Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a populous and economically increasingly visible part of the continent, yet transport policy in this region remains a relatively isolated subject in both academic literature and the wider international media. The global community of transport professionals, policy makers and researchers often lacks basic insight into the characteristics of the region. This is partly due to the limited number of transport-related academic publications and descriptive policy reports emerging from the former Eastern Bloc. In parallel, economists and social scientists specialising in emerging European economies often overlook transport and infrastructure provision, considering it an engineering concern with limited relevance to broader socio-economic debates.
The historical background of the region explains much of this underrepresentation. In the late 20th century, communist economic structures shaped mobility patterns in a distinctly different way compared to Western Europe. While some aspects of this legacy indicate clear underdevelopment, such as lower levels of accessibility, others suggest unique opportunities for future development. Notably, a higher reliance on public transport and lower car ownership may enable these countries to bypass some of the challenges currently faced by Western European cities.
After the fall of communism, countries in the region were left with a transport system characterised by limited infrastructure, low levels of car ownership, and the widespread use of cheap, dense but relatively slow and low-comfort public transport. The spatial density of public transport networks, the delayed uptake of travel habits such as online shopping, and the shifts in spatio-temporal travel patterns during the pandemic offer the potential to avoid some of the more entrenched problems of car dependency and congestion that are already present elsewhere in Europe.
Since the accession of many Central and Eastern European countries to the European Union, a transformational shift has occurred in the financing of transport infrastructure. The region has become one of the main beneficiaries of EU funding, with tens of thousands of kilometres of highways and railways built since the early 2000s. These investments were intended to support the Union’s objective of territorial cohesion between East and West. However, the actual effectiveness of these projects in improving social welfare and achieving convergence remains an open question. The complexity of a two-tier governance system, where financial resources are provided by the EU’s central budget while national priorities often differ from those of European taxpayers and even the neighbouring countries, adds another layer of difficulty to transport policy appraisal and evaluation.
Despite the substantial financial resources channelled into transport, the region often struggles to meet the intended objectives of cohesion policy. Weaknesses in project selection, appraisal and monitoring continue to limit the effectiveness of investment. This raises important questions: who truly benefits from these large-scale infrastructure projects? Are the goals of territorial cohesion being met, either within countries or across the European Union as a whole? Without a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the region’s transport sector, it is difficult to offer convincing answers.
One key reason for this limited understanding lies in the quality of transport research, culture and education in Central and Eastern Europe. Much of the discourse on transport policy remains confined within national boundaries, and relatively few findings are shared with the wider academic community. Moreover, the field is still largely dominated by an engineering mindset, with a focus on technical challenges rather than broader questions about the societal impact of transport investment or the efficiency of service provision. These issues are often regarded as political rather than scientific matters, which discourages academic inquiry. This may in part reflect the limited competitiveness of social sciences and economics in the region.
The consequences of this imbalance are significant. Important policy decisions are made with a narrow technical focus, while key questions around distributional effects, value for money and social welfare remain underexplored. As a result, there is limited understanding of the problems and opportunities that shape transport development in Central and Eastern Europe.
Beyond this historical and disciplinary context, the broader research environment in the region poses additional challenges. Academic research has traditionally been a secondary concern at many universities, which prioritised teaching and industrial collaboration. The culture of publication-oriented research, especially in high-impact journals, has only recently begun to emerge. In an effort to improve their standings in international rankings and attract students, some institutions have introduced new policies to incentivise research. However, the narrow focus on specific (usually quantity instead of quality oriented) journal metrics has in some cases encouraged opportunistic publishing strategies, and a number of researchers have become involved in predatory publishing practices.
Part of this problem is generational, and it is likely to take time for the region to catch up with the global research elite. Unfortunately, in many institutions this process has yet to begin. Although some young researchers from the region have built successful academic careers at universities in Western Europe, the United States or Asia, only a few return home to foster change. As a result, many departments remain isolated from the international academic community and fail to diversify their staff through international recruitment. This is not to say that there are no positive examples – in fact, encouraging developments can be found in almost every country in the region, including at Corvinus University of Budapest where my main affiliation is. Also, the problems are not equally present in every discipline. The region including Hungary has globally recognised research centres in natural sciences, medical research and certain branches of engineering, with their traditions dating back to the Austo-Hungarian times or even earlier.
Still, the overall performance of transport research in Central and Eastern Europe has a direct impact on transport policy. It may partly explain why EU funds are not always used efficiently and why many countries in the region struggle to sustain investment in transport without external support. This is particularly unfortunate given that public spending on transport services is already high in several of these countries. In most cases, the problem is not the lack of funding but rather the inefficient use of the available resources due to managerial and political deficiencies, which slows down the pace of convergence with Western European standards.
In light of these challenges, I believe there is a strong need to foster a research community dedicated to excellence in transport studies across the region. This was the motivation behind the establishment of CEETRA, the Central and Eastern European Excellence for Transport Research Association, which I co-founded with Rafal Kucharski and Jacek Pawlak in 2022. Our aim is to connect researchers within the region and to build stronger ties with those at leading institutions around the world who have a background in Central and Eastern Europe.
CEETRA organises an annual conference, with the first held in 2023 at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, followed by Vienna in 2024 and Munich in 2025. In addition to these conferences, we maintain an active presence on social media to facilitate year-round communication among our members. Our hope is that CEETRA will become a catalyst for academic excellence and contribute to raising the international visibility of transport research in Central and Eastern Europe.
Parts of this text draw heavily on a book chapter I co-authored with Melinda Matyas and Jacek Pawlak. I recommend this reading if you are interested in learning more about transport and mobility in Central and Eastern Europe.
Matyas, M., Hörcher, D., & Pawlak, J. (2022) Transport and mobility. In: Mátyás, L. (ed), Emerging European Economies after the Pandemic. Contributions to Economics. Springer, Cambridge.