Transport and spatial policies: The role of regulatory and fiscal incentives

Anticipated growth in transport volumes means addressing greater environmental damage and congestion, and increasing investment for the expansion of infrastructure capacity. Transport policies in general and urban transport policies in particular will have to find new ways of satisfying demands for both accessibility and lower levels of mobility. Achieving this requires recognition of the interdependence between transport and spatial policy, and the design of institutions which would take account of the synergies and trade-offs in both fields.

Lack of co-ordination between transport and spatial policies has negatively influenced the effectiveness of both areas to date. The Round Table on Transport and Spatial policies: The role of Regulatory and Fiscal Incentives identified how isolated policy measures have curtailed the effectiveness of efforts in both of these areas.

The Round Table discussed ways to overcome the lack of co-ordination between transport and spatial policies. Integrated planning procedures have to successfully deal with the departmentalisation of policymaking at all jurisdictional levels. The negative consequences of jurisdictional competition have to be avoided by co-ordination between communities. The Round Table formulated proposals on how fiscal incentives can help to avoid the failure of interjurisdictional co-ordination.

ECMT/ ITF: Transport and spatial policies: The role of regulatory and fiscal incentives, 2002 http://internationaltransportforum.org/pub/pdf/04RT124.pdf

---