ABSTRACT
Transport has always been both a key element in strategic planning at the regional level and a key instrument in the promotion of regional economic development. However, neither of these is a simple relationship; they generate considerable controversy, and consequently policy towards transport often appears confused and inconsistent. Despite the recognition of the importance of transport in regional development it is difficult to identify coherent development in thinking. This is at least in part because policy towards transport in general has been dominated by political dogma, especially, for many years, through the debates over nationalisation/privatisation and road building and, more recently, by debates over road pricing/congestion charging.
