In the Netherlands, too, three is increasing interest in the possibilities for involving parties other than central government in the creation and exploitation of infrastructural structures. It goes without saying that when it comes to making decisions in this area much insight is required into the various organisational options available for the provision of infrastructure and also when it comes to weighting up the pros and cons of such options. This article aims to contribute to this process in the belief that a sensible institutional basis is of vital importance to the ultimate social benefits to be gained from investments made in infrastructure. It provides an impression of the great achievement differences, infrastucturally, between countries by: examining the ways in which traffic flows are divided between different modals (modal split), and by examining the different relative cost intensivity. Institutional factors can play a big part in such achievements, but not all infrastructure lends itself equally well to market effects. These issues are further examined on the basis of a number of characteristic international experiences with roads and railways. (A)
Abstract