Land Transport Policy in Ireland and Poland: a game theorist’s view

• Authors: Ramsey David
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper looks at some of the challenges facing the development of a sustainable transport system in two EU countries, the Republic of Ireland and Poland. Both countries have seen a rapid rise in car ownership and migration of a large proportion of city dwellers to suburban areas just outside the city boundaries. Due to this, both the proportion of individuals traveling to work by car and the average commuting distance have risen significantly. This has placed a huge stress on urban and suburban transport networks. Although both countries have seen rapid economic development, many remote rural areas have not benefitted from this growth and are left with a decreasing and aging population. In order to deal with these problems, governments must coordinate their transport, spatial and regional policies. The government must take into account, and in the long run shape, the preferences of citizens (the users of transport networks). Also, it is necessary to develop policies which are robust to changes in the economic climate. This is particularly important in the light of the decision of the Irish government to rewrite its spatial plan. One may think of the development and use of the transport network as a dynamic, stochastic game played by three types of player: government (at international, national and regional level), transport providers (e.g. rail and bus services) and individual travelers (both commercial and private). These players all have different goals (payoff functions) and strategies available to them. They all should react to and predict the actions of the other players, as well as how behavior and the network will evolve in the future. This article concentrates on the goals of governments to develop a sustainable transport system. It argues that the governments of Ireland and Poland must develop attractive alternatives to the present ideal of living in the country and traveling by car, while protecting the interests of remoter rural areas, and give clear information about their plans and the benefits of sustainable development.

Keywords

EN

transport policy, Ireland, Poland, sustainable transport

• Publisher: Uniwersytet WSB Merito we Wrocławiu
• Journal: Central and Eastern European Journal of Management and Economics (CEEJME)
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 10-33

Dates

online

2013-09-01

Contributors

author

Ramsey David

• Wrocław University of Technology, Poland

Identifiers

ISSN

2353 - 9119