1st Edition

The Earthscan Reader on World Transport Policy and Practice

Edited By John Whitelegg, Gary Haq Copyright 2003
    336 Pages
    by Routledge

    336 Pages
    by Routledge

    Transport is now a critical problem throughout the world, and it is set to get worse. Whether it is traffic congestion, crashes (10 million killed and injured each year), noise, air pollution, landscape destruction, or greenhouse gas emissions (of which transport is the fastest-growing source), the damage and the costs from our current forms of transport are dangerously high and getting worse. Policies and practical measures that can reduce and eliminate these problems are urgently needed. This Reader contains 16 important contributions on how to improve transport globally. They are based on sound science, sound people-centred analysis, and a strong awareness of equity and human rights. And they have been selected for their originality, the importance of the issues they focus on, the quality of their insight and their practical relevance. A further 7 commissioned chapters provide informative overviews of the transport problems specific to each region of the world, while the editors' Introduction and Conclusion frames the discussion and lays out the scale of the challenges we face. As a whole, the Reader demonstrates what steps can be taken to improve both transport provision and use, in both the developed and the developing world, while reducing environmental and health impacts. It will serve as an invaluable sourcebook for anyone researching or attempting to address the issues associated with world transport policy and practice, whether students, planners, business people or policy-makers.

    Part 1 Introduction: The Global Transport Problem: Same Issues but a Different Place * Part 2 Transport in Africa: Four Decades of Road Transport in Africa * Liveable Streets for Pedestrians in Nairobi: The Challenge of Road Traffic Accidents * Sustaining Africa's Rural Road Networks: The Asset Management Approach * Part 3 Transport in Asia: Southeast Asian Urban Transport: A Kaleidoscope of Challenges and Choices * Automobile Dependence in Bangkok: An International Comparison with Implications for Planning Policies * Kolkata City: An Urban Air Pollution Perspective * Road Infrastructure Investment in Bangladesh: Environment under Threat * Part 4 Transport in Australia: Back on Track? Will Australia Return to Rail? * A Wish Called Wander: Reclaiming Automobility from the Motor Car * Urban Transport Policy Paradoxes in Australia * Part 5 Transport in Europe: European Regional Transport Issues * New Roads Generate New Traffic * Car-free Households: Who lives without an Automobile Today? * Part 6 Transport in Latin America: Urban Transport in Latin America * Car-sharing in Latin America: Examining Prospects in Santiago * The Urban Transportation Crises in Developing Countries * Part 7 Transport in North America: Regional Transport Issues in North America * The North American Growth Fixation and the Inner City: Roads of Excess * Prospects for Sustainable Transportation in the Pacific Northwest: a Comparison of Vancouver, Seattle and Portland * Part 8 Transport in the Middle East: Transport in the Middle East * How Many Shall Live? How Many Shall Die? Deaths Resulting from the Trans-Israel Highway and Alternatives: A Risk Assessment Revisited * The Status of Transportation in the West Bank * Part 9 Visioning Change: New Directions in World Transport Policy and Practice * Index

    Biography

    John Whitelegg is Professor of Environmental Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. Gary Haq is Research Associate at the Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York.

    Outlines new and desirable directions in policy and practice.' Future Survey 'Essential reading for transport planners, development economists, environmentalists, policy-makers as well as students.' The European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign 'Replete with the careful efforts of scholars and practitioners in diverse fields to rethink the car and its place in society. There is much in this book that will challenge and inform readers.' The Geographic Journal 'A good sourcebook for those researching or attempting to address the issues associated with world transport policy and practice, including students, planners, industrialists and government officials.' International Journal of Environmental Studies 'This is a tidy, largely well-written and logically structured text which in bite-sized chunks provides neat and informative summaries of urban transport issues globally and throws forward some very constructive arguments.' The Journal of Development Studies 'This is a stimulating volume with a wealth of illustrative tables and figures. It has a truly international authorship and global perspective.' Geography