David Metz – författare

As affluence grows, it gets easier to travel faster and further. But research shows that, despite this, the average travel time in all societies remains steady at roughly an hour a day. The implication is that people are choosing to increase the distance they regularly travel, rather than opting for shorter journey times. While this clearly offers advantages in terms of reaching more desirable locations, the disadvantages are numerous - not least that of anthropogenic climate change, to which transport is the fastest growing contributor. However, the stability of travel time does not form part of the present conceptual framework of transport policy makers and professionals - consequently, misconceived decisions lead to unintended outcomes.In this intriguing book, David Metz examines the inadequacies inherent in the current thinking, along with the resulting problems, such as pollution, congestion and noise. He highlights the impact of the rapid increase in car use in China and India, and explores the general travel experience, public vs. private transport, and transport technology. In considering to what extent travel could be avoided, he arrives at a new paradigm to underpin sustainable transport policies, based on the fundamental characteristics of human mobility and focusing on quality, not quantity, of travel.Visit the Limits to Travel website at: http://www.limitstotravel.org.uk/

Drawing on comparative detail from Europe, North America, and the rest of the world, Driving Change provides a nuanced overview of the UK’s modern transport system and the role of business models and policy choices in its evolution. The common features of mobility and travel in developed economies are highlighted in order to provide a balanced appraisal of possible future developments.The book offers a detailed consideration of the potential of new technologies – electric propulsion, digital platforms and autonomous vehicles – to offer solutions to the intractable challenges that accompany high levels of car ownership, as well as their likely impact on business and transport policy.Driving Change is a rich analysis of the modern state of transportation and will be welcomed by students of transport studies and policy professionals tasked with developing infrastructure and the growth of the transportation industry.

Drawing on comparative detail from Europe, North America, and the rest of the world, Driving Change provides a nuanced overview of the UK’s modern transport system and the role of business models and policy choices in its evolution. The common features of mobility and travel in developed economies are highlighted in order to provide a balanced appraisal of possible future developments.The book offers a detailed consideration of the potential of new technologies – electric propulsion, digital platforms and autonomous vehicles – to offer solutions to the intractable challenges that accompany high levels of car ownership, as well as their likely impact on business and transport policy.Driving Change is a rich analysis of the modern state of transportation and will be welcomed by students of transport studies and policy professionals tasked with developing infrastructure and the growth of the transportation industry.

As affluence grows, it gets easier to travel faster and further. But research shows that, despite this, the average travel time in all societies remains steady at roughly an hour a day. The implication is that people are choosing to increase the distance they regularly travel, rather than opting for shorter journey times. While this clearly offers advantages in terms of reaching more desirable locations, the disadvantages are numerous - not least that of anthropogenic climate change, to which transport is the fastest growing contributor. However, the stability of travel time does not form part of the present conceptual framework of transport policy makers and professionals - consequently, misconceived decisions lead to unintended outcomes.In this intriguing book, David Metz examines the inadequacies inherent in the current thinking, along with the resulting problems, such as pollution, congestion and noise. He highlights the impact of the rapid increase in car use in China and India, and explores the general travel experience, public vs. private transport, and transport technology. In considering to what extent travel could be avoided, he arrives at a new paradigm to underpin sustainable transport policies, based on the fundamental characteristics of human mobility and focusing on quality, not quantity, of travel.Visit the Limits to Travel website at: http://www.limitstotravel.org.uk/

Britain does not have a coherent transport policy, and conventional transport economics has reached a dead end. A transport policy should incorporate systematic thinking about the travel needs of society. However, in Britain, public investment in the transport system has been extraordinarily volatile. We closed under-used railways and then experienced a doubling of passenger numbers that has prompted huge new investment. We gave up making substantial investment in motorways, but now have chosen to revive the road construction effort in a big way. We vacillate on road pricing, introducing congestion charging successfully in London, but backing off because of local opposition elsewhere. We have delayed for decades the decision about whether and where to build additional airport capacity. The environmental impacts of transport infrastructure - global and local - have been a key focus, but now are not. This mess has come about because policy has focused on big construction projects and time-saving, instead of on the part people and places play in economic development. This book sets out the principles that could underpin a strategic policy for transport.Instead of focusing piecemeal on trying (and failing) to get from place to place ever faster, we need to think about how and where we want the economy to develop, and about how new the digital technologies can help achieve this.

Travel is central to our lives, and the transport system brings us the goods and services that we need and allows us to access the experiences and opportunities that we seek. Yet our transport system has many problems: congestion and overcrowding, noise, air pollution and carbon emissions, deaths and injuries, and the intrusion of vehicles into unsuitable locations. Much effort and money has been devoted to tackling these problems, over many years, but progress is slow.Recognition of the urgent need to respond to climate change is prompting major transport developments - particularly a switch to electric vehicles - and it is also argued that the amount of travel we undertake will need to be reduced. The coronavirus pandemic caused a great shock to our travel patterns, showing us that we could manage with much less movement if we had to. But as the pandemic recedes, our travel behaviour is largely reverting to what it was before, albeit with less commuting to work and less shopping in person.This book offers a comprehensive overview of the transport system. It looks at how it has developed, at how it will need to evolve to meet our need for travel - sustainably and economically - and at what our options are for meeting those needs.