The relevance and use of information and telecommunication networks as strategic tools in the transport sector: a Dutch case study

New information and telecommunication technologies in the transport sector, often named ‘Advanced Transport Telematics’ (ATT), play a key role in the new European network economy, as they have the potential to offer new solutions to the emerging transport problems in Europe. However, the successful exploitation of ATT in European transport markets depends on the technology being implemented in a way which meets the distinct needs of the different road user groups in order to achieve social acceptance and thereby political approval. It is therefore vitally important that decision makers (i.e. those influencing the adoption of ATT) have sufficient information on the needs of (commercial) road users and on the way they perceive ATT options in addressing those needs. The ATT market comprises a large number of actors from both the public and the private sector. At the demand side, some major potential market sectors can be identified. In addition to private users, there are intermediate or collective users (e.g., road authorities) and commercial users (e.g., the freight sector). In the latter case ATT may play a strategic role by facing the need of the freight sector to orient itself towards the opportunities offered by the European internal market, which has far-reaching impacts not only on organisations operating in intemational networks, but also on those operating nationally. The aim of the underlying study is to investigate the potential ATT market among these main user and interest groups, where the range of telematics applications will be restricted to those applied to inter-urban road transport. The focus will be on collective users (road managers) and commercial users (road freight operators). Surveys and in-depth interviews have been used to gather