THE ECONOMICS OF ROAD FINANCE, PRICING AND INVESTMENTS

Abstract

The aim of this report is to discuss appropriate planning philosophy for road development. The paper analyses the fundamental economic characteristic of road and transport service supply and demand. Two alternatives are considered: (1) that the citizens, in the political process, should be able to choose the main direction of the development of the structure of society including the transport infrastructure, and (2) that decentralized decision-making should be encouraged and facilitated by clear economic principles of pricing as well as investment criteria.