Limitations of transport policy
- 1 January 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in Transport Reviews
- Vol. 22 (2), 134-145
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01441640210121788
Abstract
There is an implication in the notion of 'transport policy' that substantial improvements could be made to the transport system given sufficient ingenuity, investment and good will. This paper argues that such policy aspirations cannot cope with the desire for ever-increasing mobility, a deep and powerful force in modern society. In densely populated countries there is no possibility of meeting the demand for unconstrained movement through construction of additional transport infrastructure, since new and longer journeys would quickly fill the extra capacity until the congestion equilibrium is re-established. What limits mobility in practice is the time individuals have available for travel, time which is equitably distributed. Transport plans need to acknowledge this time constraint as fundamental, and accordingly be realistically modest about what is achievable. It is an illusion that the transport system could be substantially more efficient whilst remaining equitable.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- A review of the evidence for induced travel and changes in transportation and environmental policy in the US and the UKTransportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 2001
- The Contribution of Suppressed and Induced Traffic in Highway Appraisal, Part 2: Policy TestsEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2001
- The value of time and reliability: measurement from a value pricing experimentTransportation Research. Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review, 2001
- The valuation of reliability for personal travelTransportation Research. Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review, 2001
- Traffic flooding the low countries: How the Dutch cope with motorway congestionTransport Reviews, 2001
- Mobility of older people and their quality of lifeTransport Policy, 2000
- Replacing the private carTransport Reviews, 1999
- Empirical evidence on induced trafficTransportation, 1996
- ForewordTransportation Research Part A: General, 1981