ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we saw how governments are able to invest in the nation’s transport systems, either directly or in partnership with private companies, to maintain and improve their functioning. Major enhancement schemes attract a great deal of attention because of the scale of the works involved and the visible ‘step-change’ in conditions they offer. However the cost of such schemes means that they are relatively few and far between. The corollary is that the conditions experienced on a day-to-day basis by the majority of people are the product of past investment and the way it is currently managed. Concern to achieve more effective utilisation of inherited networks plus recognition of environmental constraints means that growth in travel demand has to be responded to increasingly by more extensive and sophisticated management regimes.
