ABSTRACT
The historical evolution of the different transport modes shows how network industries evolved by connecting unbundled pieces of infrastructure and assets into ever more sophisticated and efficient networks. Railways connected pairs of cities. Ships connected ports in random unscheduled services, etc. Overtime, infrastructures such as railways were standardized, maritime, railway and aviation services were subject to prearranged scheduled routes, with ever larger ships and airplanes and complex hub-and-spoke systems, until both economies of scale and network effects were exhausted. Despite the rise of large companies in each transport mode (American Airlines, Maersk) transport is always fragmented, as their footprint is often limited, competition law forbids concentration, and, even more important, there is little coordination between transport modes and first/last mile is always a challenge for large carriers. There is room for a more efficient coordination of the transport industries.
