Reviews for Transport Economics

The average rating for Transport Economics based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-10-20 00:00:00 Mohammed Tasrifwala A really excellent book. I read this to give me a feel for the progress (or lack) of sustainable transport policy in the UK, and how the myriad agencies work (or don't) in achieving a truly sustainable transport policy. The central premise of the book is basically how the New Labour Government which came into power in 1997 claimed 'A New Deal For Transport' (1998 white paper available here: ) - stating in the Foreword that "[t]here is now a consensus for radical change in transport policy." The failings were many, and even the words of their policy changed from aiming to be "sustainable" and a "radical" departure from road culture to an "integrated" policy - they (Gov't) were too concerned with being seen as "anti-car", and the weakness of pedestrian and cycling lobbies (who are never really going to be as strong as the motor industry lobbies) was a problem in a Government at the whim of industrial lobbying. The book provides an overview of how the different structures created to implement their vision of a sustainable transport future failed. Some successes included the up-grading of pedestrianised areas, and the complete anomaly that is the Greater London Authority (GLA). I'm glad that this group of academics, from a mainly geographical background, analyse the failings of a false promise. Recommended for anyone interested in how people get around, what bureaucracy means(!) and where policy could change our polluting, traffic-jam-ridden, sedentary and unsustainable car culture to open up a green, uncongested, healthy and sustainable future for the UK.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-11-13 00:00:00 Ilia Ilia This book was mentioned on NPR and because the author explored roads in places where or near where we had been, I wanted to read it. His premise is about the power of roads to change the world- sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad ones. In Peru he traveled with loggers who were denuding mahogany in Amazonia and brining it over the Andes to sell. In East Africa, he went with truckers. It is assumed that truckers had brought aids to towns along the routes when they visited whores. He also went into a remote part of the Himalayas in India and walked on ice an impending route to judge how it would affect the culture there. The toughest parts to read however, were visits to both Israeli and Palestine natives. The Israeli side has young soldiers who are bored but have to man check points. The Palestinian people he visited are constantly harrassed and in fear and unable to work because of the check point, both the ones that are always manned and those that are set up all of a sudden in a temporary manner. I truly felt that our pledges to Isreal are supporting an unfair situation. The final segment was to Lagos, Nigeria a place of poor and oil rich that sounds like road traffic may be the worst in the worl.