Although deregulation is well under way in the transport sector, regular coach services are still largely regulated. Governments see them as potentially competing with rail transport services. However, in countries that have had some experience with deregulation the outcome has clearly been positive (except for local short-distance services). The Round Table began with a review of regular interurban coach services based on case studies in countries which had adopted an original approach. This report shows the industry in a totally new light. One of its main findings is that there is a specific market for customers that have no other means of transport. Opening up this market would benefit the most economically disadvantaged sectors of the population. But that is not the only lesson to be learned from this Round Table.

Although deregulation is well under way in the transport sector, regular coach services are still largely regulated. Governments see them as potentially competing with rail transport services. However, in countries that have had some experience with deregulation the outcome has clearly been positive (except for local short-distance services). The Round Table began with a review of regular interurban coach services based on case studies in countries which had adopted an original approach. This report shows the industry in a totally new light. One of its main findings is that there is a specific market for customers that have no other means of transport. Opening up this market would benefit the most economically disadvantaged sectors of the population. But that is not the only lesson to be learned from this Round Table.

The Round Table reviews regular interurban coach services based on case studies in countries which had adopted an original approach.

The linkage between transport and economic development is a highly contentious issue which has generated considerable debate and an abundant literature. There is a firmly-held belief among politicians that investment in transport infrastructure promotes economic development and, by extension, employment. However, this belief is not borne out by scientific analysis, which would seem to indicate that the impact of this type of investment on employment and economic development remains limited, at least in developed countries, and at the purely regional level can even prove negative. The Round.

To mark its hundredth Round Table on transport economics, the ECMT decided to publish a special issue. Fifty European experts were asked to submit papers examining not only the major issues addressed by transport economics in the past, but also those that are likely to emerge in the future.

Road freight transport for own account represents a major share of inland transport in Europe and, depending on the country concerned, accounts for two to five times the tonnage carried by rail. Despite its importance, however, own account transport tends to be overlooked since it is not regarded as a logistics activity, whereas it is, in fact, a vital transport function that is changing radically as firms increasingly outsource their distribution activities to commercial hauliers.The scale of road freight transport for own account, the impact of regulatory changes and the future of the secto.