New Directions for Transportation Policy

Abstract

Abstract There will be a number of major changes in transportation policy in the decade of the '80s. These changes have begun to emerge. Concentration is no longer on building and expanding transportation facilities. The focus is shifting to maintaining and rehabilitating existing facilities and to improving the use of these facilities for moving goods and people more efficiently and effectively. There is a reassessment underway of the roles of different levels of government and the private sector in the provision of transportation services. A reallocation of responsibilities is likely to emerge. These changes indicate a break from the historical direction of expansion to one of preservation and management of resources, and from more centralized control to greater decentralization. Some experimentation with new approaches has occurred which points the way. The transportation community will have to learn to adapt to these changes and to develop innovative approaches to the emerging problems.