This paper addresses the impacts of transportation infrastructure. Various definitions, effects and caveats are dealt with. The arguments will be illustrated by a case study in Hungary. A historical and political description of Hungarian transport policy is given. The Hungarian infrastructure policy has shown an unprecedented dynamics. In the past years a great many new initiatives have been launched. These plans concern mainly road infrastructure, but also railways ail over the country. It is noteworthy that infrastruc¬ture policy is also playing an important role in regional development policy. The successes have shown a gradual improvement, so that equity policy and efficiency objectives are running in parallel.
