ABSTRACT
The transport sector is one of the largest in any advanced economy. As incomes rise, an increasing share of consumers’ expenditure is devoted to travel, a large amount of it on private car purchase and operation. In consequence, governments spend large sums on the provision of the roads infrastructure. At the same time, they spend large sums on the subsidisation of public transport services to maintain a proper balance between public and private provision. Yet in transport as in some other fields, the volume of public expenditure is only a partial guide to the importance of the decisions made by government. Direct public expenditure on road safety, for example, runs at only a few million pounds a year, but the total costs which safety measures impose on transport users and the benefits they bring, may be of the order of a hundred times as much. On a yet wider level, the nature of the transport system available has important implications for industrial growth, urban development, the quality of environment and the enjoyment of leisure. Thus, in terms of both size and complexity the transport sector merits the attention it has attracted from analysts of various disciplines.
