Public Governance in the Transport Sector

This report discusses the division of public responsibility in the transport sector between the national, regional and municipal levels. The report concludes that rail infrastructure and rail transport subsidies should remain a national responsibility. The same applies to aviation safety, air side operations at airports and air transport subsidies. Trunk roads should remain a national responsibility. For other tasks it is possible, though not necessarily desirable from the transport sector's point of view, to delegate more responsibility from national to regional or municipal levels. In most transport policy areas the municipal level is a more suitable level of responsibility than the regional one. Most municipalities in Norway, however, are small and devolution might produce negative network effects. The transport challenges facing larger cities need to be addressed regardless of a more general reform.