Transport Policy Problems at National and International Level

A Contribution by the Transport Workers' Unions

International Transport Worker's Federation

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367139728
• eBook ISBN: 9780429628252
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geography
• Index: Geography

Published in 1959, this book presents a study of transport problems including those of the coordination of inland transport, and special problems of coordination in areas of urban transport, civil aviation, sea ports and arising problems in the course of the economic integration of Europe.

PART ONE

Problems of the Coordination of Inland Transport

PREAMBLE

A. Historical Development and Transport Policy

Transport has always played an extremely significant part in all economic activities. The development of transport laid the foundation for the industrial revolution, which gave birth to gigantic concentrations of industrial plants in the coal regions, attracting vast labour forces. These powerful industrial concentrations demanded an improvement in transport, as on the one hand the feeding of these large numbers of people had to be secured, and on the other hand the raw materials destined for distant manufacturing centres had to be taken there. The transport of masses of workers from their homes to their place of work and back imposed hitherto unknown tasks on the passenger services. In Europe all this led to an increasing degree of division of work, both within the individual industries and between the different regions. The economy of to-day would be inconceivable without the existence of the modern means of transport.

As little as half a century ago travel was considered to be more or less of a luxury, which only privileged classes could afford. To-day, however, transport has become a necessity for more classes of users, with the same claim for satisfaction as the demand for electricity or postal services.

The transport industry is therefore a branch of economy of equal importance as agriculture, industry or commerce. This fact has not always been properly taken into account in the economic policies of the states. Transport has often been regarded only as a means for attaining certain economic and social-political objectives. The choice of sites of the production centres of the national economy and the prices of their products were consciously influenced via the tariff structures of the different branches of transport, above all the railways. Investments in transport have also been planned from the point of view of a policy of full employment.

In the development stage of transport tracks were constructed and maintained merely to satisfy natural transport requirements. Transport policy was only required to adapt itself passively to the existing geographical conditions. Only in modern times, for reasons of strategy and economic and social policy, the opening up of new regions was undertaken by laying new tracks. In this way transport became more and more an accessory of the economic and location policy, developing from its hitherto passive acceptance of locational conditions into an active element assisting in the attainment of locational objectives.

There can be little doubt that in modern times, with the far-reaching commercial penetration of provincial areas and consequent extensive scattering of industrial enterprises, the possibilities and necessities of formulating and influencing a policy for the attainment of locational objectives are reduced. In addition, the production of ubiquitous raw materials and the decreasing share of raw materials in the production of many goods lines have increasingly lessened the need for supplying outlying areas with cheap raw materials. Assisted by the advent of new means of transport, a completely new position resulted for the railways. Previously it was thought that the railways, as flourishing enterprises, could subsidize distressed areas. Now the changed competitive position deprived the railways of their monopolies, whereas at the same time, the obligations imposed on the railways remained unchanged. They therefore became themselves an ailing branch of the economy, no longer capable of subsidizing other distressed industries.

The rapid progress made in the field of motor-transport brought about such a development of road transport that a constantly increasing proportion of the total traffic was lost by the railways. The railways’ deficit then grew from year to year. The increase in this deficit, which has to be covered by the community, has caused the general public to pay increased attention to the problem of the transport industry. This is the cause of constant interventions in this field, with the object of reducing the deficit of the railways. It is, however, true that in spite of all efforts made so far, this deficit has only disappeared in very few instances, and that the problem of coordination of transport at any rate exists as much as ever.

In view of this situation the question arises whether the present subordination of transport policy to principles of locational and general economic policy may be maintained. There are many indications that the time has come to operate transport undertakings more in accordance with commercial principles and the conceptions of economic self-sufficiency. Modern economic policy has such a multitude of means at its disposal, that measures in the field of transport—and particularly tariff policy—for the attainment of objectives of the national economy in general may largely be dispensed with. Nevertheless, the industry should also in future be considered a public service. Even with the greater stress on commercial principles the fundamental principle of ensuring that all engaged in any field of human activity are provided with an efficient transport service may not be lost sight of.

B. Public Character of Transport

The possibilities of actively intervening in the sphere of transport are explained and justified by the fact that the transport industry is largely a public service. This public character is based on several considerations.

The determination and satisfaction of collective requirements or those of the entire community are tasks incumbent on the State and the public authorities. Both are intrinsic tasks of the transport industry. Furthermore, the development of transport forms the basis of the development of the entire national economy. Consequently, disregarding varying conditions of ownership, for these two reasons alone, the transport industry as an economic factor of the first order should be subject to the influence of the State.

Wherever a unification of the entire transport industry has already been obtained (e.g. centralization of control, nationalization, and similar methods) economic planning measures are simplified to a certain extent. This position does, however, not exist in the majority of countries. Thus, the dualism of public and private ownership in transport creates basic and organic problems within the framework of the national economic policy.

The trends of economic policy supply one of the most important reasons for the determination of the public character of the transport industry. Due to its obligations towards the community the possibilities of the transport industry to exploit favourable economic situations are in many instances more limited than those of other industries. The stage may even be reached where in times of an economic boom, the remaining industries are subsidized by the transport industry. On the other hand, the transport industry is particularly vulnerable to economic depressions which very frequently make themselves felt there in the first place. The business cycle policy of the State must consequently include planning measures, in order to counterbalance the vulnerability of transport to cyclical fluctuations. At the same time investments in the transport industry lend themselves particularly well to the implementation of a policy of full employment.

A further special task of the State consists in safeguarding the interests of the community, even beyond those of transport users. From a usufructuary of transport, man may become its victim both as a transport user and a worker and finally as an outsider. The problem of safety admittedly belongs to the general police duties of the State; it does, however, exert a decisive influence on economic and social questions. Safety measures for the protection of both those employed in transport and for the travelling public as a whole may, to a large extent, solely be guaranteed by statutory regulation.

By its very nature, transport shows a tendency towards traffic monopolies and differentiated services. This tendency led already in the early days to the realization of the need for the supervision of freight rates by the State as representative of the interests of the community. By further application of this principle, we arrive at the conclusion that all means of transport must be submitted to such control to an equal extent in order to prevent the community being exploited by relatively powerful pressure groups in the transport industry. Political decisions which affect the transport industry are—although in a varying degree—of a certain importance for the choice of the sites of industries. Site-bound industries require the creation and improvement of communications if the harmonic development of the entire economy is to be safeguarded. This is of particular importance with a view to encouraging the division of labour and creating a healthy competition.

The obligations to which the transport industry is submitted regarding the fixation of transport rates in order to safeguard the public interest are of particular importance to the national financial policy. They may, on the one hand, cause an increase in the real income of the community; on the other hand, there is the danger of these obligations exerting an undesirable influence on income conditions in the transport industry itself. These developments may be caused by cartel-like rate agreements whereby certain undertakings would reap larger profits than would be the case under conditions of free competition. From a long-term point of view, similar conditions may on the other hand attract enterprises to certain transport regions and thereby cause overequipment and over-development. The realization of this danger leads as a conclusion to the necessity of extending the afore-mentioned obligations beyond the sector of prices.

The need for influencing incomes impinges on wage policy. It may and must, however, on no account lead to a reversal of the principle of collective wage negotiations. Similar considerations apply to the regulation of working conditions. Wherever any special considerations from the point of view of social policy exert any influence on the transport industry they should not be allowed to distort the competitive position. It is, however, quite conceivable that a neglect of the social aspects, leading to unfair competition at the expense of the workers may cause such a distortion.

Similar considerations apply particularly to the policy connected with the opening-up of potential industrial areas. This should be considered as a task devolving on the State and should not be allowed to become a charge on the different branches of the transport industry which could not be justified on grounds of business economics.

The above considerations show the need for the State to influence transport beyond the normal influence which it exerts on the economy. This influence should, in the interest of preserving the greatest possible flexibility and adaptability of the transport industry, be concentrated on the establishment of fundamental principles. A too detailed scheme will be open to the criticism of over-planning and may be detrimental to the remunerativeness and productivity of the transport undertakings.

C. New Ways of Inducing Maximum Productivity

It is in fact clear that in the past public influence in many instances began to extend beyond its actual purpose. At a time when the transport industry has outgrown the monopolistic rigidity of the earlier railway policy, it appears impossible to ignore the competition between the forms of transport and the concomitant problems of the structure of market conditions and costs.

This does not mean that an efficient co-ordination of transport and the future avoidance of uneconomic investments could not also be achieved by nationalizing this industry and/or by imposing a unified administration on all transport undertakings. If the I.T.F. does not recommend this solution in this memorandum, it is above all because this would encroach on political aspects. It is, therefore, a question of finding a middle road between the extremes of a planned transport industry and its complete liberalization. The problem of coordination of transport will, in any case, continue to exist even in a nationalized transport industry.

This attempt has been made in the chapters which follow. Wherever the choice presented itself between direct controlling intervention and indirect means of influence, the latter has largely been given preference. This method was born of the conviction that the preservation of the greatest possible measure of flexibility can in general only be achieved if the cost structure is chosen as the foundation of a flexible price policy, taking into due consideration the actual market conditions. Hitherto the sharp contrast between a rigid price structure in transport and the fluctuating price development in most other industries constantly conjured up the threat of discrepancies and distortions. The possibilities of increases in the productivity of the transport industry were limited by the artificial restriction of investments. This restriction was largely expressed by an inability to plan investments a longer time ahead as long as it was not known to which extent transport undertakings would be freed of extraneous and political charges. The development of added value inevitably lagged behind that of industry as a whole. This could not help producing repercussions on the development of wages and working conditions. While the physical and psychological demands of modern transport on those whom it employs have constantly been increased, stagnating wages have made it increasingly difficult to attract new blood and to safeguard a high level of productivity.

This lagging behind of the transport industry in comparison with other industries has consequently caused a danger of a similar lagging behind in quality, whereas, for the very reason of these increased requirements, selection of the most able personnel should be the most urgent task of the transport industry.

It would appear that these difficulties can only be overcome if the present chaotic position which opposes the individual branches of transport to each other is eliminated and a way is found to a maximum coordination of the different branches of the transport industry.

The introduction of new transport methods in goods transport will incidentally initiate a closer cooperation. Containers and pallets for general goods- and bulk-traffic and combined road-rail transport (piggyback) for full loads may simplify operations and at the same time make them cheaper and faster. These advantages can only be fully utilized if the new transport technique is adopted by all branches of the transport industry and if a common pool is set up to administer the technical resources. Provision should further be made for the sponsoring and further development of the transport technique in the interest of the national economy by means of an appropriate tariff and investment policy.

The present report endeavours first of all to determine the measures which in our opinion are required for a coordination of transport. In the preceding chapter, we have briefly summarized the reasons why transport as a whole has to be considered as a public service. The same reasons apply to economic areas within national boundaries as well as to integrated areas.

As far as the solution of the various problems is concerned, the creation of a common European market may result in certain modif...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• PART ONE : Problems of the Coordination of Inland Transport
• PART TWO : Special Problems of Coordination
• PART THREE: Transport Problems Arising in the Course of the Economic Integration of Europe
• Conclusions
• Annex : Resolution (No. 37) of the Inland Transport Committee of the ILO, 1951