Search

The UK Climate Change Act 2008 commits to a reduction of 80% in national GHG emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. This article explores what happens next where these top-level aspirations are expected to be turned into radical action. It does so through examination of the transport sector, which is a highly complex, fragmented, and multi-level delivery environment. The research draws on cases studies of four major cities with different governance structures within the two distinct, yet connected, national contexts of England and Scotland. It integrates a range of theoretical legacies, namely ‘muddling through’, multi-level governance, and positional analysis, to look across governmental layers and out to non-governmental actors at all levels. Underneath the 80% target, the framework for action remains unclear. Lower-tiered authorities report difficulties in acting in a more comprehensive or rapid manner than upper tiers of government, largely because of the potential costs involved and a significant resource dependency on national governments. Ambition is also tempered by conflicts with economic growth objectives and the difficulties in aligning the objectives of the myriad of public and private organizations that need to take action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To understand the complex meanings of mobility and to engage in transport planning and management processes, a variety of disciplines, skills, and tools are potentially useful. Universities have a limited amount of time and resources to train future professionals though. This poses a problem: where should the teaching priorities be? By means of a web-survey, this study has asked academics based at a number of universities what the disciplines, skills, and tools that — according to their personal viewpoints — are the most relevant for practitioners in the mobility and transport sector. The respondents generally support curricula that facilitate a holistic, non-specialised, understanding of mobility and transport issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholders play a crucial role in ensuring the smooth design and implementation of policies worldwide. This research presents the results of three focus groups carried out with stakeholders from different transport ministries and agencies involved in road safety in Nigeria. It aimed to understand their perception of road safety in Nigeria through discussing the road safety situation, measures, and strategies for improvement. Results showed that poor road design, organisation and implementation of road safety legislation, road user behaviour and inadequate research were impeding the improvement of road safety in Nigeria. Amongst the road safety measures discussed, public education and information campaigns were rated by each stakeholder group as very effective and easy to implement despite this not being supported by the wider literature. However, there were some variations in perception regarding the effectiveness of measures such as traffic control, road design and maintenance. Improving the road safety situation in Nigeria would require more concerted effort and an overall system-based policy reform involving both government and road users. The results of this study will contribute to and provide research evidence-based recommendations needed to design and develop integrated road safety policies and sustainable implementation strategies in Nigeria and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much work has focused on the development of indicator sets to monitor changes in the sustainability of transport. Such indicator sets are however, often quite divorced from those used in decision-making and fail to include clear sustainability goals to work towards. This research describes the development of a sustainability appraisal framework in conjunction with a series of key decision-makers in England. A case study of a real set of strategy options tested in a metropolitan area is outlined and the results used to assess the extent to which current strategy development in the United Kingdom produces the information required to both assess and communicate progress towards sustainability. The results suggest that although sustainability exists as a concept, it is poorly defined. This definition deficit has serious implications for the types of strategies tested. First, information on some aspects of sustainability is not produced and so these aspects are marginalized. Secondly, the lack of policy goals and the dominant welfare economics assessment paradigm allow unsustainable strategies to be justified provided they perform better than an unsustainable 'do-minimum'. The paper concludes with some recommendations for the policy and research communities to bridge the current gap in thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarizes the research results and implications from the DGVII-funded Fourth Framework research project Deployment of Interurban ATT Test Scenarios (DIATS). The objective of DIATS was to identify options available in the short and medium terms, for implementing advanced transport telematics (ATT) systems for motorway-type roads and to develop scenarios of 'highest potential impact' for each of the systems identified. Included are the results of a Delphi study into the most likely deployment scenarios for ATT technologies. The methodology developed to assess the organizational, social, environmental, efficiency, safety and legal concerns associated with new ATT systems is then described. This includes stated preference questionnaires, traffic simulation modelling, driver behaviour assessment using an instrumented vehicle, analysis of accident databases and literature reviews. A multicriteria analysis of the impacts of a range of ATT systems is then presented. In particular, the results discuss the potential impacts of new in-vehicle driver assistance devices such as adaptive cruise control on the operation and effectiveness of existing fixed-infrastructure systems. The paper concludes with a prioritized list of deployment strategies of maximum impact for all of the systems assessed. The research findings are already being applied nationally and a number of field trial assessments that will assist in this are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an assessment of the tools required to fulfil the air quality management role now expected of local authorities within the UK. The use of a range of pollution monitoring tools in assessing air quality is discussed and illustrated with evidence from a number of previous studies of urban background and roadside pollution monitoring in Leicester. A number of approaches to pollution modelling currently available for deployment are examined. Subsequently, the modelling and monitoring tools are assessed against the requirements of local authorities establishing air quality management areas. Whilst the paper examines UK-based policy, the study is of wider international interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public acceptability is a major concern for road pricing schemes in Western countries but has not yet been sufficiently studied in the context of Chinese cities, a number of which are considering the introduction of such travel constraint measures. This study explores factors influencing public acceptability of a proposed congestion charge in the City of Beijing. In so doing, the study focuses on understanding the appropriateness of Western frameworks for assessing public acceptability in the Chinese context. Through literature review and focus groups a survey to test different public acceptability constructs was developed (N = 1104). A Structural Equation Model was used to analyze relationships that exist among the different aspects of public acceptability. The results demonstrate that public acceptability is dominantly influenced by the level of trust toward the Government and experts. Various determinants in the Western context, such as access to information and perceived effectiveness were not found to have a significant impact on public acceptability. The results imply that public acceptability of congestion charging in the Chinese context has a stronger resonance with wider social issues such as equity than more specific transport problems such as congestion. As such, attempting to present evidence on the anticipated effectiveness of the policy in alleviating congestion and smog may not make the policy more acceptable to the public. The overall inference of the study is that contextual factors are more important than has been previously considered within public acceptability studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]