Scarcity of traffic infrastructure is increasingly seen as a fact that can not be resolved by simply building more roads, rails and airports. Scientific research can contribute to solving scarcity problems by systematically investigating strategies to deal with scarcity. This paper first defines the layers and markets of the transport system. Next, current technological developments are described. Traffic automation, the introduction of new signalling systems and new pricing mechanisms are presumably important trends with respect to the possibilities to deal with infrastructure scarcity. Since future developments are insecure, four scenarios are introduced to describe possible situations in 2030. The amount of usage of new technologies and new pricing mechanisms varies among these scenarios. In the concluding section, the authors evaluate the merits and demerits of some of these technologies and pricing strategies. (A)
Samenvatting