Abstracts

Solving the rural transport dilemma: a case study of North Devon

by Camilla Swiderska and William R Sheate

This paper attempts to demonstrate how both rising traffic levels and rural travel poverty can be alleviated through the development of a range of small-scale measures. Using North Devon in South West England as a case study, specific issues such as land use, walking and cycling and tourism are examined. A tailor made scenario technique was used to engage local decision-makers and interest groups in a discussion of the appropriate mix of policy solutions. Many of the proposed solutions could be translated to other areas of rural Britain.

Children's Perceptions of Transport Modes: car culture in the classroom?

by Julia Meaton & Simon Kingham

Children learn at a very early age how to identify between different modes of transport and which are preferable. Breaking the cycle of car dependency among future generations will not be easy.

Transport Policy in the EU : A Strategy for Sustainable Development?

by Sarah Wixey & Steve Lake

This paper seeks to analyse the European Union's approach to policymaking in regard to a particular conception of sustainable development. This assessment is undertaken with regard to EU transport policy and the programme of Trans-European Networks (TENs). It is argued that the strategic considerations at the heart of this programme bear little relation to the stated commitments of the EU to sustainable development in all policy areas. It is argued that sustainable development can only be implemented on a strategic level in policy formulation and not, as seems to be the case with TENs, as an afterthought. The paper concludes by identifying the issue of transport for "need" as a guiding principle in the formulation of a notion of "sustainable mobility".

The Comparative Pollution Exposure of Road Users - A Summary

by David Taylor & Malcolm Fergusson

Levels of vehicle-derived pollutants found inside and immediately outside motor vehicles are a cause of concern. It is now generally recognised that car drivers, in particular during rush hour, are travelling through a "tunnel of pollutants" and are exposed to significantly higher levels of pollution than background readings would suggest.

Mortality from vehicular particulate emissions in Tel-Aviv-Jafo

by Gary Ginsberg, Aharon Serri, Elaine Fletcher, Dani Koutik, Eric Karsenty & Joshua Shemer

The present level of emissions due to motor vehicles in Israel's second largest city, based on kilometres travelled by vehicle and fuel type, was estimated. By applying co-efficients relating changes in mortality levels with changes in ambient PM10 levels, it is estimated that tailpipe emissions annually cause around 293 premature deaths, primarily among the elderly. This annual toll is in excess of the combined total of deaths whose primary underlying causes were falls, homicides, infectious diseases, suicides, traffic and non-traffic accidents.

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes: Highway Expansions in Search of Meaning

by Preston L. Schiller

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes have been widely promoted and constructed in the USA in a belief that the provision of such facilities would improve transit performance, stimulate car and vanpool formation, and improve land use and air quality in urban areas. Critics, especially among environmentalists and alternative transportation advocates, assert that HOV lanes are merely highway expansions which promote more driving, weaken transit, increase air pollution, and facilitate suburban sprawl. This article demonstrates that, generally, HOV lanes are effective only to the extent that they are designed to fill transit and formal carpool program needs. Questions are also raised about the efficacy of HOV criteria, and the extent to which these programs are shaped by ideological and political considerations, rather than by careful analysis and planning.

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