200 years of Dutch transport policy

In this paper eight stories are told about Dutch passenger transport history. The first story is from 1814 about building the first national paved road network suitable for stagecoaches; the last is from 1997 and is about the decision to construct a high speed rail link from Amsterdam to the Brussels. The aim of the paper is to identify policy lessons. These lessons may be useful in shaping current and future sustainable transport policies. Three key policy lessons are identified in this paper. Firstly, history demonstrates a seeming inevitability in the development of passenger transport towards increasingly faster modes of transport. A financial crisis may cause a temporary dip but history shows a strong long-term trend to using increasingly faster modes, despite some deep economic crises. Secondly, EU emission standards for new cars have proven to be very effective policies in reducing air polluting emissions. Regarding the current opposition to implementing strict CO2 emission standards for new cars it would probably be wise to show political courage and implement strict standards worldwide in the near future. ‘The pain is often only in the change’, as the history of Dutch transport policy-making shows. Thirdly, Dutch transport history makes it clear that railways can be identified as the ‘weak’ transport mode, repeatedly requiring large amounts of government money to survive. The lesson from railway history is that an open mind is needed in sustainable policy-making. It is conceivable that part of the tax payers’ money spent on railways could have been used in a more beneficial way for society. This hypothesis may also be valid for future decisions on investments and subsidies for railways.