The Greening Of Urban Transport

The first edition of this volume has been the 'bible' of environmentally sensitive transport planning in Western cities. This new edition takes account of recent changes and developments in planning practice.

This report discusses the main results of a project on how to reduce air pollution from urban public transport in Kazakhstan, by providing an analysis for designing a green public investment programme in this sector.

This publication brings together an international group of researchers and presents work from different countries dealing with issues related to transport policy, attitudes and mode choice, car sharing and alternative modes of transport, and discusses the future of non-motorized modes of transport.

Transforming Urban Transport brings into focus the origins and implementation pathways of significant urban transport innovations that have recently been adopted in major, democratically governed world cities that are seeking to advance sustainability aims. It documents how proponents of new transportation initiatives confronted a range of administrative, environmental, fiscal, and political obstacles by using a range of leadership skills, technical resources, and negotiation capacities to move a good idea from the drawing board to implementation. The book's eight case studies focus on cities of great interest across the globe--Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Stockholm, and Vienna--many of which are known for significant mayor leadership and efforts to rescale power from the nation to the city. The cases highlight innovations likely to be of interest to transport policy makers from all corners, such as strengthening public transportation services, vehicle and traffic management measures, repurposing roads and other urban spaces away from their initial function as vehicle travel corridors, and turning sidewalks and city streets into more pedestrian-friendly places for walking, cycling, and leisure. Aside from their transformative impacts in transportation terms, many of the policy innovations examined here have altered planning institutions, public-private sector relations, civil society commitments, and governance mandates in the course of implementation. In bringing these cases to the fore, Transforming Urban Transport advances understanding of the conditions under which policy interventions can expand institutional capacities and governance mandates, particularly linked to urban sustainability. As such, it is an essential contribution to larger debates about what it takes to make cities more environmentally sustainable and the types of strategies and tactics that best advance progress on these fronts in both the short- and the long-term.

Policy-making for urban transport and planning of economies in the developing world present major challenges for countries facing rapid urbanisation and rampant motorisation, alongside growing commitments to sustainability. These challenges include: coping with financial deficits, providing for the poor, dealing meaningfully with global warming and energy shortages, addressing traffic congestion and related land use issues, adopting green technologies and adjusting equitably to the impacts of globalisation. This book presents a contemporary analysis of these challenges and new workable responses to the urban transport problems they spawn.

As cities become increasingly congested, current transport patterns are unsustainable: heavy in energy use, high in economic and environmental cost, and exacerbating inequity between those who can access high-speed travel and those who cannot. Good urban planning develops human-scale cities and encourages modes such as bicycles, increased zones exclusive to pedestrians within cities, and changed fiscal policies to incentivize public over private transport. Equally, it requires good engineering design to manage road use. Sustainable Approaches to Urban Transport brings together contributions from leading international experts in urban planning, transport, and governance who suggest changes to make our cities more sustainable in the face of climate change. All professionals working in transport and engineering and planning students will find an overview of a broad field in this interdisciplinary collection of essays.

This work confronts head-on the dilemma faced by a world wedded to mobility: the danger of continuing along the fossil-fuelled path and the real paucity of viable technological alternatives which can be deployed in time.