Transport is a major industry in its own right but also supplies important inputs into other sectors. It also influences land-use patterns and the pace of economic development. This course provides a basis for understanding of the transport system and, in particular, how transportation relates to national development. It also focuses on any particular mode of transportation, but will treat transport generally.

In many developing countries, it is taken to cover such things as urban traffic congestion (automobiles), subsides (urban transit), infrastructure appraisal (road networks), social cost pricing (automobiles) and economic regulation (airlines and rail freight). It is primarily based in macroeconomics, and hence looks at both the demand and the supply-side of transportation, but it also considers the interface of transportation economics with other departments such as procurement and supply and how best to utilize it effectively.