Marcus P. Enoch

Role of Bus-Based Park and Ride in the UK: A Temporal and Evaluative Review

Abstract The number of bus‐based Park and Ride (P&R) schemes in the UK has grown substantially over the past 40 years as a result of its encouragement by the Government as a tool to deal with increasing traffic congestion and traffic‐related pollution. The aim of this article is to analyse the degree to which P&R is effective in the contemporary policy context. The authors identify phases of development of P&R since its emergence as a local solution to transport capacity constraints in historic towns. Policy goals are identified against which a review of literature is used to highlight its effectiveness. It is concluded that P&R may increase the distance travelled by its users due to low load factors on dedicated buses, public transport abstraction and trip generation, although it is highlighted that there are areas in which further research is required to clarify its impacts.

Tax Treatment of Employer Commuting Support: An International Review

Abstract Correctly pricing transport behaviour to take account of the ‘external’ costs such as congestion and emissions imposed on society by excessive car use has long been a tenet of effective transportation demand management. But while policy‐makers have striven to increase public transport subsidies, raise petrol taxes and introduce road‐user charging schemes to price the real costs of car travel properly, in most cases correcting the wider influences of the personal tax regime has begun only relatively recently. This paper is based on work undertaken for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Inland Revenue of the UK government, which is currently working on addressing this very issue. In addition to reporting the British situation, the paper also uses a series of case studies to outline how this same process has been approached in the USA, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Norway, and how successful they have been thus far with respect to transportation demand management objectives. It then draws conclusions about which direction policy‐makers should be aiming for in the future.

Sustainable Transport, Mobility Management and Travel Plans

Contents: Preface Transport issues and their solutions The development of the travel plan Segment: examining the influence of activities on trips and travel plans Scale: all travel plans great and small Structure: re-orienting travel plans to increase effectiveness and level of take up Supporting travel plans: what role for public authorities and the wider travel plan industry? Recommendations for practice and policy and implications for the future Index.

Demand Responsive Transport: A Review of Schemes in England and Wales

Local-authority-administered Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes are increasingly prevalent in England and Wales, partly as a result of the growth in the availability of government funding. However, insufficient research has been undertaken into the nature of these schemes and their performance, making it difficult to predict their future role. In this respect, a survey was undertaken to collect data on the background, operation, and performance of DRT schemes in England and Wales. It found that DRT schemes are often designed in an attempt to tackle social problems caused by poor accessibility and that they took time to become established, to achieve their objectives, and to reach an acceptable performance in terms of subsidy level. The paper concludes that local-authority-led DRT schemes have a role to play, but that lessons learned from schemes currently in operation must be heeded by those contemplating new scheme development.

Transport practice and policy in Mauritius

Abstract Like many developing nations over the last twenty years or so, the small, isolated, densely populated, developing Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has undergone––and continues to undergo––a revolution in the way its society lives and works. From a transport perspective, the case of Mauritius is interesting because it exhibits many of the transport problems faced in other countries, such as worsening congestion, air pollution and traffic accidents, but its transport planners have rather less time, experience and resources to develop a solution before the situation becomes critical, due to the faster pace of population, economic growth, and the lack of space. Further, while Mauritius is clearly a developing country, the future policy options currently being considered by the Government are perhaps better suited to a western developed nation than to a less capital intensive country. This paper outlines the development of transport policy on the island to date, and suggests that Mauritius might look to models closer to home to see how to address its problems instead of looking to the West for its inspiration.

A Strategic Approach to Financing Public Transport Through Property Values

Traditional sources of finance are becoming inadequate to meet the needs of public transport. This has led to the emergence of a number of local earmarked tax and charging mechanisms, in particular road user charges and tolls. This article examines one group of such mechanisms: charges to property owners and developers, and draws on worldwide examples of the practical use of a number of such schemes. There are a number of practical difficulties with capturing value from property owners and developers, and these are detailed with a commentary on best practice.

The effect of economic restrictions on transport practices in Cuba

Like many developing nations, Cuba has undergone--and continues to undergo--a revolution in the way its society lives, works and accesses mobility. However, unlike other developing nations, Cuba is unique in that it has faced enormous pressures for the past forty years due to an economic blockade by its erstwhile dominant trading partner, the United States. Furthermore, this economic pressure was exacerbated in the early 1990s with the political and economic collapse of the Former Soviet Union, and the Eastern European Socialist countries, which had replaced the United States as Cubas principal trading partners. These events have led to a transformation in how goods and people are moved, not least because of a huge reduction in the amount of hard currency available to pay for fuel, vehicles and spare parts. This resulted in a number of innovative behavioural and technological outcomes. Cuba thus provides an enhanced example of how physical, economic and social factors influence the development of transport systems. This unusually severe situation contains lessons for other countries seeking to develop more sustainable transport systems. In particular, the case graphically illustrates the link between economic and transport growth. The paper will outline the development of transport practices in Cuba thus far, look at the options available for the future and draw conclusions on what other countries can learn from the Cuban experience.

How a rapid modal convergence into a universal automated taxi service could be the future for local passenger transport

The world is changing rapidly. Yet a common assumption is that cars, buses, and taxis will remain the dominant local passenger transport modes in the coming decades. This concept paper draws on literature sources and on discussions with industry stakeholders to look anew at the local passenger transport sector in the light of broader societal trends to suggest an alternative future, and to offer insights to practitioners and policy-makers. The paper finds that the traditional modes of car, bus and taxi are slowly beginning to lose market share to intermediate modes such as shared taxis, lift-sharing schemes, demand-responsive transport services and car clubs whilst numerous technological and market trends are combining to accelerate this process of ‘modal convergence’. Taken together, these trends could revolutionise how we move about, with one possible outcome being the emergence of a single dominant passenger mode of an automated universal taxi system or dial-a-pod.

Developing travel time estimation methods using sparse GPS data

ABSTRACT Existing methods of estimating travel time from GPS data are not able to simultaneously take account of the issues related to uncertainties associated with GPS and spatial road network data. Moreover, they typically depend upon high-frequency data sources from specialist data providers, which can be expensive and are not always readily available. The study reported here therefore sought to better estimate travel time using “readily available” vehicle trajectory data from moving sensors such as buses, taxis, and logistical vehicles equipped with GPS in “near” real time. To do this, accurate locations of vehicles on a link were first map-matched to reduce the positioning errors associated with GPS and digital road maps. Two mathematical methods were then developed to estimate link travel times from map-matched GPS fixes, vehicle speeds, and network connectivity information with a special focus on sampling frequencies, vehicle penetration rates, and time window lengths. Global positioning system (GPS) data from Interstate I-880 (California) for a total of 73 vehicles over 6 h were obtained from the University of California Berkeleys Mobile Century Project, and these were used to evaluate several travel time estimation methods, the results of which were then validated against reference travel time data collected from high resolution video cameras. The results indicate that vehicle penetration rates, data sampling frequencies, vehicle coverage on the links, and time window lengths all influence the accuracy of link travel time estimation. The performance was found to be best in the 5-min time window length and for a GPS sampling frequency of 60 s.

Transport Policy and Organization in Japan

Abstract In transport terms, Japan has an enviable reputation for operating effectively an incredibly complex road and rail system. However, relatively little is known about how this is done or about the issues that are facing policy‐makers and shapers in the country. The purpose of this paper, then, is to investigate how land passenger transport is organized in Japan, and to begin to evaluate its effectiveness. This is done by drawing on a literature review and on findings from a scoping study based on a series of semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with key practitioners. Overall, the findings suggest that national and local transport policy in Japan faces a number of key challenges across all modes in the land passenger transport system, in particular relating to the fragmented approach to policy development, implementation, and operation and to the growing role of the car.