Transport policy and policy research: some concluding remarks.
| Verfasser | Sager, Fritz |
Introduction
As a conclusion to this special issue on transport policy research, we want to come back to the question of what is the gain of policy research for the specific needs of the field of transport policy.
Opening this volume, we have outlined some three general axes of research interest we consider especially interesting for the present object of analysis. We have argued that the questions of coordination, of policy design, and of innovation are somewhat inherent to the field of transport policy.
First, coordination is a major issue in transport policy as it is a pronouncedly interdependent field of public action, not only interlinked with planning, housing, and land-use policy, but in a much wider sense subject of foreign policy, economic policy, and regional equalization attempts to name just a few.
The question of policy design, then, is relevant for every public policy, of course. In the field of transport policy, however, we have argued that the chosen instruments are of special interest for the following reasons: first, as already pointed out, transport policy has many cross-sectoral implications, which makes its goals largely interdependent. The policy design, thus, not only has to influence individual and societal behavior in one direction, but in many directions at the same time, thereby taking into account the cross-sectional character of the policy. Second, transport policy is treating the general societal phenomenon of mobility--the very nature of today's society rather than a mere characteristic. Transport policy treats a core trait of the modern world. It cannot be the goal, therefore, to change mobility itself, but rather the patterns of mobility in order to find a way to make the said nature of today's society compatible with actual society. Sustainability in this understanding is besides its already broad meaning also a question of speed--social, economic, and regarding the use of natural resources. This complexity of political goals in transport policy makes the question of policy design outstandingly interesting for policy research.
Finally, it is for the same reason that we consider the question of innovation a third major stake for the analysis of transport policy. Transport is a field, which is almost as much subject to technical innovation as is the field of information technologies. This important technological progress offers great opportunities, but embraces also threats. The opportunities lie in possibility to solve political problems linked to transport without challenging the mobile nature of society. The threats, however, are to be found on the very level: it is a grand illusion to think political problems can be solved on a purely technical basis, ignoring all their social components. The question of innovation in the field of transport policy, therefore, is also a question of the balance between technical and social solutions to political problems.
It is along these three streams that we discuss the question of what is the specific contribution of policy research for the field of transport policy. We will address this question based on the articles collected in this volume.
The question of coordination
There is not one article in this volume that would not at least touch on the question of coordination. Policy research identifies the three forms of coordination: inter-sectoral, between political entities at the same level, i.e. horizontal, and between higher and lower levels, i.e. vertical. In most...
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