A number of specific characteristics of the transport sector make it seem that government has an important part to play in the transport sector's technology policy. The part played by government in the development and implementation of innovations may be termed classical if assessed according to the criteria of the present public administration theory. New views on the matter have shown that much may be expected from another particular administration method, namely the network approach. The purpose of this article is: to indicate how these recent ideas on the government role can be implicated in the development of long-term traffic and transport technology, and to state what alterations have to be made to existing policy if the interests of technology policy are to be served. At international level, it is possible to cite examples of places where a network approach has already been successfully innovated, where technological policy within the transport sector is concerned. What has also been clearly demonstrated is that governments cannot independently initiate and steer innovation processes. Innovation processes arise as the result of co-operation between government, industry, and other actors. This new approach has also realised that new demands have to be made on control methods. In the Netherlands, too, the contours of a different approach become visible. (A)
Abstract