The Ministry of Transport's December 2002 New Zealand Transport Strategy states that "in the long run, economic development and transport growth need not be directly related". That is, it suggests that in the long run, there may be some 'decoupling' of economic growth and transport growth. This paper aims to 'start the ball rolling' on decoupling issues amongst the New Zealand research community. This paper comprises two key sections. First the authors examine the international literature on decoupling in order to gain an understanding of how this issue has been addressed overseas. The key conclusions from the literature review are that decoupling is poorly defined and that quantitative analysis surrounding the topic is scant. They then move on to analyse some possible measures of decoupling in New Zealand. Whilst the results are interesting, they highlight the need to clearly define decoupling before attempting to develop measures to accurately monitor it. The paper concludes by suggesting one possible definition and monitoring measure of decoupling. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E210413.
Samenvatting