New contributions to transportation analysis in Europe

New contributions to transportation analysis in Europe:

Economic activity patterns have exhibited drastic changes in the last part of the twentieth century. The gradual shift of regional and national economies towards an integrated network society has caused the emergence of economic interactivity ranging from local to global scales. As a consequence, transport and communication have become main features of the modern economic era in which the information and communication sector plays an important role. In the last decade, Europe has gone through major fluctuations which have offered new perspectives for all European cities, regions and countries. It has had to cope with broad policy developments such as deregulation and market integration, but it also has had to consider geopolitical changes which has made Europe almost a unique laboratory experiment for transportation analysis. This has given birth to a large variety of transportation research, at the local, national and European levels. The various transportation framework programmes, in particular the Network on European Communications and Transport Activity Research (NECTAR) programme, financed by the European Commission have meant an important stimulus for further research progress.

This volume arises from one of the NECTAR activities, namely a research conference held at Mons in Belgium. In addition to presentations at the conference, some new contributions have been included. The editors aim to offer a sample of recent advances in transportation analysis with a particular view to Europe and European policy developments. Contributors are from a wide range of European countries, giving a wide perspective on both emerging transport network developments in Europe and the governance of those networks.