Title: Systems and actors: the transport system

Authors: Bert Van Wee

Addresses: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: Transport systems develop due to the interactions between actors and the technical options for systems. This interaction is of major importance for the design of transport infrastructures. This paper gives an overview of the links between the systems and the actors in the transport system. It describes some dominant features of the transport system, elaborates on the difference in the goals of the public and private actors, and gives an overview of dominant theories and research methods. As an illustration we present the case of the Zuiderzee line, a new railway line that may be built between the highly urbanised western part of The Netherlands and the North of the country.

Keywords: transport systems; actors; transport infrastructure; systems design; theory; methods; evaluation; cost-benefit analysis; CBA; railway lines; railways; The Netherlands.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2010.035676

Journal of Design Research, 2010 Vol.8 No.4, pp.343 - 358

Published online: 02 Oct 2010 *

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