Accessibility of road infrastructure- The role of the road in the Transport System and the Society

Abstract

The roads in Europe are getting more and more congested, and the effects are a problem for many stakeholders, including the society as a whole. At the same time increasing road capacity is both costly and risks increasing traffic even more which puts demands on utilizing existing infrastructure in better ways. The purpose of this thesis is to identify changes in road accessibility and see how they affect transport companies. The changes will also be analyzed from a societal perspective in order to give recommendations for more efficient use of road infrastructure in Sweden. This is a deductive, qualitative study which has been conducted through in-depth interviews with experts in transport and accessibility as well as respondents at managerial positions in transport companies. The results from this study indicate that real time information has the largest positive effects on transport companies. Real time information can also be used to increase the efficiency of the transport system by combining it with the other presented changes in accessibility.