This thesis studies the formation of the transportation engineering discipline in the Netherlands. Although the development of the Dutch mobility system has already been researched, there is almost a complete lack of insights in the establishment of a field of work that deals with transportation issues. Therefore, studying discipline formation offers a view on the roots and characteristics of the subject; it allows both reflection on the state of affairs of the discipline, and also facilitates debate on the desired future of transportation engineering in the Netherlands. The thesis develops a model for studying discipline formation by expanding on ideas from professionalization theory, starting with the concept of ‘discourse coalitions’. Notions derived from professionalization theory are added in order to understand the processes by which actors obtain jurisdiction in professional problem solving. By taking initiatives that underpin their legitimacy, actors sow the seeds of a profession. Examples include the emergence of journals, educational programs, and conferences. Once a certain number and different types of these seeds have grown and become intertwined and a network of actors has been built, a base may be formed for a discipline to come into being. As soon as actors successfully manage to involve the state government in their efforts to acquire a position, the discipline achieves recognition. The formation of the transportation engineering discipline in the Netherlands was investigated by searching archival records, stakeholder interviews, and the literature. Four cases were selected that would, according to theory and former research, be likely to give insight in the vicissitudes of Dutch transportation engineering. These cases are the role of the ‘professional associations’ ANWB and KIvI, the set-up of schooling structures in transportation engineering, the start of the Dienst Verkeerkunde (Traffic Engineering Agency) in the Ministry of Transport, and the foundation of consultancies in transportation engineering. The study results in a view on the network formation of Dutch transportation engineering, the institutionalization that was part of the development of the discipline, and the characteristics of the subject. The study shows that three types of expertise were proposed to solve transportation problems: transportation economics, traffic engineering, and integrated planning. The latter two went on to form the discipline of transportation engineering. The development of the transportation engineering discipline in the Netherlands is explained by the actors’ ability to convince the state government that their type of expertise would help solve traffic problems. In particular, the tourist association ANWB played an important role in putting traffic engineering on the agenda. ANWB made a significant contribution to the professionalization and discipline formation of Dutch transportation engineering thanks to its central position in the road lobby, its expertise in mass communication, and its ambition to obtain jurisdiction. ANWB started a congress and a journal on issues of traffic engineering. From the same point of departure, ANWB convinced the Ministry of Transport to start the road safety institute SWOV. During the 1950s, integrated planning was put forward by planners in the Dutch National Planning Agency (Rijksdienst voor het Nationale Plan). The topic found its way into the national planning policy paper of 1966 and spread from there. Integrated planning was institutionalized in the Goudappel consultancy, the office for integrated transportation studies (Projectbureau Integrale Verkeers- en Vervoersstudies), and in higher and vocational education in transportation studies (Verkeersacademie Tilburg). During the 1960s, transportation engineering became recognized as a discipline in the Netherlands. However, it was still in its infancy and the level of professionalization within the discipline was limited. In the 1970s, Dutch transportation engineering was dominated by traffic engineering expertise. Integrated planning expertise was still scarce and was institutionalized to a lesser extent than traffic engineering. The present study shows that the enhanced professionalization model is helpful for gaining insights in the origins and characteristics of a discipline. Existing models in professionalization theory mainly focus on the emergence of a profession and pay only limited attention to discipline formation. (Author/publisher)
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