Could we learn from this data-based, flexible, experimental approach when it comes to longer-distance transport?
This could militate for more incremental improvements, in order to validate each investment with a new source of revenue. But two problems still exist:
- Governance: Too often, the absence of a unified government body limits the possibilities to move quickly and (relatively) cheaply
- Time: this incremental approach may take too much time before it provides the market with a competitive service. In emerging economies, the result could be the unstoppable growth of a new motorized class, rich and large enough to influence politics and potentially create disastrous unbalances in terms of transit planning, urban development, energy independence, and of course environment.