World Transport Policy & Practice · Title: World Transport Policy & Practice Author: DTP: Chris Beacock, PDF: Pascal Desmond Subject: Editor: John Whitelegg Keywords: Volume 4, Number

Con t en t s Volume 4, Number 2, 1998

World Transport Policy & Practice

World Transport Policy & Practice4/2 [1998]

©1998 Eco-Logica Ltd ISSN 1352-7614

Edi torJohn Whitelegg, Professor of Environmental Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, ClarenceStreet, Liverpool, L3 5UG, U.K.

Editorial BoardEric Britton, Managing Director, EcoPlan International, The Centre for Technology & Systems

Studies, 10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris, France.Paul Tranter, Senior Lecturer, School of Geography & Oceanography, University College,

Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia.John Howe, Professor of Transportation Engineering & Head of Infrastructural Engineering &Physical Planning, International Institute for Infrastructural, Hydraulic & EnvironmentalEngineering, Delft, The Netherlands.Mikel Murga, Leber Planification e Ingenieria S.A., Apartado 79, 48930-Las Arenas, Bizkaia,

Spain.

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Production TeamPascal Desmond (Subscriptions, Administration), Chris Beacock (Production). Please contactPascal Desmond for sample copies, orders and subscriptions, reprints and copyright permissions.

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2 Abstracts & keywords

3 Editorial

4 Solving the rural transport dilemma: a case study of North DevonCamilla Swiderska & William R.Sheate

12 Children’s Perceptions of Transport Modes: car culture in the classroom?Julia Meaton & Simon Kingham

17 Transport Policy in the EU: A strategy for sustainable development?Sarah Wixey & Steve Lake

22 The Comparative Pollution Exposure of Road Users - A SummaryDavid Taylor & Malcolm Fergusson

27 Mortality from vehicular particulate emissions in Tel-Aviv-JafoGary Ginsberg, Aharon Serri, Elaine Fletcher, Dani Koutik, Eric Karsenty & Joshua Shemer

32 High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes: Highway expansions in search of meaningPreston L. Schiller

39 Car Sharing and Mobility Management: Facing new challenges with technology andinnovative business planningConrad Wagner & Susan Shaheen

Abstracts and keywords

Mortality f rom vehicular particulate emissions inTel -Aviv-JafoGary Ginsberg, Aharon Serri, Elaine Fletcher, Dani Koutik,Eric Karsenty & Joshua ShemerKeywords: Air pollution, Deaths, Tel-Aviv-JafoThe present level of emissions due to motor vehicles inIsrael’s second largest city, based on kilometres travelled byvehicle and fuel type, was estimated. By applyingco-efficients relating changes in mortality levels withchanges 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 ofthe combined total of deaths whose primary underlyingcauses were falls, homicides, infectious diseases, suicides,traffic and non-traffic accidents.

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes: Highwayexpansions in search of meaningPreston L. SchillerKeywords: HOV lanes, Transport investment, USA.High Occupancy Vehicle lanes have been widely promotedand constructed in the USA in a belief that the provision ofsuch facilities would improve transit performance,stimulate car and vanpool formation, and improve land useand air quality in urban areas. Critics, especially amongenvironmentalists and alternative transportation advocates,assert that HOV lanes are merely highway expansionswhich promote more driving, weaken transit, increase airpollution, and facilitate suburban sprawl. This articledemonstrates that, generally, HOV lanes are effective only tothe extent that they are designed to fill transit and formalcarpool program needs. Questions are also raised about theefficacy of HOV criteria, and the extent to which theseprograms are shaped by ideological and politicalconsiderations, rather than by careful analysis andplanning.

Car Sharing and Mobility Management: Facing newchallenges with technology and innovativebusiness planningConrad Wagner & Susan ShaheenKeywords: Business planning, Car sharing, InnovationMore car sharing organisations are beginning to appearthroughout Europe and North America. The use of existingand new technologies in an innovative way offerstremendous opportunities for this industry to grow.

Solving the rural transport dil emma: a case studyof Nor th DevonCamilla Swiderska & William R. SheateKeywords: North Devon, Policy options, Rural transport.This paper attempts to demonstrate how both rising trafficlevels and rural travel poverty can be alleviated through thedevelopment of a range of small-scale measures. UsingNorth Devon in South West England as a case study,specific issues such as land use, walking, cycling andtourism are examined. A tailor made scenario techniquewas used to engage local decision-makers and interestgroups in a discussion of the appropriate mix of policysolutions. Many of the proposed solutions could betranslated to other areas of rural Britain.

Children’s Perceptions of Transport Modes: carculture in the c lass room?Julia Meaton & Simon KinghamKeywords: Advertising, Children, Social conditioning,United KingdomChildren learn at a very early age how to identify betweendifferent modes of transport and which are preferable.Breaking the cycle of car dependency among futuregenerations will not be easy.

Transport Po licy in the EU: A strategy forsustainable development?Sarah Wixey & Steve LakeKeywords: Policy formulation, Trans-European NetworksThis paper seeks to analyse the European Union’s approachto transport policymaking and the programme of Trans-European Networks. The strategic considerations at theheart of this programme bear little relation to the Union'sstated commitments to sustainable development in allpolicy areas. Sustainable development can only beimplemented on a strategic level in policy formulation andnot, as seems to be the case with TENs, as an afterthought.The paper concludes by identifying the issue of transportfor ‘need’ as a guiding principle in the formulation of‘sustainable mobility’.

The Comparative Pollut ion Exposure of RoadUsers - A S ummaryDavid Taylor & Malcolm FergussonKeywords: Air pollution, Exhaust gases, Health impacts,Literature reviewLevels of vehicle-derived pollutants found inside andimmediately outside motor vehicles are a cause of concern.It is now generally recognised that car drivers, in particularduring rush hour, are travelling through a ‘tunnel ofpollutants’ and are exposed to significantly higher levels ofpollution than background readings would suggest.

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breathe polluted air in a noisy and dangerous environment.The roads left in the much reduced list of 37 schemes ring

lots of alarm bells. There are widening schemes on the busiestsection of the M25 (London orbital motorway) in preciselythose circumstances where transport science, common senseand political acumen call for serious road traffic reductionmeasures and an absolute ban on more road space. Wideningthe M25 will encourage more cars to use the increased roadspace in a neat and depressing demonstration that thepoliticians have understood nothing of the transport debateand not even understood their own rhetoric. Other roadschemes have gone ahead on grounds of boosting theeconomy and aiding job creation when once again there isample evidence that either this does not happen at all or if itdoes it so weak and expensive that numerous other policieswould win out over roads if we really wanted to targettaxpayers money to create jobs.

Government has made much of the word ‘integration’ andyet has offered nothing to make sure it happens. Governmentpolicies themselves are not integrated. The tax systemencourages car use and penalises cyclists. New hospitals(built with public money) are built in locations which areinaccessible by public transport, foot and bicycle. They arethen provided with 2000 car parking places to send the veryclear signal that car use is what is expected. Smaller hospitalscloser to where people live are rejected. Similar perverseprinciples apply to schools. Out-of-town shopping centres arestill being built (as are out-of-town multiplex cinema sitesand huge leisure complexes) and the White Paper excludedretailing completely from the discussion about car parkingtaxes. Retailing is such an important pressure for more cartravel that it more than merits a national tax on every carparking place, imposed immediately and the income streamrecycled to help small, rural and urban, community-basedshops and post offices.

Integration means making sure that everything governmentdoes pulls in the same direction to achieve governmentpolicy objectives. It means the money follows the policy andit means that we get to grips with traffic reduction. On thiscriteria the White Paper is a monumental failure.

John Whitelegg, Editor

Re fe r e n ce sDepartment of the Environment, Transport and the Regions(1998) A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone TheStationery Office, London.Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions(1998) A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England The Station-ery Office, London.Both documents may be downloaded from the Department’swebsite http://www.detr.gov.uk/

In 1995 the UK government was committed to building 500new road schemes. In 1997 this was reduced to 140 and inJuly 1998 reduced yet again so that now only 37 schemesremain in the pipeline. This particular indicator ofsustainable transport might well have a claim to representone of the most dramatic reversals of any government policyin any area in recent years. More interestingly the reversal isassociated with a great deal of rhetoric about the need toreduce car dependency. Transport 2000, the well-knownnational campaigning organisation welcomed the change inpolicy with the phrase “This White Paper marks a welcomeend to 30 years of car-based transport policies”. So is thisall as good as it looks and should we in the UK be outcelebrating the success of 25 years hard work in turningaround the super-tanker of a land-grabbing, energy-greedy,socially-irresponsible transport system?

Sadly the answer is in the negative. The steep reductionin new road schemes in the Roads Review and the policychange which preceded it by 10 days - the White Paper -still miss the main points and carefully avoid the mosteffective things that government could do if it really wantedto reduce traffic. The new roads will cost the tax payerapproximately £1.5 billion compared with the £1.1 billionthat has been allocated to everything else (public transportsupport, pedestrian facilities, cycle facilities). The alloca-tion of cash is at sharp variance with the language and therhetoric, and every government official and politicianknows that cash ‘means business’ and words don’t reallyamount to very much at all. In very crude terms about 60%of the cash government is willing to allocate to transport hasbeen allocated to a particular form of transport (mainly thecar) which we have been told must be reduced. This willensure that the car continues to dominate the choices thatpeople make about how to travel and will continue to act asa deterrent to a large mass of potential bike and footjourneys which are there to be revealed but are suppressedbecause the road, walking and cycling environment are soirredeemably awful.

The White Paper skilfully avoids any commitment toreduce traffic levels in spite of considerable popular andparliamentary support for new laws in this area. It ducks anational approach to parking standards and does not requirelocal authorities to reduce generous parking provision forplaces of employment and out-of-town shopping centres. Inshort, it offers nothing that will turn off the engine drivingthe upward trajectory of car use. It does nothing at all toensure that small locally accessible services (shops, doctors,post offices, schools) are well funded and plentiful so thatin rural areas especially there is less need to travel longerdistances. It does nothing to give tax incentives toemployers and employees to switch away from car use fortheir commuter trips and it leaves in place a historicallycomplex but generous system of incentives for using cars. Itdoes nothing to curb excessive speeds of vehicles and offersnothing to all those who are victims of road traffic‘accidents’ and also victims of the everyday discourtesiesand stresses of trying to live alongside polluting, speedingand irresponsibly driven vehicles. The White Paper offersno relief for a countryside that will continue to receive everincreasing levels of traffic and towns that will continue to

E d i t o r i a l

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transport corridors. Such corridors couldinclude taxibuses, new railway lines, andcycleways. However the cost of rail travel isprohibitive to many rural dwellers, and inremote areas where the population is widelydispersed (such as North Devon), many villageswill not be on or near a public transportcorridor. If the objective is to preserve thetranquillity of the countryside then publictransport corridors, even on a very small scale,may not be practical or desirable.

Rural transport problems

Travel PovertyMany rural dwellers suffer from travel poverty.This occurs when people cannot attend eventsor facilities which are available to others due toa lack of access to choice in relation to travel.Work carried out by the SMART (SustainableMobility and Accessibility in Rural Transport)research programme at the Transport StudiesUnit (TSU) at Oxford focused on the concept ofpublic transport increasing choice, particularlyfor rural dwellers where walking and cyclingare not an option due to mobility problems,hilly terrain or travel distance (Root, 1996).Rural dwellers who are without access toprivate transport are finding themselvesincreasingly isolated as facilities such asschools, hospitals and shops become moredispersed. As more village shops and smallerlocal hospitals close people must travel furtherto out-of-town shopping centres and regionalhospitals.

National Road Traffic Forecasts (NRTF)The 1989 NRTF predicted that between 1988and 2025 the amount of traffic on Britain’sroads would increase by between 82% and142% (the difference between the forecastsbeing related to the rate of economic growth).The latest revision to these forecasts hasreduced the growth rate (from 1996)considerably to a range of 24-51% by 2016 and36-84% by 2031 (DETR, 1997). Such a growthrate would still result in significant increases onalready congested roads. The implications forrural areas have been explored in two detailed

Address for correspondence:William R. Sheate,Centre for EnvironmentalTechnologyImperial CollegeUniversity of London48 Prince’s GardensLONDONSW7 2PEe-mail: [email protected]

Solving the rural transport dilemma: a case study ofNorth Devon

Camill a Swiderska and William R. SheateCentre for Environmental Technology, Imperial College, University of London

Abs tr a ctThis paper attempts to demonstrate how bothrising traffic levels and rural travel poverty canbe alleviated through the development of arange of small-scale measures. Using NorthDevon in South West England as a case study,specific issues such as land use, walking.cycling and tourism are examined. A tailormade scenario technique was used to engagelocal decision-makers and interest groups in adiscussion of the appropriate mix of policysolutions. Many of the proposed solutionscould be translated to other areas of ruralBritain.

K eyw or dsNorth Devon, Policy options, Rural transport.

Int rodu ct i onIt is estimated that traffic levels in rural areas ofEngland will rise by between 127% and 267%by 2025 (Transport Studies Unit, 1992). This isconsiderably more than in urban areas wheremany routes are at or close to capacity. Already,a legacy of ‘predict and provide’ transportpolicy has resulted in air, noise and lightpollution invading many quiet rural areas ofBritain. Although such road improvements mayinitially have helped rural economies (thoughthis is debatable, SACTRA, 1997), they havealso made remote and wild corners of thecountry accessible to increasing numbers ofcar-based tourists and freight lorries. Thedilemma for policy makers is how to provide anacceptable level of public transport for thesignificant number of rural dwellers who do nothave access to a car, whilst at the same timemanaging passenger and freight traffic levels ina manner that will protect sensitive areas fromfurther environmental degradation. Successfulworking examples of cheap, popular,community services include post-buses, liftsharing, shared taxis and taxi buses. Generallythey have financial support from, for example,the Rural Development Commission, or rely onvolunteer drivers. It has been suggested thatpublic transport use in rural areas can beencouraged by the development of public

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Swiderska & Sheate: Solving therural transport dilemma: a casestudy of North DevonWorld Transport Policy & Practice4/2 [1998] 4-11

reports: one at the national level by the TSU(1992), the other in Norfolk by the MetropolitanTransport Research Unit (MTRU, 1994). TheTSU study, more relevant to this report, foundthat traffic would grow in rural areas almosttwice as fast as the average, producing anincrease of between 127% and 267% by 2025.For rural dwellers the main impacts are areduction in the environmental quality of thevillages and hamlets due to increased noise,street lighting and danger. The enjoyment ofwalking and cycling is reduced when there ismore traffic – indeed walkers and cyclists mayfeel unsafe when increasing amounts of trafficare speeding through the village. In addition thecharacter of the countryside is gradually lost aswindy roads are straightened and signposts andstreet lighting are added. The recent growth intraffic calming policies through villages has metwith opposition from some rural residents whosay that excessive humps, stripes and speedrestrictive signposting ruin the character of thevillage.

Pollut ionEmissions from motorised transport whichcontribute to global atmospheric pollution havegenerally been portrayed as an urban problembut a study of rural transport in Wiltshire byFriends of the Earth found high levels of groundlevel ozone in the South West of England (FoEWiltshire, 1997). Ozone peaks between 3 p.m.and 4 p.m. as polluted air masses drift out fromthe cities on thermals, before falling off again inthe evening. High ozone levels in rural areasmay affect people’s health, dissuade peoplefrom spending time outside on hot sunny daysand may create poor visibility thereby affectingtheir enjoyment of the countryside.

Freigh tThere has been a steady and substantial growthin traffic from heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)since the 1950s and these have become muchlarger and heavier. Much of this growth isbecause goods are moving further, not becausemore goods are being produced. The number ofgoods moved by rail has declined by more thanhalf the amount carried 40 years ago (Plowdenand Buchanan, 1995). Most of the goods nowcarried by rail are bulk goods such as fuel andbuilding materials. Freight transport by roadhas large external costs that are not fullyreflected in pricing and taxation structures.External costs of road freight transport includedamage to road infrastructure, fatalities andinjuries in crashes, air pollution, noise andother damage such as damage to streetfurniture, roadside buildings, banks, verges andhedges. This is particularly relevant to rural

areas where sometimes walkers and cyclistsmust share narrow roads, not designed forheavy lorries, with road freight traffic.

Research for the Department of Transport hasindicated that 4.5 billion tonne km of roadfreight (about 3.3%) could conceivably beswitched to shipping (Mawhinney, 1995). Halfof that would involve a complete switch fromroad onto coastal transport. About half wouldbe re-routed to ports nearer to their destination.In rural areas with working ports and harbours,such as South West England, there is somepotential to move freight off the road in thisway. Rural areas would also benefitconsiderably from reduction rather thanincreases in lorry weights and sizes.

FundingLocal transport schemes for public transport,walking and cycling are notoriouslyunderfunded. In the 1997/98 Local TransportSettlement, the Government allocated £746million to local transport schemes, yet less thanone in ten transport packages tackled theproblems of rural areas (CPRE, 1996). Of thisamount £110 million was allocated to bridgestrengthening but only £79 million on ‘greenerpackages’. The guidance on Transport Policiesand Programme (TPP) submissions fails toencourage authorities to submit packages forrural areas (Transport 2000 et al., 1996). As aresult highway authorities are presently usingtheir minor works budget to improve conditionsin small towns and villages. Yet the minorworks budget was cut by 38% in the 1996settlement. Also, local authorities are onlypermitted to bid for package funding for oneyear – yet other schemes can be presented aslonger-term schemes. Planning ahead for ascheme is difficult if it is not known what fundswill be available the following year. Howeverthe package system can introduce a workableand sustainable local transport system –working examples include the STAR project inrural Surrey and the package for DartmoorNational Park (Swiderska, 1997).

TourismMany rural areas are renowned for their peaceand beauty and may be covered by some form ofenvironmental designation such as Area ofOutstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coast, andSites of Special Scientific Interest or be in aNational Park (such as the Dartmoor NationalPark). Due to the lack of public transport, roadsinto these areas become congested with touristtraffic during the summer season. The appeal ofsuch tourist destinations may becomethreatened by the increase in the number oftourists travelling by car. The destinations


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themselves may be sensitive areas, whichcannot withstand the environmental impact ofsuch increases and may suffer irreversibledamage. It is clear that visitor trafficmanagement strategies must be adopted andthis is already happening in the Lake Districtand in parts of South Devon.

Case study of North Devon

Why North Devon?The Council for the Protection of Rural England(CPRE) has stated that there are only three areasof extensive rural tranquillity now left inEngland and one of these is North Devon(CPRE, 1995; The Independent, 1998). Figure 1illustrates its location. Nevertheless, it isrepresentative of other rural areas of Britainwhich suffer the transport problems outlinedabove, namely travel poverty, approximately50% increase in traffic during the touristseason, and an increasing number and weight offreight lorries on small rural roads. Through avariety of projects there has been some progressin meeting the needs of the travel poor. Thecounty is renowned for its innovative solutionswhich include a transport co-ordination centrerun by the County Council which has led tobetter use of resources and considerablefinancial savings. However many villages have


Figure 1: Location of North Devon

Figure 2: Map of Rural Bus Services in North Devon.

only one bus service per week (see Figure 2)and many tourist destinations are ruined bycongestion.

Bus and train servicesThere is only one railway branch line in NorthDevon. It is known as the Tarka line and hasreceived wide recognition for its achievementsmost notably by helping to regenerate localinterest in rural rail, and by promoting green

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tourism in the area. However locals complainthat the service is too infrequent (one serviceper hour in the day and none at night) and tooexpensive (it is cheaper to drive fromBarnstaple to Exeter for the day if it is just thecost of petrol that is considered).Approximately one third of the population ofNorth Devon do not have a car (8,000households). The public transport system thatthey rely on has many problems:

The cost of public transport: it is prohibitivefor some people, such as the unemployed /those on low incomeTimetabling and connections: bus servicesare infrequent; there are no late services(often the last bus is at 5.30 p.m.), and thereare poor connections with school times; thetrain service does not connect with theLondon and other long distance trains; theRing and Ride service for disabled people isweekly in some areas and only fortnightly inother areas; there is a lack of bus/railintegration making multi modal journeysmore difficult and costly. Finally, there is nofacility for taking bicycles on the bus and nosafe cycle storage at train stations.Community transport: resources are oftenunderused due to poor communicationbetween commercial and subsidised orvoluntary operators. Current operatinglicenses are restrictive, for example Ring andRide vehicles cannot pick up youngable-bodied people.Ticketing: there is no through-ticketing


(separate tickets must be bought for differentbus companies and trains).Travel awareness: many remote villages lackaccess to valuable travel information.

Visitor managementNorth Devon has both popular coastal resortssuch as Ilfracombe and picturesque river valleysand villages inland. The number of cars swellsby 50% during the holiday season, causingcongestion on roads into these areas. Narrowroads are often blocked by caravans. In the past,many places have responded by building morecar parks (e.g. Ilfracombe now has 8 car parks).However since the adoption of Local Agenda21, community partnerships are being built,albeit slowly, and parish councils, inrecognition that their appeal as touristdestinations may be threatened, are beginningto draw up and implement their own trafficmanagement strategies. Although additional busservices are put on in the summer, it seems thattourist needs are not met in terms of comfort,accessibility and frequency of service. There issimply not enough incentive (financial or other)to leave the car at home or at touristaccommodation. At the regional level the WestCountry Tourist Board transport strategyhinders any pursuit of sustainable tourisminitiatives by persistently lobbying for theupgrading of the road network. However somesustainable tourism initiatives have beensuccessful in encouraging a modal switch, themost successful being the Tarka Trail. This is abranch rail line running through thepicturesque ‘Tarka country’ between Exeter andBarnstaple with cycle hire available at manyinterim stops together with route maps of theextensive cycleways in the area.

Stakeholder survey of policy scenariosIn order to propose a mix of sustainable policysolutions, a consultative approach was chosen.Case studies of rural transport initiatives suchas the Lake District Traffic ManagementInitiative have shown that unless there iswidespread agreement and co-operation amongboth resident and business interests, evenproposals with the best intentions will notwork. A list of organisations in North Devonwas drawn up which fairly represented theinterests of residents, tourism and business.This included policy makers, transportoperators, non-governmental organisations,businesses and residents. Twenty two out of thethirty people who were originally contactedresponded (see Table 1).

Given that one of the greatest long termthreats to rural areas is the ever increasingtraffic on rural roads, the NRTF and their

Table 2: Three Scenarios

I Accept traffic forecasts as inevitable cater for the growth - policies would includeroad building, suburban development etc.

II Damage limitation strategies try to deter the worst effects of traffic growth -policies would include fiscal measures, suchas road pricing

III Trend reversing strategies try to ensure the forecasts do not come true -policies include improving public transport andprovisions for cyclists and walkers

Table 1: Organisations which responded to the stakeholder survey

Devon and Cornwall Railway PartnershipTransport 2000 local groupGregory Distribution Ltd (road haulagecompany)North Devon District CouncilWest Country Tourist BoardDevon Wildlife TrustBarnstaple Parish CouncilCyclists Touring Club local groupNorth Devon Rail Users GroupA local ActivistLocal Agenda 21 local groupCombe Martin Community Partnership

Braunton Parish CouncilCPRE local groupTransport Action and Information Network(TRAIN)Ramblers AssociationDevonshire Dales Development TrustNorth Devon Transport ForumIlfracombe PartnershipNational TrustDevon County Council, TransportCo-ordination TeamRed Bus North Devon Ltd

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conditions in the following areas: travel trendsand land use, public transport, walking andcycling, tourism, road freight and travelawareness. These areas were chosen in orderthat the concerns of a broad range of interestgroups could be addressed ranging from freighttransport to the tourism industry and localpassenger transport. Policy solutions wereproposed in each of these areas and examplesare given in Table 3 while Table 4 showssuggested policy solutions in relation to trafficfor the three different scenarios. Furtherproblems and solutions in each scenario weregiven in the remaining categories.

Re s u l tsA summary of the results of the survey aregiven in Table 5. Some immediate conclusionscan be drawn from the table:• no respondent chose Scenario I although two

respondents did choose a combination ofScenario I and II;

• the majority chose Scenario II or III with over72% selecting a combination of II/III or IIIalone;

• 50% chose Scenario III, which proposedtrend-reversing strategies.Given the mix of stakeholders interviewed,

the results indicate that the desire for a differentapproach to transport was not confined solelyto the ‘green’ groups, but was widely sharedacross the interests consulted.

Lessons from the scenario survey

FundingCurrently, the main way a local authority canmove towards a more sustainable transportpolicy is through its annual bid for funds in theTPP. Such a trend is inhibited by large capitalroad projects which will be built at the expenseof many more schemes to encourage travel onpublic transport, bicycle and on foot. Althoughthere has been a slight upward trend in packagebid money by Devon County Council, its TPPstill contains large sums for major roadsincluding in the case of North Devon, a bid forthe Western Bypass and the Downstream Bridgethrough Barnstaple. Through its TPPsubmission Devon Co. Co. could press forreallocation of funds to more sustainable modesand this is supported by the survey results.

Land use planningThe scope of the package bid could be widenedto include projects that would reduce the needto travel, such as reopening and reformingvillage shops. The new rate relief scheme

implications for the case study area werechosen as a focus for discussion. Threescenarios were selected which presented apicture of what North Devon would look likegiven particular traffic conditions (see Table 2).

Full details of the scenarios can be found inSwiderska (1997). In summary, the first twoscenarios used an interpretation of the NRTFwhich predict the increases in traffic to 2025 –high growth for scenario I and low growth forscenario II. The third scenario askedrespondents to consider a situation wherebytraffic levels dropped by 20% over the period, afigure not inconceivable given that the RoadTraffic Reduction (UK Targets) Bill goingthrough Parliament was aiming to introduce anational target to reduce 2010 traffic to 90% of1990 levels. A brief summary is given below inTable 3. Alongside predicted traffic levels ineach scenario were the associated transport

Scenario III: trend-reversing strategies

• road traffic levels rising by more than 2.5x current levels• travel trends• public transport• cycling and walking• tourism

• freight transport• travel awareness

Scenario II: damage limitation strategies

Scenario I: accept traffic forecasts as inevitable

Problem Proposed policy solution

Table 3: Summary of three local transport policy scenarios

accept the forecasts and cater for the growth. Policies wouldinclude road building, suburban development, etc.

encourage near universal car ownershiplargely maintained by voluntary schemessome encouragement as part of national policyaccommodate tourist demands for faster road links to NorthDevon and its resortsencourage road freight as cheapest modelittle need for awareness campaign as majority already preferthe car

damage limitation strategies - manage existing road network

gradually introduce environmental pricingsome rural rail lines open; bus services operating wheresocially necessarypromoted as alternative to private car; some building ofcycleways and walkwayspromote use of public transport and cyclinggreater use of rail network and shipping encouragedexpansion of TravelWise campaign

target of reducing road traffic by 20% by 2025reduction in the need to travel through land use policiesall road investment diverted into public transport - significantimprovements: choice of mode increasedlarge transfer to this mode for journeys under 2 milescreate visitor management plan; relieve pressure pointsusing road hierarchy and access only roadsroad freight restricted to strategic lorry routes; all futureinvestment in rail and shipping freightwider publicity to raise awareness among both rural dwellersand tourist trade


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• road traffic levels - steady rise• travel trends• public transport

• cycling and walking

• tourism• freight transport• travel awareness

• road traffic levels• travel trends• public transport

• cycling and walking• tourism

• freight transport

• travel awareness

announced recently by the Department of theEnvironment, Transport and the Regions whichwill enable some village shops which mayotherwise have closed to remain open, is asmall step in the right direction. This schemewill provide 50% rate relief to post offices andgeneral stores, with a ratable value of less than£5000, in rural settlements with less than 3000people. With regard to freight, land useplanning could play a much bigger role insecuring distribution points, particularly foragricultural produce in the area. For instancethere are no Milk Marque distribution depots inNorth Devon. Milk produced in the area isroadfreighted to Somerset for processing andpackaging before returning by road forconsumption in North Devon.

Public TransportOften in rural areas it is not the number ofvehicles and drivers that is the problem but thelack of co-ordination and communication

between commercial and volunteerorganisations which can lead to severeunderutilisation of resources. Second, improvedtimetabling and connections would attract morepeople onto buses and trains. To achieve this,detailed research needs to be carried out toestablish the most appropriate route networkand service provision which must include earlystart times to serve journeys to work andschools, and evening timings to facilitate leisureand visits to friends and relatives. There willobviously be different requirements for differentrural areas but the principle is the same. Third,many respondents identified the lack of bus/railintegration as being a major disincentive totaking public transport. One respondent feltthat bus deregulation and rail privatisation maybe an opportunity to improve services since co-operation between bus and rail operatorsworking together on a commercial basis couldserve to complement each other rather than toincrease competition. Perhaps the lowest costinitiative would be to display taxi information,together with a telephone link at the bus stopwhich would enable travellers to reach theirfinal destination on public transport in relativesafety rather than risk being stranded at aremote rural bus stop. The Government’s recentallocation of an extra £41.7 million to localauthorities for rural bus services (including£1.42 million to Devon), may help to get somenew initiatives off the ground (DETR, 1998).

Table 5: Favoured scenarios

Scenario chosen Number who chose this scenarioScenario I 0Scenario I and II 2Scenario II 4Scenario II and III 5Scenario III 11Total 22

Freigh tContrary to the opinion of some respondents inthis survey, there are measures which countycouncils can take to both reduce the physicalimpact of HGVs on the countryside and toreduce HGV traffic overall. CPRE’s Losing Lanesto Lorries Campaign has identified these asfollows (CPRE 1997):

effective planning policies which reduce theneed to move freight long distances andwhich discourage developments which relyon long distance freight movements by roadas opposed to rail (currently industry inBarnstaple is largely located in two industrialestates, Roundswell and Pottington but thereis no freight depot or rail service);the creation of more local markets for foodretailing in which locally produced food is


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Scenario I: Dramatic rise in traffic on rural roads.

Scenario II: Road traffic levels rising

Scenario III: Road traffic levels gradually dropping

Traffic in rural areas forecast torise by 267% (high growthscenario); will be mostnoticeable on most strategicroutes such as the A361 linkroad, the Barnstaple urbanrelief roads, proposed Westernbypass and Downstream bridgeand tourist destinations on thecoast

Traffic in rural areas is forecastto rise by 127% (low growthscenario), while traffic noise androad lighting extend far into thecountryside

Making sure the NRTF do notcome true• traffic levels will drop by 20% over the period• use of selected road closures in sensitive areas (as proposed in the Lake District)• traffic management: use of speed restrictions and traffic calming in villages

Accept the forecasts as inevitable;carry out measures to allow for growth:• aim to accommodate predicted growth in traffic• build Western Bypass and Downstream Bridge without further delay.• build further urban relief roads around Barnstaple• widen Link road to dual carriage way• build by-passes to all villages congested in summer

Damage limitation strategies:• manage existing network: new roads will be built only where there is no alternative.• build Western Bypass and Downstream Bridge, which will bypass Barnstaple on the western side (currently largest capital item in the TPP (£23 million) despite Devon Co. Co. accepting the SACTRA (1994) conclusions that new roads induce new traffic).• gradually introduce policies to discourage car ownership• use of fiscal measures such as road pricing, environmental pricing

Trend reversing strategies:• increase petrol costs; increase the fixed costs of motoring (national policy)• increase parking charges particularly at tourist destinations and for car based commuters in towns such as Barnstaple.• congestion road pricing at popular tourist destinations: revenues to be reinvested in public transport systems.• charging to enter North Devon by car; incentives to enter North Devon by public transport (cheap return tickets, etc.).• traffic calming and speed restrictions

Table 4: Example policy solutions for three scenarios of road traffic levels

•

•

sold in the vicinity of where it has beengrown, reducing the need to transport it longdistances, (Barnstaple has a regular PannierMarket selling local produce and craftswhich could be replicated in other smalltowns);to identify strategic routes for lorries whichare best suited for HGV traffic and to signthem appropriately;to make greater use of weight, height andwidth restrictions in order to reduce thephysical impact of lorries on villages and thecountryside;to introduce lower speed limits, such as 20mph through villages, thereby reducing theimpact of lorries in the countryside andimproving safety.Such constraints also serve to help shift the

balance towards alternatives to car and lorry-based transport. In addition local authoritiescan lobby national and EU policy makers tointroduce legislation that will enforce the abovemeasures. Local authorities can also establishvoluntary agreements with freight companiesand the Road Haulage Association, to achievethe above and also to find other means to payfor structural maintenance and bridgestrengthening, a major part of the Devon TPP.

In North Devon, the existing rail linebetween Barnstaple and Exeter is underutilised.There is only one service each way per hourand no services at night. There is considerablepotential to introduce freight trains on thisroute and to provide connections to InterCitytrains at Exeter to London (via the GreatWestern and South West Trains routes), theSouth Coast, Bristol, Plymouth and Cornwall.

TourismWith the exception of the Tarka Trail initiative,there has been a clear reluctance to tackle theproblem of tourist traffic congestion in NorthDevon. There have been successful schemes inother parts of the country, for example the LakeDistrict Traffic Management Initiative whichhas introduced policy measures such asaccess-only roads, which make it easier for thetourist to use public transport to reach the mostsensitive beauty spots. Once again, thoroughconsultation is vital and could be initiated andmanaged by Local Agenda 21 branches.

Travel awarenessComputer hardware and links can be installedto enable an area controller to access centrallyheld information and distribute it toneighbouring parishes, information boards orhousehold distribution. Also, the TPPconsultation process could be extended toinclude the general public. The travel

awareness campaign, TravelWise, currentlyused in urban areas could be extended to ruralareas.

National changeChanges at the local level would be moreeffective if they were accompanied by a changeof direction at the national level. Even if onlysome of the policy recommendations werecarried out, local authorities throughout thecountry would immediately be better equippedto introduce a sustainable transport system thatpeople would want to use. Briefly, such changesshould include the following measures:

Internalise externalities - increase the cost ofvehicle use so that the full environmentalcosts of motorised transport are accountedfor (the revenue to be reinvested in publictransport);Change TPP funding – alter the system toallow for revenue projects (rather than justcapital projects) and for long term spending(three years instead of one year); give clearguidance to encourage local authorities to bidfor entire rural areas;Freight – enforce lorry operations andregulations, and restructure lorry taxes sothat the biggest lorries travelling the furthestpay the most tax;Public transport - create a strategic railauthority to ensure co-ordination and co-operation between rail operators; reform the1985 Transport Act to make special provisionfor rural bus services; introduce a nationaltravel awareness campaign to encouragemore use of public transport.

Concl u s i onsThis article has attempted to identifysustainable, cost effective and feasible solutionsto address the specific and complex nature ofrural transport. Interviews with keystakeholders in the case study area revealed thatthe majority would like to see not only afundamental change in approach to ruraltransport planning at the local level but alsorecognition of the need for a well defined ruraltransport strategy at the national level. The casestudy of North Devon has shown that invirtually every policy area, from the promotionof public transport to tourism initiatives,feasible policy alternatives do exist. Many arelow cost measures that can be initiated locally,either by the local authority or by communitygroups. While some may affect existing andfuture traffic levels only at the margins, thebenefits to communities and individuals inrural areas could be highly significant. However


•

•

•

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•

•

•

•

these measures would be greatly strengthenedby a recognition of rural transport policy issuesat the national level. The Government WhitePaper on an integrated transport policy is anopportunity to make special provision for ruralareas and to ensure that rural projects areallocated a significantly greater share of thelocal transport allocation.

Most importantly, a new national integratedtransport policy could provide the ef fectiveframework within which local change andaction could be facilitated, enabling some of therural initiatives discussed above to beimplemented more quickly and more easily.The solution to the rural transport dilemma,however, lies not only in transport policy, but


also in those other sectors which have affectedtransport trends over recent decades: housing,health, agriculture, economy, tourism, land use,etc. All activities have transport implications,and it has been changes in those otheractivities, as much as in transport itself, whichhave brought about the current rural transportdilemma. Just as it took several decades for thecurrent problems to become self-evident, so itmay take many years to bring about a significantreversal of past transport trends. There has beena significant shift in attitude over just the lastfive years. This brings some hope that newinitiatives can be put in place in rural areas andmay ultimately succeed in providing realbenefits to those who live there.

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Re fe r e n ce s

Council for the Protection of Rural England(1995) Tranquil Areas CPRE, London.____ (1996) “Rural areas left on the fringe ofLocal Transport Policy” CPRE, London [pressrelease, September].____ (1997) Lessening the Load: Lorries in theCountryside CPRE, London.Department of the Environment, Transport andthe Regions (1997) Developing an IntegratedTransport Policy – An Invitation to ContributeDETR, London.____ (1997) “Strang Reveals Latest TrafficForecasts” DETR, London [press release, 14October].____ (1998) “Rate Relief Will Benefit VillagePost Offices and Stores” DETR, London [pressrelease, 5 January].____ (1998) “£41.7 Million Boost For RuralPublic Transport” DETR, London [press releaseNo. 330, 28 April].Friends of the Earth Wiltshire Network (1997)Making Tracks in Wiltshire - rural package bids:the next generation FoE Wiltshire, Bristol.The Independent (1998) “Inch by Inch,England’s Green and Pleasant Land Is SlowlyDisappearing” The Independent, London, 26January.Mawhinney, B. (1995) “Freight Transport” inTransport : the way ahead - speeches by theSecretary of State for Transport Department ofTransport, London.MTRU (1994) All Change – Demand

Management Case Study: Norwich Institute forPublic Policy Research, Transport 2000 andMetropolitan Transport Research Unit, LondonPlowden, S. and Buchanan, K. (1995) A NewFramework for Freight Transport The CivicTrust, London.Root, A. (1996) “Rural Travel and TransportCorridors, Interim Report of the SMARTresearch” Environmental Change Unit,University of Oxford, Oxford.Root, A. and Fielding, W.J. (1996) “Placebo orPanacea? Rural Transport Corridors: some socialand environmental issues” World TransportPolicy & Practice vol. 2, no. 4, 20-27.SACTRA (1994) Trunk Roads and theGeneration of Traffic The Stationery Office,London.____ (1997) “Transport Investment, TransportIntensity and Economic Growth: InterimReport” Standing Advisory Committee on TrunkRoads Assessment, London. Available from

Swiderska, C. (1997) “Rural Transport Policy: aStrategy for North Devon” Unpublished MScthesis, Imperial College Centre forEnvironmental Technology, University ofLondon.Transport 2000 et al. (1996) At the Crossroads:Investing in Susta inable Local TransportTransport 2000 and CPRE, London.Transport Studies Unit (1992) Trends inTransport in the Countryside CountrysideCommission, Cheltenham [report no. CCP382].

Meaton & Kingham: Children'sPerceptions of Transport Modes:car culture in the classroom?World Transport Policy & Practice4/2 [1998] 12-16

Children’s Perceptions of Transport Modes: carculture in the classroom?

Julia MeatonDepartment of Geographical and Environmental Sciences, University of Huddersfield

Simon KinghamDepartment of Environmental Science, University of Hertfordshire

Addresses for correspondence:Department of Geographicaland Environmental SciencesUniversity of HuddersfieldQueensgateHUDDERSFIELDHD1 3DHe-mail: [email protected] of EnvironmentalScienceUniversity of HertfordshireCollege LaneHATFIELDAL10 9ABe-mail:[email protected]

Abs tr a ctChildren learn at a very early age how toidentify between different modes of transportand which are preferable. Breaking the cycle ofcar dependency among future generations willnot be easy.

K eyw or dsAdvertising, Children, Social conditioning,United Kingdom

Introdu ct i onMost planners, academics, and even politiciansnow agree that there is an urgent need toencourage people to reduce their use of cars andto persuade them to travel by alternative means(Royal Commission on EnvironmentalPollution, 1994). Unfortunately almost allresearch conducted in this area concludes thatthis is almost impossible to achieve (Andersonand Meaton, 1994a; Stokes and Hallett, 1992;Lex, 1995). People with cars are highly resistantto giving them up or even reducing their use.They offer a whole range of reasons for this butthese are often excuses to justify their use of ahighly convenient and flexible mode oftransport. There have been several attempts topersuade car users to use greener modes oftransport with the use of publicity andeducation campaigns (Anderson and Meaton,1994b; BBC, 1994; Ciaburro, 1994; Curtis andHeadicar, 1997), and such campaigns are oftenrecommended as imperative in order to changecar culture (Meaton and Morrice, 1996;Anderson et al., 1998). However, recentevidence suggests that such campaigns can be atbest, only marginally effective, and at worst,counterproductive. For example researchers inthe Netherlands attempted to find out theeffectiveness of different types of information instimulating car users to be more selective intheir car use (Tertoolen, 1994). The researchfound that while information concerningenvironmental effects helped raise individualsawareness of the need for environmental policy,the information did not lead to a change in therespondents behaviour. Information aboutfinancial implications of travel behaviour was

similarly ineffective in changing behaviour andactually led to greater criticism of alternativemodes. Combined information had nodiscernible effect. The researchers were left toconclude that displacement mechanisms werebeing used whereby increased knowledge of theenvironment leads the individual to pass theresponsibility on to others and increasedawareness of financial costs were dealt with bycriticising alternatives and a reassertion of thenecessity of using the car.

Another problem with publicity campaignsconcerning the environment is that to try andpersuade people that it is important for them tochange their behaviour, they have to useinformation that can convey the urgency of thesituation. This can mean that the publicity iseither shocking or full of dire warnings of theconsequences if people don’t do something.This again can also be counterproductive in thattypical responses to gloom and doominformation is to feel completely overwhelmedby it so that it induces feelings of helplessnessand despair amongst the target audience.

One of the problems is that car use appears tobe addictive (Vlek et al., 1993; RAC, 1995).Once a person has a car they travel more often,over longer distances, and cannot contemplatelife without their vehicle. If this is the case,policies should be formulated that are designedto deal with habits. Although there are variousapproaches to dealing with habits, most expertsagree that the best way of dealing with a habit isnever to pick it up.

Using this argument the best way of dealingwith unnecessary car use is never to start it inthe first place. Lex (1995) conducted a survey ofchildren aged between 13 and 16 in order tofind out their attitudes towards cars andmotoring. The results found that youngsters arealready as dependent on the car as their parentswith 90% of girls and 75% of boys saying thatthey would find it difficult to adjust theirlifestyles without a car. Most of the respondentsexpected to be driving their own cars by thetime they are 19 with over half wanting to owna sports car. When the boys were asked whatsort of things they would look for in a car thegeneral look of the car and speed were the mostimportant factors. Girls were more concerned

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about its colour and whether it had a goodstereo. For both genders, the environmentalfriendliness of the car was the least importantfactor.

The evidence suggests that children arealready hooked on cars at a very early age. Thishas the potential to manifest itself in the ‘carculture’ and the excessive car use which is sodifficult to reverse in later life. If attempts are tobe made to prevent the continuation of thisculture and to prevent future generationsbecoming addicted to the car, it is important totarget children who have yet to assimilate thepro-car propaganda. The Lex study suggests thatby the time children reach the age of 13 it isalready too late, and that by then children havealready been absorbed into the car culture. Thisis unsurprising given the amount of socialconditioning they are subjected to. Babies arefrequently given squashy car toys to play with,‘car’ is one of the first words many childrenspeak. Children learn from their parent’sbehaviour that cars are something to be admired(Stokes and Hallett, 1992) and children unableto walk are given dummy driving wheels sothey can mimic their parents while they drive.Recent advertising for the Vauxhall Astra hasshown babies ‘demanding’ certain qualitiesfrom cars. As they grow up society and evensome government ministers inform them of thecar’s superiority to public transport and theybegin to appreciate the different imagesassociated with different makes of cars. Forexample, few people are ignorant of the run ofSkoda and Lada jokes that were around in thelate 1980s. Such image association iswidespread in society and it is undeniable thatcertain modes of transport and certain types ofcar are associated with certain types of people.Porsche drivers are typically regarded as‘loathsome, stripe-shirted youthful city slickers’(Independent on Sunday 3rd April 1994) and theimage of a Skoda driver is of ‘an extremely oldman hunched over a steering wheel’ (The Times16th December 1995). Research in Norway basedon focus groups identified a range of images oftransport users including the following ; a cardriver was perceived as ‘a man, earning moreand having a higher position than the average,and is a successful person’; a train passengerwas ‘well dressed, effective commuter living inresidential areas and having a relatively highposition in society’; and bus passengers were‘women, old or very young, belonging to theworking classes or working as a functionary,and who cannot afford to have a car’.

The question is when does this socialconditioning begin to register with the child?Since Lex has found that many children aged 13have already absorbed the car culture, it was

decided that a study of younger children shouldbe conducted in order to identify the age atwhich children consciously become aware ofthe various images and lifestyles associatedwith different modes of transport.

M ethodGleaning information from children as young asfive can be problematic and using conventionalquestionnaires is often inappropriate. A newmethodology was required that would not betoo demanding for the children and which didnot require them to read or write. Show cardshave been used extensively with children(Kirklees Metropolitan Council, 1995) and havebeen found useful in extracting informationfrom children on their attitudes andunderstanding of a wide range of issues. It wastherefore decided that the methodology woulduse two sets of show cards. One set would shownine different types of transport including avariety of different types of cars, and the otherset would show nine different types or groupsof people. The children would then be asked tomatch up the two sets of cards putting thepeople together with the transport mode theythought they would be most likely to use. Table1 shows the mode and the people types shownon the cards and suggests the ‘correct’ pairings.

In addition the children were asked to rank themodes of transport in order of preference. Theywere also asked what their normal mode oftransport was, whether their family had a carand what type of car it was. Any relevantcomments made by the children were alsonoted. The survey was conducted at twoprimary schools in Huddersfield, WestYorkshire. 140 children were interviewed, 70 ateach school. Each age group (5-11) wasrepresented by 20 children, and both genderswere represented equally in each age group.

Table 1: Mode and people show cards and ‘correct’pairings.

Family estate car Family of fiveLandrover Lady in country clothes with dogTrain Business man wearing bowler hatMotorbike Denim-clad bikerBus Old ladyBicycle Sporty young manPorsche Flashy looking young manLada Old manBMW Professional couple

Mode Show cards People Show Cards

Meaton & Kingham: Children'sPerceptions of TransportModes:car culture in theclassroom?World Transport Policy & Practice4/2 [1998] 12-16

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Re s u l ts66% of the children were in families thatowned a car, and almost the same numberstated that the car was their normal mode oftransport. 31% said that the bus was how theynormally travelled, while two children usedtheir bicycles and one child mentioned the trainas their main mode.

The favourite mode of transport for allchildren was the motorbike, with the twoperformance cars, the BMW and the Porschecoming in at second and third respectively. Thebicycle and the family car were joint fourthfavourites and the Landrover fifth. The trainand the bus each had one admirer but the Ladawas not mentioned by any respondent. Theseresults suggest that there is a certain amount ofbrand awareness between car models, and thatalready public transport is unpopular. Somegender differences were evident. 50% moreboys than girls preferred the motorbike and thePorsche, while twice as many girls preferred thefamily car, bicycle and Landrover.

There are also variations evident in modepreference according to age. The numbers ofchildren favouring the motorbike declines withincreasing age, as do those favouring thebicycle, while those favouring the Porscheincrease in number.

An alternative way of assessing preference ofmode is to compare the ranking given to eachmode by the children. The frequencies ofrankings of children’s preference for transportmode were calculated. Except for firstpreferences for the Lada, all modes are rankedeverywhere from first to last. The BMW,motorbike, family car and Porsche all appear tohave higher ranks; Landrover and bicycle seemmore evenly spread, and train, bus and Ladaseem to lean more towards lower ranks. Toassess the rankings further, the mean ranks foreach mode were also calculated. The BMW hasthe highest mean rank (3.72) followed by themotorbike and the family car. Although themotorbike is the most preferred mode by thechildren, there are also a number of children(18) who rate it as their least or second leastpreferred, resulting in a less favourable meanrank than the BMW. The Porsche, Landroverand bicycle all have mean ranks of between 4.3and 4.7. The train, bus and Lada are the leastfavoured, with mean ranks over 6. This may notbe surprising for the ‘unfashionable’ Lada, butis worrying for the two modes of publictransport.

Table 1 suggested the ‘correct’ pairings.When the data was analysed it was found thatfor all modes, it was these hypothesisedpairings that got the highest score. However,there were great differences in the percentage of

children making the correct match, rangingfrom 75% to 27%.

The mode/person match that appeared tohave the most significant image association wasthe motorbike and the biker. 75% of thechildren put these two showcards together. Afurther 7% thought that the rather flash youngman might drive a motorbike. The remainingpercentage was made up of a mixture ofresponses with three children thinking that theold lady might drive a motorbike.

The family and the family car gained thesecond best score but with 55% of childrengetting it correct. This represents a much vaguerimage association than for the motorbike. Theprofessional couple were associated with thefamily car by 16% of the children and 9% and8% linked it with the sporty young man and thecountry looking woman respectively.

The only other pairing that was correctlyidentified by over 50% of the children was theLandrover and country woman. 52% of thechildren placed these two showcards together,9% thought the family might use it and 8%suggested the old lady as the most appropriateuser. Interestingly 6% thought that theprofessional looking couple might use it,possibly reflecting the current fashionability of4x4s and their recent manifestation as prestigesymbols.

The idea of buses being associated withwomen was evident amongst the sample with48% of children linking the old lady with thebus. A further 21% thought that the old manwould be likely to use this form of transport. Noother people groups were strongly associatedwith the bus.

The bicycle was linked with the sportylooking young man by 47% of the sample andthe only other people types showing anysignificant association were the flash lookingman and the commuter (14% and 11%respectively). Interestingly no women peopletypes were associated with this mode oftransport.

The Lada has long been regarded as aninferior model of car and this image appears tohave been assimilated by our sample. It was theonly form of transport not mentioned by anyoneas their favourite mode and it seems that it islargely associated with older people. 41% of thepupils linked it to the old man and 16%thought the old lady might be the most obvioususer.

The BMW had similar levels of imageassociation but this time 37% linked it to theprofessional couple and 15% with the sportyyoung man. Both the flashy looking young manand the commuter were linked to the BMW by13% of the children. The Porsche, while being

Table 2: The number of children that correctly matched numbers of pairs, by age.

0 1 5 2 10 1 51 8 40 5 25 1 5 1 5 1 52 2 10 4 20 3 15 5 25 1 5 1 53 5 25 7 35 4 20 2 10 1 5 2 10 2 104 4 20 2 10 2 10 4 20 2 10 4 20 2 105 1 5 3 15 4 20 5 25 3 15 4 206 1 5 4 20 2 10 4 20 5 25 5 257 2 10 2 10 4 20 6 308 1 59 1 5 3 15 1 5

Mean no. of pairs 2.45 2.35 3.75 3.90 5.60 4.90 5.75

the third most popular mode of transportcaused some confusion amongst the children asto who would be most likely to drive it. Some27% thought that the flash young man would bethe most obvious user, a further 19% thought itwould be driven by the professional couple and16% thought the commuter might use it.Interestingly no child linked the old lady andthe old man with the Porsche or the BMW. Thechildren in this sample appear to recognise thatthe Porsche and the BMW are rather upmarketmodes of transport, but are less able todistinguish between the types of people mostlikely to use them. However, they do appear tobelieve that old people are unlikely to drivesuch vehicles and have identified the moresuccessful looking people (young men,professional couple, commuter) as being themost likely users.

The train was associated with the commuterby 27% of the children , although 16% thoughtthat the flash young man might travel by train.This would seem encouraging in that the trainas a mode of transport doesn’t appear to bebeset with the negative imagery associated withbuses. However, since 15% of the childrenlinked the old man with the train and 11% theold lady, it would still appear that publictransport is still largely associated with older,poorer sections of society even by children ofprimary age.

This research aimed to find out at what agechildren begin to notice different forms oftransport and when they begin to associatedifferent modes with different types of people.The results so far clearly show that this imageassociation is well and truly established by thetime they reach the age of eleven. In order to bemore precise about the actual age when theystart to differentiate and absorb society’s valuesfurther analysis was conducted.

The age children were starting to accuratelymatch pairs was compared. The results suggestthat the older the children, the greater the

number of correctly matched pairs. To ascertainwhether this is statistically significant chi-square analysis was done for each separatemode pair to see whether the ability toaccurately match the pairs was related to thechildren’s age.

The ability to match the pairs for bicycle,bus, family car, Landrover, motorbike andPorsche are all significantly related to age(p

previous ones. If we are to break this cycle ofadmiration, aspiration, acquisition andconsequent addiction, we must act at all levelsof society.

It has been argued that young people areoften overlooked in the transport debate (Turnerand Pilling, 1998). This research suggests thatyoung children also need to be brought into thediscussion. The next real issue is how to goabout it. The problem is that although there arerecognised forums for teaching and influencingchildren on values, rights and wrongs, etc.,(schools, television, parents) these all representand sanction the values that are being ques-tioned. School teachers, for example, frequently


drive cars to work, many parents own, use andpreen their vehicles, and society in generalcontinues to applaud the motor car. It istherefore unlikely that campaigns undertaken inany of these single spheres will be successful.What is required is a complete package ofinnovative campaigns, targeted at all sections ofsociety, in different ways. We cannot change theattitude of the children without changing theattitudes of their parents, and we cannot changethe attitudes of parents without changing thevalues in society. Once it is accepted that thisradical action is required, more research will benecessary to identify the optimum means ofachieving it.

Re fe r e n ce s

Anderson, M. and Meaton, J. (1994a) “Greenertransport in carrot and stick mix” Planning 4thAugust.____(1994b) “The Green Journey Guide” WyeCollege.Anderson, M., Meaton, J., Potter C. and RogersA. (1998). “Public Preferences for GreenerTransport Towns” Transport and theEnvironment Economic and Social ResearchCentre, London.BBC(1994) Drive [television programme] BritishBroadcasting Corporation, London.Ciaburro, T., Jones, P. and Haigh, D. (1994) “Afeasibility Study for a Transport AwarenessCampaign: Raising Public Awareness as aMeans of Influencing Travel Choices”Transportation Planning Systems vol. 2, no. 2.Cullinane, S. (1992) “Attitudes Towards the Carin the UK: some implications for policies oncongestion and the environment”Transportation Research A vol. 26a, no. 4, pp.291-301.Curtis, C. And Headicar, P. (1997) “TargetingTravel Awareness Campaigns; whichindividuals are more likely to switch from carto other transport for the journey to work?”Transport Policy vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 57-65.Kirklees Metropolitan Council (1995)ntroducing the Concept of Susta inability to

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Children Kirklees Agenda 21/Kirklees Education Advisory ServicesLex (1995) Lex Report on Motoring - what drivesthe motorist Lex Services, London.Meaton, J. and Morrice, D. (1996) “The Ethicsand Politics of Private Automobile Use”Environmental Ethics vol. 18, pp. 39-54.RAC (1995) Car Dependence [Research carriedout by TSU/ESRC] Royal Automobile Club,LondonRoyal Commission on Environmental Pollution(1994) “18th Report, Transport and theEnvironment” HMSO, London.Stokes, G. and Hallett, S. (1992) “The Role ofAdvertising and the Car” Transport Reviews vol.12, no. 2, pp. 171-183.Tertoolen, G. (1994) “Free to Move? A fieldexperiment on attempts to influence private caruse and the psychological resistance it evokes”Faculty of Social Science, Heidelberglaan,Utrecht.Turner, J. and Pilling, A. (1998) “Catching themYoung: young people’s travel and the scope forinfluencing their travel behaviour” RGS-IBGAnnual Conference, Kingston.Vlek, C., Hendrckx, L. and Steg, L. (1993) “Asocial dilemmas analysis of motorised transportproblems and six general strategies for socialbehaviour change” Transport Policy and GlobalWarming ECMT/OECD, Paris.

Abs tr a ctThis paper seeks to analyse the EuropeanUnion’s approach to transport policymakingand the programme of Trans-European Net-works. The strategic considerations at the heartof this programme bear little relation to theUnion's stated commitments to sustainabledevelopment in all policy areas. Sustainabledevelopment can only be implemented on astrategic level in policy formulation and not, asseems to be the case with TENs, as an after-thought. The paper concludes by identifying theissue of transport for ‘need’ as a guidingprinciple in the formulation of ‘sustainablemobility’.

K eyw or dsPolicy formulation, Trans-European Networks

Introdu ct i onThis paper examines the confusion generatedby the failure to clarify the conceptualdistinctiveness of ‘sustainability’ and‘sustainable development’. Both terms areessentially contested but it is argued that thesubstitution of ‘sustainable development’ for‘sustainability’ results in what McManus calls a‘… marginalised sustainability dis-course’. (1996, p. 54).

This divergence is examined with referenceto the issues of transport and mobility. Theconsideration of the issue of sustainability inthis policy area must begin by questioning thenotion of the need to travel. A more radicalnotion of sustainable development is proposedwhich entails the incremental application of along term sustainability strategy.

This is contrasted with the currentsustainable development agenda, where thebasis of a sustainable transport policy has beenonly partially worked out. Questions continueto be raised about what sustainabledevelopment means with regard totransportation and mobility. The availablepolicy documents often contradict each other.This is demonstrated in the discussion of the‘Trans-European Networks’ (TENs).

The Process o f Sustai nableDevel opmen t

“… any process of ‘sustainable development’must be based upon the principle it is tryingto achieve - that is, sustainability. […] Assuch, ‘sustainability’ becomes a goal whichmay be unattainable given the need to startfrom current ecological, political, economicand social realities, but still one that shouldbe pursued as an appropriately positionedyardstick against which ‘sustainabledevelopment’ can be measured.” McManus(1996, p. 69)If we treat development here as ‘process’ and

sustainability as ‘end’, at least we havesomething to work with, as McManus says, a‘yardstick’. Doubtless this rather simplemeasure will fare no better than many otherattempts for clarity on this issue. Argumentsover absolutes in regard to sustainability will nodoubt continue ad infinitum, in the evaluationof policy as well as in more theoretical realms.This ‘yardstick’ approach can however beinformative in terms of assessing the generaldirection of policy making. This is what weshall attempt in the following analysis ofEuropean transport policy and sustainabledevelopment.

In practice, much of what passes for policyon ‘sustainable development’ has a muchnarrower remit. The chief focus of much policyclaiming to be ‘sustainable’ is on issues moreusefully placed under the category of ‘quality oflife’. Clearly there is a distinct overlap between‘sustainable development’ and ‘quality of life’agenda, but it would be foolhardy to equatethem. Sustainable development goes beyond ashallow environmental approach or short termconcern for living standards. This paper isimplicitly concerned with sustainability whichmay in general underpin debates over quality oflife, but which addresses a global concern withlimited resources and capacities. Thedifferences are in matters of scope, in thatsustainable development deals with a broaderrange of issues, not all necessarily linked toquestions of human welfare. In addition, theconcept of futurity is crucial to sustainabledevelopment as a move in the direction ofgreater sustainability and is thus concerned

Transport Policy in the EU: A strategy forsustainable development?

Wixley & Lake: Transport Policyin the EU: A strategy forsustainable development?World Transport Policy & Practice4/2 [1998] 17-21

Address for correspondence:Social Science ResearchCentreSouthampton InstituteEast Park TerraceSOUTHAMPTONSO14 0YNe-mail:[email protected]@solent.ac.uk

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Sarah Wixey and Steve LakeSocial Science Research Centre, Southampton Institute

with intergenerational and intragenerationaljustice. Concern with quality of life can be andoften is more limited in terms of thepopulations who are deemed to matter.

Conceiving of sustainable development as aprocess which refers to the originating notion ofsustainability is a reminder of the implicitlyradical content of both terms, regardless of theextent to which they have been watered downin practice. This may be an inevitable feature ofbeing ‘… (arguably) the dominant globaldiscourse of ecological concern’ (Dryzek, 1997,p. 123). Being central in discourse over theenvironment, sustainable development retainsan important resonance which requires frequentre-iteration in terms rather less equivocal thanthose of governments and bureaucrats. In orderto progress the debate on sustainabledevelopment, we may not insist on consensus,which would surely only be wishful thinkinganyway, but we should insist on reflection.Indeed, there is an urgent need to re-state if nota detailed definition (or even a ‘shopping list ofsustainable goods’), what the purpose ofsustainable development is in the broadestsense.

“Sustainable development, therefore,amounts to a strategy for environmentalsustainability because of the belief that aparticular form of development will providethe conditions within which environmentalsustainability can be guaranteed” Dobson(1996, p. 422).No doubt there will be continued

disagreement over what sustainability andsustainable development entail. The problemthen hinges on equally contested notions ofsustainability, for which there are already over300 definitions available (Dobson, 1996).Sustainability in the broadest possible(anthropocentric) interpretation is concernedwith maintaining the present natural capacitiesof the biosphere whilst satisfying the needs ofthe human population. Numerousinterpretations of this underlying principle seekto elaborate this basic starting point, inbewildering directions at times.

This paper examines one aspect of the debateon sustainable development within the contextof the European Union. The treatment ofdifferent dimensions of political economy interms of policy sectors does tend to mitigateagainst the overall strategic essence of thesustainability issue. In treating the issue oftransport in this distinct fashion we are payingnecessary attention to this problem as far aspossible. It is certainly the case however thatone cannot hope to engage with real politicaldebates and the business of policy makingwithout taking these issues to some extent on

their own terms. The issue of sustainabletransport is therefore not seen as entirelyseparate from other considerations despite thefact that this often appears to be the outcome ofsuch a focused approach.

‘Sustainable Transport’?A lack of commitment to a strategic notion ofsustainable development would justify apessimistic conclusion that, at best, sustainabletransport policy has rhetorical value, but islargely subordinated to issues of ‘economicgrowth’. This seems to be the current approachtaken to the issue of transport in the EuropeanUnion. The sheer quantity of resourcesconsumed combined with the negative exter-nalities which result make transport a particu-larly urgent issue for those concerned with thesocial and natural environments.

Maddison, et al. (1996, p. 221) examine the‘Main Factors in Transport Social Cost’ andconclude that work undertaken indicates fourkey factors of concern. These are: roadaccidents; noise nuisance; air pollution andclimate change. The emphasis is on the identifi-cation of economic costs related to these fourareas, which a number of studies repeatedlyshow to be most problematic. The measurementof ‘quality of life’ has become synonymous withthe practical approaches to measuringsustainable development. In this approach,identification of ‘sustainability indicators’ israther more to do with the quality of life agendathan evolving a strategic, cross-sectoralresponse to the need for sustainabledevelopment.

The campaign to develop sustainabletransport policies within a European contextposes great challenges to the Community and itsmembers. In the face of growing transportliberalisation the Union has a commitment toits current and prospective members, to providetransport policies which meet the needs of itscitizens. Such requirements range fromincreasing transport safety; protection of theenvironment and investing in the quality andeffectiveness of transport infrastructure byusing new and innovative means. The EuropeanCommission accepts that it is necessary to actquickly to prevent damage to the environment,as well as to the economies of member statesand their citizens. The Commission has alsoexpressed the hope that member countries willadopt its plans for developing a series ofintegrated transport projects in order to attemptto reduce the growing levels of internationaltraffic. The traditional ‘predict and provide’ and‘business as usual’ approaches to resolvingtransport grievances can no longer be used as

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remedies to the Union’s growing transportproblems.

The development of European transportpolicies, commonly referred to as the ‘Trans-European Network’, is a priority projectfor the European Commission, avowedly as anattempt to establish social and economiccohesion and sustainable mobility. Before suchprojects can be developed there is a require-ment to reconcile two fundamental objectives;on the one hand mobility, and on the other, thewellbeing of the environment. The TENsprogramme, based on the complementarity andinteroperability of modes of transport, has manyroles to fulfil in an ever growing Union. Thecentral objectives of the TENs are:

to support trade and economic activity;prevent further infrastructure inadequacies;act to bind Europe together;and remove obstacles which prevent furtherenhancement of the Single European Market.A key concern will be to eliminate any

difficulties in the general implementation of thecommon market which arise from transportregulations. For example, in having cross borderpassageways without passport or customscontrols.

According to the Commission, the proposednetwork will

‘take advantage of synergies and offerpassengers and freight operators greaterchoice. This will stimulate efficiency,improve services, enhance safety and providean optimal network from an environmentalpoint of view’ (Johnson and Turner, 1997, p.48).Environmentalists however do not agree with

the Commission’s sentiments. The proposedseries of projects, it is feared, will cause hugedisruption to natural environments, splitcommunities, create ‘improvements’ which willresult in greater road usage, thus conflictingwith its other priority commitment stressed inthe Maastricht Treaty - sustainable mobility.Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock refusesto accept that the network will be inherentlydamaging to the environment (June 1995). Hehas put forward three arguments to defend theprojects. First, that a vast majority of the roadnetwork has already been constructed and someprojects will consist of upgrading low qualityexisting roads. The majority of new construc-tion will take place in the peripheral and poorerparts of the Community, namely Ireland,Greece, Spain and Portugal. The aim is to bringtheir road networks up to the same standard asthe rest of the EU. Environmentalists wouldargue the days of basing road developments onthe perceived need to accommodate increasedmobility are over. Policies should be aimed at

reducing the need to travel by private car andprovide incentives to use alternative,environmentally less damaging modes.

Secondly, Kinnock has used the budgetallocation as proof of his commitment tore-orienting modal priorities. Of the 90 billionECU destined to be spent on the first 14 priorityprojects 80% will go to rail, 9% to road/raillinks and 10% to roads. Johnson and Turnerdispute this claim, for they argue the criticismconcerning the assessment of TENs depends onthe number of projects rather than the size ofinvestment. They state:

‘68 North-South road links and 60 West-Eastroad links are included in the guidelinescompared to only 11 links in total for rail,whereas 80% of the spending on theChristophersen priority projects by 2010 isdestined for rail, which accounts for only 6%of passenger and 15% of freight traffic.Roads, the dominant mode, will receiveabout 20% of the investment’ (1997, p. 61).The essential point therefore is that the

varying levels of expenditure reflect theprevious priorities which favoured roadconstruction in the majority of cases, in the UKparticularly. As such, the higher figures for railreflect the rather parlous state of many parts ofthe European railway network and are not dueto privileging rail over road.

Finally, Kinnock argues in addition to theexisting environmental impact assessmentrequirements, the Commission is developing amethodology for carrying out a ‘StrategicEnvironmental Assessment’ (SEA) of the entirenetwork. The methodology for this SEA will betested in 1999 when the projects are subject tothe five year review. Assessment of individualprojects have now been completed. Questionsare raised as to how sustainable the networkactually is, bearing in mind the SEA of theentire network was conducted after theprogramme was completed and the plans werein place. In addition, Johnson and Turner haveexpressed concern about the validity of themethodology used in conducting the SEA in thefirst place (1997, p. 90).

The Commission has also developed plans toassist economic regeneration projects. In turnsuch developments automatically lead toincreased traffic levels if they are not subjectedto careful and progressive planning. Preventionof rising traffic levels requires adopting newand innovative approaches to transport policies,such as investing in transport telematics;eliminating barriers to administration andcross-border traffic flows; improvements inmulti-modal links and investing in the qualityand attractiveness of public transport. (Kinnock,1997)

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Commitments to sustainable developmentdeclared in the Maastricht Treaty and the FifthEnvironmental Action Programme (5EAP)cannot be maintained with the current TENspolicy. The priority projects favour long dis-tance mobility, gained at the expense of shorterdistance transport. As previously mentioned,the TENs will result not only in adverse socialeffects, but also has major implications for theenvironment by damaging the landscape,fuelling the growth in demand for transport andcontributing to the growth in greenhouse gases.Whitelegg has estimated that there will be ‘anincrease in carbon dioxide emissions of 15-18%above the existing forecast, which threatens toundermine attempts to meet greenhouse gasreduction targets’ (Whitelegg, 1995). Even afairly basic appreciation of the notion ofsustainable development would surely involvea commitment to reducing the need to travel.

The reason for the TENs programme and theretreat from Maastricht, Rio and 5EAP is notdifficult to identify. No matter how hard the EUtries to create ‘environmentally friendly’policies, it still retains economic prosperity asits major objective. As Johnson and Turnerargue, the ‘accelerated establishment’ of theTENs programme is part of a wider strategy toenhance Europe’s economic competitiveness.(1997, 14). Job creation and a competitiveeconomy are therefore seen as a necessaryrequirement for the long term advantage of theCommunity. The objectives of sustainabledevelopment rather than being a part of thisstrategic overview, appear to be an afterthought.

The primacy of economic considerationsover environmental concerns is illustrated byNeil Kinnock’s opening speech for the EuropeanCommission Conference on Fair and EfficientRoad Pricing. Kinnock cited the UK RoyalCommission on Environmental Pollution reportand it’s recommendation for an increase in fuelduties as an incentive to limit distancestravelled in private cars. He stated that thereport advocated these fuel cost increases to bephased in across the EU. However, the reportrecommended that this measure should be usedin conjunction with other policies, such aspublic/private partnership investments inpublic transport. Kinnock’s justification for notencouraging the widespread use of increasedfuel duties across the EU was purely financial:

‘apart from the fact that such a proposalwould get no support from the Council ofEconomic and Finance Ministers, anincentive which relied on fuel price riseswould simply increase costs without offeringany certainty of durable improvement or realreduction in most of the significant andcostly problems of transport’ (CEC, 1997).This emphasis on lower costs is directly

contrary to EU environmental policy based onthe Polluter-Pays Principle and its commitmentto internalise the external cost of transport. Thefailure to appreciate the necessity for findingalternatives and compensating for losses as faras practicable is not really considered byKinnock. The increased costs in duties wouldpotentially

Documents

World Transport Policy & Practice · Title: World Transport Policy & Practice Author: DTP: Chris Beacock, PDF: Pascal Desmond Subject: Editor: John Whitelegg Keywords: Volume 4, Number