Ann Jopson

Research challenges in urban transport policy

1. IntroductionTransport is one of the most significant sources ofunsustainability in urban areas. In European cities alone,traffic congestion costs in excess of e100B each year, localpollution and the resultant health impacts impose costs of asimilar magnitude, and there are around 20,000 fatalities onurban roads each year. Many countries are now advocatingintegrated approaches to these problems, in which the fullrange of transport policy interventions (infrastructure,management, regulation, information and pricing) arecombined with land use, environmental and wider socialpolicy instruments (European Conference of Ministers ofTransport, 1995). Most of the constituent elements of thesestrategies are already available, but there is a serious lack ofdetailed understanding of the impacts of many of thesepolicy instruments and of their transferability to differentcontexts. Even more serious is the lack of understanding ofhow to design integrated strategies which most effectivelycombine infrastructure, management, regulation andpricing.Even where appropriately sustainable strategies areidentified, there are serious barriers to their implemen-tation. The recent ECMT report (European Conference ofMinisters of Transport, 2002) highlights poor policyintegration and coordination, counterproductive insti-tutional roles, unsupportive regulatory frameworks, weak-nesses in pricing and poor data quality and quantity asreasons for the failure of most cities to pursue the policiesadvocated in its earlier report (European Conference ofMinisters of Transport, 1995).The papers in this special issue of Transport Policy are aselection of those presented at the inaugural conference of anew Special Interest Group (SIG) of the World Conferenceon Transport Research Society, SIG-10, which focuses onthese critical issues in urban transport policy. Membershipof the SIG is open to anyone with an interest in research,teaching or practice in urban transport, and details can befound in the WCTRS section of the journal.When the new SIG was launched at the Ninth WorldConference in Seoul in July 2001, it was agreed that itsobjectives should be:† to increase our understanding of the performance oftransport policy instruments;† to determine the principles of policy integration;† to develop good practice in the monitoring and appraisalof policy instruments;† to identify good practice in the design, implementationand operation of policy instruments; and† to develop interactive information tools to aid theunderstanding of urban transport policy for students,practitioners and decision-makers.The inaugural conference, held in Leeds in July 2002,included sessions on all five of these themes, with a total of14 papers. Copies of the conference proceedings areavailable from the authors of this paper. The eight papersincluded in this special issue cover the range of themes,while in many cases addressing more than one of them. Inthis overview paper we have endeavoured to draw out thekey issues from these papers, while focusing on the researchchallenges which remain to be tackled. The structure of thepaper follows the five bullet points listed above, focusing inturn on the papers by Taylor and Ampt, Mackett et al.(Section 2); Geerlings and Stead (Section 3); Jones et al.,Nicolas et al. (Section 4); Gaffron, Ison and Rye (Section 5);and Litman (Section 6); but bringing in ideas from otherpapers where appropriate. We conclude by highlighting ourview of the key research challenges which lie ahead.2. Understanding the performance of policy instrumentsOne of the most significant developments of the lastdecade has been the emergence of a much wider range ofpolicy instruments available to the urban transport planner.

The Impact of Road Pricing and Workplace Parking Levies on the Urban Economy: Results from a Survey of Business Attitudes

This paper reports the results of a survey of business attitudes to current transport problems and their likely responses to the introduction of road user charging (RUC) and workplace parking levies (WPLs). A sample of 152 responses from private sector businesses in three UK historic cities is analysed. Businesses perceive traffic congestion and inadequate public transport provision as key problems. Businesses typically expect the introduction of RUC and WPLs to lead to some non-economic benefits to the city but negative impacts on the urban economy and their own business performance. It is also found that there is a significant threat of businesses relocating away from the urban economy as a response to traffic demand management policies.

Road safety issues in Pakistan: a case study of Lahore

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of road safety issues in Pakistan, which was carried out with the intent of developing a better understanding of the road safety profile of the country. The study is exploratory in nature, based on semi-structured interviews, and targets government officials, academics and the general driving population to investigate their perception of factors provoking deviant driving styles in the country. Interviews were tape-recorded and analysed using a ‘template analysis’ technique. The analysis revealed institutional issues, execution issues, physical and operational issues, behavioural issues and those related to road safety research and accident data bank as salient themes lowering road safety standards in the country. This has suggested a need for reforms at institutional, physical and operational levels and the need to bring change at a societal level through behavioural transformation, intensive traffic monitoring and law enforcement, along with conduction of road safety related research work.

Moving around the City: Discourses on Walking and Cycling in English Urban Areas

There remains only limited understanding of perceptions of travel behaviour in relation to short journeys in urban areas and, in particular, the perceived role that walking and cycling for personal travel can realistically play in contemporary society. This paper reveals discourses surrounding the practice, performance, identity, conflicts, and visions relating to walking and cycling in English cities. These were derived from a large-scale study that utilised a comprehensive mixed-method approach using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Q methodology was used as an additional tool to investigate subjectivities on walking and cycling in the city in a structured, interpretable format and it is this approach that is the focus of this paper. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of these discourses for policy makers interested in encouraging a shift from car use to walking and cycling for short journeys in urban areas.

Chapter 7 The Role of Walking and Cycling in Reducing the Impacts of Climate Change

Purpose – To examine the potential for switching short trips in urban areas from cars to walking and cycling, and the possible contribution, this could make to a reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. Methods – Case studies in four urban areas combining a questionnaire survey, interviews with households and during journeys and in-depth ethnographies of everyday travel. Findings – The barriers to an increase in walking and cycling in British urban areas are emphasised. It demonstrates that motivations for walking and cycling are mostly personal (health and local environment) and that the complexities and contingencies of everyday travel for many households, combined with inadequate infrastructure, safety concerns and the fact that walking and cycling are seen by many as abnormal modes of travel, mean that increasing rates of walking and cycling will be hard. Given that the contribution of trips less than 2 miles to transport-related greenhouse gas emissions is relatively small, it is argued that any gains from increased walking and cycling would mostly accrue to personal health and the local environment rather than to the UKs carbon reduction target. Social implications – Positive attitudes towards walking and cycling are motivated mainly by personal concerns rather than global environmental issues. Originality – Use of detailed ethnographic material in policy-related transport research.

Understanding the older traveller: stop, look and listen!

Getting around would be difficult without roads, rail and pedestrian walkways. Despite what we take for granted, the older traveller is often left feeling frustrated by the current transport infrastructure. Based on their research, Dr Greg Marsden et al explore in this article why this is the case, they look at the barriers that prevent older people getting out and about and the considerations when planning transport for the older traveller.