This study takes a systems perspective. It includes transport-specific issues like interactions between road and public transport performance and pricing, but also mutual interactions with spatial urban markets (labour, housing, location). For acceptability research, this includes the explicit consideration of (strategic) behaviour of lobby groups, (local) governments, and other institutions. And for studying price setting, this involves the consideration of multiple (local or national) governments and/or multiple private road operators, competing on the same network.

The programme encompasses various research methods. For the analysis of pricing effects, empirical (revealed preference) data will be used. For acceptability research, questionnaires, experiments, and in-depth interviews with key actors in the Netherlands are foreseen. Finally, various analytical and simulation equilibrium network models will be used in investigating the full equilibrium impacts of spill-overs and feedback effects upon the performance of pricing schemes, as well as the pricing behaviour of governments and private operators controlling part of a network.