Developments in Western-European transport policy. Recent Dutch white papers on mobility policy deviate from older white papers. Such a shift in policy attention not only occurs for transportation policy, but also in other policy fields. This paper questions whether such a focus shift is a typical Dutch phenomenon, or also occurs in other Western-European countries. It therefore analyses the policy documents of the UK, Austria and Germany published in the last four decades. The analysis is based on the categorisation of transport policy as introduced by O’Flaherty (1997) who distinguishes among demand driven and supply driven policies. All four countries show a clear focus on the extension of the road network in the sixties of the last century. With the exception of Germany, all countries show a shift towards modal shift goals as of the late eighties. Germany shows a more consistent focus in its transport policy focus over time. Clearly, the focus shifts are not particular for the Netherlands. (Author/publisher)
Abstract