Transportation and access for sub-national island jurisdictions

Abstract

The overall aim of this paper is to discern lessons from the category of sub-national island jurisdictions (SNIJs) which have in some way exploited and capitalized upon their airspace, territorial waters, seaports and harbours to solve their transportation problems as well as enhance their global economic competitiveness and development. The focus here is on sub-national island territories (larger than municipalities) which have and use, to varying degrees, their formal and informal jurisdictional authority to implement strategies for their own economic benefit. By examining how islanders on SNIJs around the world have secured transportation solutions on their own terms, along with the express or implied cooperation, benevolence and self-interest of their metropolitan patrons, we may construct a lens with which to critically view commonly held perceptions and mythologies long-held due to geography, relative isolation, small size, adverse weather, or any combination of these. In the final section of the paper, transportation options for Prince Edward Island, Canada, are assessed, and conclusions are derived in the light of a perspective shaped by lessons from sub-national island jurisdictions around the world.