The aim of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan was to provide the machinery, based on sound scientific knowledge, for creating a transport network which in economic terms was as good as it possibly could be. Consequently this machinery includes the essential elements of strategic environmental impact assessment and gives equal consideration to the needs of the economy. The Master Plan, as the base and heart of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan, thus takes the broader view in its definition of a sophisticated modern transport network for Austria. It looks not at the specific interests of just one mode of transport but on a multimodal basis at the needs of the Republic, its regions and its people. In concrete terms the Master Plan contains general stipulations as to what the capacity and quality of the transport network and its links should be.
Calculated forecasting is the basis of all sensible transport planning.
But there are ways of influencing the process. Thus the forecasts looked at a range of transport scenarios from which it is possible to deduce how much room there is for manoeuvre and intervention. By comparing measures against a forecast trend it is possible to determine their efficacy. This would essentially be a continuation of the current trend. The need for investment in roads is modest in comparison, especially if fair transport pricing succeeds in switching a substantial proportion of traffic to more environmentally friendly modes of transport.