6 Conclusions
6.1 Summary
The core issue of this paper is to examine who matters in making decisions on transport projects and policies. There are a number of different parties involved, and the most important ones have been illustrated. Bureaucrats at central government level, and local level, but not only transport departments determine transport policy, as their power is constrained by several other departments like environment, land use, or finance. Then there are the informal parties in the decision-making process, predominantly interest and pressure groups. Their influence was examined in chapter 3 and illustrated by two examples. However, the actual influence of pressure groups on transport decision is mostly hard to measure. Another major player in transport decision-making are large companies. These can be transport companies like Deutsche Bahn AG in case study 1, or companies from other business fields, for example companies providing track and rolling stock (Siemens and ThyssenKrupp) as shown in case study 1. They have strong influence especially when new technology is involved in the transport project.
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