Transport Policy in Post-Communist Europe

Abstract

This chapter describes how the formerly socialist countries of central and eastern Europe has experienced profound political and economic changes since the demise of Communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Each country has its own particular history of transformation to a freer, more democratic, more market-based society. The timing and specific circumstance of the revolutions in each country varies. Even today, there are considerable differences among the countries in the extent that their political systems are fully democratic and how market based their economies are. Thus, it is somewhat risky to generalize about this group of diverse countries. This chapter focuses on three central European countries for detailed analysis: the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. It also included the former East Germany, whose political, economic, social, and transport systems dramatically changed after German reunification in 1990. Those four formerly socialist countries have the most reliable long-term series of transport statistics, enabling better analysis of their transport systems, travel behavior, and policies. Moreover, they are typical of developments in other central and eastern European countries as well, with most transport trends being in the same direction even if the magnitudes vary from one country to another. This overview is limited mainly to urban passenger transport, although developments in long-distance passenger travel and goods transport will be briefly touched on in the chapter.