Future Transport Policy

Originally published in 1986, this book remains as relevant today as when it was first published, as it discusses issues in transport policy that are still being debated: what levels of subsidies should be applied; what form of ownership should prevail; how transport should be regulated or deregulated; and which modes of transport should be favoured. The book examines how policies have evolved, and what factors affect present decision making. It includes contentious areas such as international airline deregulation and urban transport.

Everyone has an opinion on transport: it significantly affects daily lives. This book highlights key transport opportunities and challenges, and identifies research requirements to inform policy discussion and support better societal outcomes. It does this by scanning across modes, continents, technologies and socio-economic settings, looking for common threads, points of difference and opportunities to make a difference. The book should appeal to prospective post-graduate students, professionals in transport and related fields, and those interested in better places and good discussions.

This title was first published in 2003. The UK transport White Paper "A New Deal for Transport" and new Transport Acts for England, Wales and Scotland have indicated and defined the future direction and policy agenda of national governments. The need for integrated transport raises key policy issues, among which are: the importance of sustainability; and the integration of transport policy with other areas of public policy, such as social exclusion and health. The idea of this direction in policy has implications for the changing nature of work, traveller information, interchange and public transport, freight distribution and the use of new technology. This volume also examines key areas of policy and regulation, which are developing as a result of the White Paper and the new Transport Acts. The volume brings together leading UK academics in the field of transport studies to discuss and reflect on these issues, and the state of transport policy in the UK within this new and developing policy framework.

This book challenges conventional approaches to transport by moving away from trend based analysis towards the use of scenarios to identify alternative sustainable transport futures.

Building on the policy measures in the 10 Year Plan for Transport (ISBN 1851124136) published in July 2000, this White Paper considers factors which are likely to shape the transport system over the next 30 years, and sets out the Government's strategy to address these issues, including an outline of expenditure plans to 2015. The Government's three stated themes, upon which the strategy is built, are: sustained investment over the long term, improvements in transport management, and planning ahead. Issues discussed include: managing the increasing demand for travel and the legacy of under-investment in transport infrastructure; measures to improve the road network, including promoting a public debate on road pricing options and working alongside local authorities to tackle local congestion problems; measures to improve the rail network, including support for Crossrail, the project to create a new east-west railway across London; improving public transport, specifically bus services; promoting walking and cycling as alternatives for local trips; aviation and shipping industries; freight transport; devolved decision-making at local and regional levels; strategic options relating to spatial planning and housing growth; environmental concerns; safety and security issues. The scope of the White Paper extends to England, and to Wales and Scotland in so far as it covers UK policy responsibility. Two accompanying documents, i) a review of the Crossrail business case (ISBN 1904763456) and ii) a feasibility study of road pricing in the UK (ISBN 1904763499) are also available.

This extensively updated textbook introduces the transport system and its societal impacts in a holistic and multidisciplinary way. A timely second edition, it includes new analyses of travel behaviour and the transport system’s impacts on health and well-being.

We all know that networks are fundamental prerequisites for prosperity and production. Transportation and communication are indispensible to society, they are the elements which bind all economic systems together. Without networks and communica tion all social and economic life will be reduced to isolated phenomena. Therefore, transportation can't be assessed in the same way as other services. A smoothly functioning system of communications is also a prerequistite for social and economic integration between separate geographical regions. The modernization of the infrastructure is therefore an urgent task and a precondition for carrying out the whole of Europe's ambitious political, economic and social agenda. Since the need for communication and transportation does not know any national borders, the functioning of the networks needs to be adopted to this new economic and political geography. Congestions of cities, highways, railroads, airways and tele communications must be tackled, if precious working, commuting and leisure time is not to be wasted and heavy burdens on the environment avoided. European traffic, is for example, expected to double within the next twenty years. In certain transport modes the growth is expected to be even faster - air passenger transport doubled in 10 years and goods transport on roads doubled in 15 years.