Abstract

The context of freight transport in transit through the Alps is marked by several decades of traffic flow growth. Such a growth has been uneven over time and from passage to passage. A second element characterises this context. It deals with the peculiar fragility of the alpine areas to traffic impacts: the rising of environmental concerns in these regions appears to be stronger than elsewhere. The aim of this thesis is to comprehend the elaboration of transportation public policies concerning the transalpine traffics. Firstly, we endeavour to assess to which extent this decision making process has contributed towards the emergence of a geopolitical alpine space. Secondly, we seek to clarify the role of economical tools inside this process. The issue will be addressed at two different scales, on the basis of two case studies: the history of the Lyon-Turin project, aiming at retracing the evolution of the strategic goals it has integrated over time; the analysis of the alpine cooperation systems dealing with transports issues developed at the whole alpine arc scale. Outcomes show a progressive “alpinisation” of the transit question. Firstly, it results of a representation of the Alps as a system of interconnected passages. Secondly, it relies on the construction of some structures of cooperation bringing together actors involved by transalpine transit. Another group of outcomes shows that the economical assessment tools and their usage are closely linked to this “alpinisation” process. It also highlights an evolution from a deterministic approach, where economical tools mainly play a justification role for some pre-established strategies, to a procedural approach, where they are shared by actors and used in order to simulate different political options and to help so in designing policies.