9 research outputs found
Options for sustainable mobility
A major global problem is access to transport and thus mobility. Clearly, without mobility, economic vitality is severely curtailed; however, mobility and economic vitality brings a number of externalities not least in terms of pollutants. As such, there is a need to make sustainable mobility a priority. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defined sustainable mobility as 'the ability to meet society's need to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future'. The question is: how should this be achieved? This paper outlines the background to the problem of sustainable mobility, including a simple economic model that sets the problem in context. The focus is on three potential ways of addressing the issue of sustainable mobility: the market-based solution; technological change; and the promotion of sustainable modes of transport defined as public transport, walking and cycling. It is important to note, however, that these are not mutually exclusive and that 'more mobility' is not necessarily better
UK rail transport: a review of demand and supply
Over recent years the UK railway industry has seen unprecedented growth in the number of passengers and the amount of freight carried. Expansion in network capacity, however, has not kept pace with this growth. This has led to significant overcrowding and little or no capacity left to run more trains within existing stock or track provision. The UK government however has stated that as part of achieving ‘best value' it wants to further increase rail traffic, and has recently set out a strategy to optimise this. This paper reviews the issues associated with the growth in passengers, the demand placed on the network and the policy developed to accommodate and manage it. It identifies the capacity constraints and options identified for capacity enhancement. The paper concludes that while privatisation has made coherent decision-making difficult there is significant experience to be gained in the development of policy and route utilisation strategies
Park and ride: Lessons from the UK experience
Park and Ride schemes using dedicated bus services have become particularly popular
over the last 40 years with UK policymakers. This popularity can largely be attributed
to the UK policy context and the advocating of Park and Ride to tackle increasing car
use, congestion and traffic-related emissions. The aim of this paper is to use existing
evidence on the degree to which this has been achieved and provide lessons on how
bus-based Park and Ride can be used effectively. From this, lessons are provided that
will benefit stakeholders internationally on the use of dedicated link-mode Park and
Ride schemes operating at the edge of urban areas. It is found that although Park and
Ride has been popular amongst motorists, it has also attracted users of existing public
transport services and has generated additional trips, resulting in a counter-productive
effect. It is concluded that for Park and Ride to be successful, it should be
implemented in tandem with other supply-side measures and alongside sufficiently
rigorous restraint instruments. Also, despite the use of frequent and dedicated bus-link
services providing a key feature that attracts motorists who would not otherwise use
public transport, their use needs to be carefully monitored to avoid low load-factors
decreasing levels of efficiency
The effects of area-wide road speed and curvature on traffic casualties in England
Transport provides a range of benefits to society in terms of mobility, access and economic growth. There
are however negative impacts of transport, not least in terms of environmental degradation, damage to
property, traffic accidents and loss of life. This paper focuses on road traffic accidents, the reduction of
which is an important aim of transport policy world wide. The primary objective of this paper is to
develop a series of relationships using spatially disaggregated area-level cross-sectional data between
different traffic casualties, road traffic speed and road curvature by controlling for other contributing factors
associated with area characteristics. The spatial units of the analysis are the 8019 census wards in
England. Ward-level casualty data are disaggregated by severity of the casualty (such as fatalities, serious
injuries and slight injuries) and by the severity of the casualty related to various road users.
The results suggest that increased average speed within a ward is positively associated with total fatalities
and serious injuries; and road curvature is found to be negatively associated with road accidents
Examining the political and practical reality of bus-based Real Time Passenger Information
Enhancing the bus experience through improved information provision is a
key element of the UK Government’s transport policy as stated in ‘A New
Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone’ (DETR, 1998). There are several
ways of doing this, but one in particular - Real Time Passenger Information
(RTPI) – has often been seen by local authorities as the way forward. RTPI is
perceived to reassure passengers waiting for a bus by reducing the uncertainty
of when (and even whether) the bus will arrive, thus encouraging patronage
and benefiting the public transport operator through increased revenue and the
local authority, by promoting social inclusion and achieving a modal shift.
RTPI also provides an important tool for operators by allowing them to
monitor services and refine their schedules
The role of hypothecation in financing transit: lessons from the UK
Two hypothecated charges to fund local public transport have recently passed
onto the statute books in the UK. The first is road user charging, with the London and
Durham the first to be implemented and the second is a workplace parking levy.
The use of such local hypothecated (or ‘earmarked’) mechanisms is not new.
Indeed a variety of such charges, local taxes and levies have been in use for decades
to fund public transport and (less frequently) as a tool for transport demand
management in the USA, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Scandinavia, India and
Singapore. In the general debate around the two new hypothecated charges in the UK,
this international experience has been largely neglected. The aim of this paper is to
detail a related and equally neglected area namely the local hypothecation of charges
to fund public transport improvements within Britain.
Under existing legislation it has been possible for some local authorities to
dedicate revenue streams from sources such as parking charges and planning gain to
develop and improve public transport services. There is also significant experience of
dedicated revenue streams in the private sector, for example at airports.
The paper details examples of the British experience of hypothecation and will
consider their lessons for the new and more radical measures that are now being
considered
UK airport employee car parking: the role of a charge?
Airports employ significant numbers of workers who favour using the private car for the journey to work because of the location of
many facilities and the times they need to travel. At the same time official policies for congestion and environmental reasons seek to limit
car use. This can pose parking problems for the airports. This note looks at some of the particular issues confronting UK airport
management when trying to conform to official policies while at the same time meeting the needs of their workers and the role charging
may play in the solution
Averting the construction skills crisis: a regional approach
The East Midlands construction industry is currently suffering from a
severe skills shortage across its craft, professional and managerial occupations. The
lack of available capacity within the regional labour market coupled with the poor
image of the sector, call into question the industry’s ability to cope with the levels of
new orders and output growth predicted over the next few years. In this paper, it
is argued that the casualised nature of the industry’s labour market has rendered
national, ‘top-down’ labour market policy measures ineffective in addressing the
industry’s skills concerns. This hypothesis has been explored through research that
canvassed the opinions of key industry stakeholders as to the actions necessary
to avert the region’s skills crisis. This was achieved through a series of focus groups
and workshops involving over 150 individuals with a vested interest in the region’s
construction skills situation. The insights emerging from the analysis suggested that
bespoke regional and sub-regional labour market policies are required to avert
the current skills shortage. The recommendations provided by the participants were
used as the basis for a strategic package of measures that are currently being
implemented across the region’s five counties. This strategy aims to join-up hitherto
disparate labour market measures within a single centrally coordinated framework.
Nevertheless, overcoming the industry’s fragmented structure remains an obstacle
to resolving successfully the East Midlands’ construction skills shortage
An exploration of the relationship between training grants and the profitability of UK construction companies
A levy/grant system exists in the UK construction industry to
provide financial support for companies undertaking training
activities. With the current UK government skills policy, there
is an emphasis on ensuring that training support provided to
employers is aimed at enhancing companies’ profitability. This
paper explores the profitability of construction companies in
relation to training grants. Inferential and descriptive statistics
were used to analyze a uniquely combined dataset over the
period 2002–2005. The research revealed that there is not a
simple linear relationship between training grants and profitability.
However, large and more profitable companies claimed
more training grants in relation to the following areas of training:
management, qualifying their existing workforce (certifying
the skills of their existing workforce) and developing training
plans. The authors argue that training grants should be targeted
and focused towards specific areas of training if profitability
gains are to be achievable. Future research should consider
training grant utilization within the context of construction
companies in order to ascertain the real contribution of training
grants to their profitability