The Dutch public transport sector has long been under control of the national government. The Dutch tax system is centralized, making the national government the prime financier and director of the public transport sector. That history has directed the sector towards solutions and strategies that fit the national agenda, rather then incremental and local improvements. Recently the national government has decentralized the responsibility for public transport to the provinces. At the same time competition for public transport concessions was introduced. Where the decentralization supports a strategy based on more small-scale and local solutions, the introduction of competitive tendering brought new barriers. Strict procedures limited the role of a key actor in finding local solutions, the public transport operator. This paper describes three examples showing how regional transport authorities capitalize on decentralization. It describes how the authorities activate actors in the regions and mobilize their experiences to address the mobility problems in the region. The authorities have applied this bottom-up approach successfully, along standing national policies which reflect a more top-down approach. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting