Integrating Transport in the City : Reconciling the Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions

Congestion in cities is a problem of growing importance. New infrastructure for transport however often gives rise to conflicts about how the cost of new services will be met by the public, and about how the demand for travel can be reconciled with efforts to improve the social and environmental quality of life in cities. Unless these conflicts can be managed, public-private partnerships for investment in new infrastructure will be handicapped. The way forward requires a mix of strategies involving better information and communication with the public, better design of projects to take social and environmental objectives into account, a more comprehensive approach to urban development rather than a sectoral strategy, and a better exchange of expertise between private and public sectors. This book is based on a series of case studies of both successes and failures in countries such as Australia, Japan, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. To inform this major debate and help design new strategies for transport integration in the city, this book puts forward the most promising ways to: - respond to urban travel problems; - enhance public/private partnership; and - raise social acceptability of urban transport infrastructure and road tolls.