Curbing car use: The dangers off exaggerating the future role of public transport

摘要

A consensus is being reached that, in the light of all its adverse consequences, the rising demand for car travel must be contained. Restrictions on its use will have to be progressively but speedily phased in during the next two decades (for instance, through private and public parking control, much heavier taxation of fuel, traffic calming and so on). This paper has sought to establish that policy initiatives based on improving the quality of public transport services as part of this process are limited. The evidence presented suggests that the diversion of substantial funding to public transport will lead to only a small transfer from the car to it, and does not represent a cost-effective policy option for reducing the demand for car-based patterns of travel. Whilst it is important to stress that investment in public transport is justified for the motorised travel of all adults without access to a car or who prefer not to use a car, and of course all children who have reached an age when they can travel on their own, buses are in the main a far less realistic alternative to the car than the door-to-door convenience of walking on short journeys or the door-to-door convenience of cycling on journeys up to four to five miles in length — in combination, representing close on two to three of all current journeys. And whilst rail can be a more realistic alternative to the car on long journeys, in practice, these have been seen to represent only a very small proportion of all journeys: opportunities for transfer from car to rail are limited, though much more so than at present if due attention is paid to promoting the combination of rail and bicycle as is practiced in some continental countries.