Reviewing a former assessment of the economic impact of the national road network on the GDP of the French NUTS 3 regions, the paper discuss the main limits of the production function approach it was based on and provides new estimates, ceteris paribus, of the contribution of road investments to regional economic development. It appears that causality goes both ways between infrastructure endowment and economic development. The estimated elasticity of regional GDP to road infrastructure is statistically significant but shows strong geographical variation, being less pronounced than in average in the most densely populated and endowed regions. The marginal product of investments on the national road network presents spatial disparities, reminding that territorial impact of new infrastructure depends on the network and geographical contexts it enters.
The analysis of traffic safety literature, and especially that of the works done on speed enforcement issues shows a near complete absence of research using an economic approach. The state of art using economic insights for the analysis of automated speed enforcement systems is not different. The French case does not depart from this general situation. However some researches made on Anglo-Saxon experiences of automated speed enforcement systems emphasize the different uses of the economic approach that can be made and applied for investigating such programmes. The Australian type model uses the economic approach as a means for making efficient the speed enforcement programme, whereas the New Zealand and British type model suggests the economic analysis is first concerned as a means of defining a framework for public policy. Both models constitute interesting experiences for avoiding the technical focus of traditional approaches used in France.
Given that the combination of several transport modes may significantly increase the transport supply in terms of possible destinations, it is essential for technicians and local elected members to have proper tools to estimate the consequences of certain decisions relative to intermodal connection. As a first answer to this need, this article proposes a method which makes it possible to evaluate, on a given ground, the scale —or the non-existence— of « interconnectivity logics » brought into play by the transport operators. The method takes as a basis a global indicator of « intermodal connection quality » measuring the possibilities, for the passenger, of « little waiting time correspondences » between various transport modes. Since it allows to simulate the effects that schedules changes may have on the « intermodal connection quality », as well as the territorial distribution of these effects, this method can be used for testing several scenarios with the idea of selecting these ones optimizing this « intermodal connection quality ».
Despite its economic value and dynamics, the parcel services sector is rarely studied by researchers, probably due to its complexity. This article describes a typical delivery services organisation (not only for parcels but also for letters or pallets). It aims to explain the very nature of the production process in a global perspective considering space, time and organisation. It also aims to create new tools for studying real firms within a common framework. The systemic approach, its compromise accuracy-simplicity and its diagram practice, effectively allow to overcome difficulties appearing when analysing these complex organisations. It gives way to both strategic and comparative studies on parcel services organisations. Briefly stated, the first part determines the theoretical background, the second presents how a typical parcel services organisation works, examining five different perspectives successively and the third highlights some key points.
It has been acknowledged that logistics have become a driving force shaping the integration of the transport chain. If the liner shipping industry has been characterised by increased horizontal integration, vertical integration remains limited. The purpose of this paper is to draw a definite distinction between the logistics of the containers and the logistics of the goods. The logistics of the goods is defined as a part of the supply chain process. The purpose of the logistic of the container is to optimize the flows of the containers in direct relationships with the logistics of the vessel in order to reduce costs in a fierce competition between shipping lines. It is demonstrated that shipping lines have to find the good balance between these three types of logistics. The logistics of the box allow them to basically reinforce the logistics of the vessel. Their involvement in the logistics of the goods remains unclear and uncertain.