An initial review of UK transport policy and practice since the 1960s leads into more detailed examination of travel behaviour and its relevance to the design, analysis and evaluation of transport policies. Issues covered include: satisfying mobility versus improving accessibility; the crucial relationship between land use planning and transport; environmental degradation and the need to develop a sustainable transport policy; financial, administrative, and organisational aspects of transport; and the demographic, economic, social and technological factors which influence the demand for travel. Students will also be introduced to theories and models of behaviour which form the basis for understanding and predicting the response of a travel market to transport policies. The course will be illustrated with case studies.   

By the end of the module students should be able to:

1.  appreciate the challenge facing transport planners in meeting travel needs and desires
2. understand the key elements of transport policy in the UK, EU and USA and their impact upon travel
3. appreciate the demographic, social, economic  and technological  factors influencing the demand  for travel
4. appreciate the motivations behind and barriers to behavioural changes in transport
5. critically appraise a range of transport policies for promoting greater sustainability at national, regional and local levels
6. possess a knowledge of theories and models of travel behaviour applied to both travel markets and individuals within them
7. be aware of some of the approaches employed to plan and manage transport systems
8. appreciate public  knowledge of and attitudes towards environmental externalities in the transport sector
9. understand the need for an integrated critical approach to planning and transport, and especially the appraisal of transport policies, in order to protect and conserve both built and natural environments
10. understand the way in which personal values and attitudes, of both the public and the planner, can dominate economic factors in questions of modal choice selection

The module will be delivered by lectures, problem-solving live projects, and participatory workshops.

1. individual skills in problem definition (conceptualisation; identification of analytical, organisational, and reactive dimensions of policies) and in research and data collection (using both primary secondary sources)
2. the ability to produce a consultancy-style report, involving the synthesis and application of knowledge to practice, and including an appreciation of the need to take a strategic view
3. demonstrable applied team work skills in oral and graphic presentation, through working in small groups to research and present material in seminars

• 50% Individual Report
• 50% Group Presentation

• Travel trends and the evolution of transport policy and planning
• The relationship between travel behaviour and urban form
• Policy instruments to influence travel behaviour
• Trip reduction programmes in the UK and USA
• Low carbon travel – walking, cycling and reducing the need to travel
• Transport impacts: society, economy and the environment
• The role of government: transport policy and transport interventions
• Live project

Banister, D. (2002), Transport Planning, London: Spon (2nd edition).

Breheny, M. J. (ed) (1992), Sustainable Development and Urban Form, London: Pion.

Bruton, M. J. (1992), Introduction to Transportation Planning, London: UCL Press (3rd edition).

Buchanan, C (1964), Traffic in Towns (shortened version), London, Harmondsworth: Penguin/HMSO

Newman and Kenworthy (1989) Gasoline Consumption and cities.  Journal of the American Planning Association 55(1), 24-37.

Stern, N. H. (2007) The economics of climate change: the Stern Review, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Cole S. (2005) (3rd Edn.), Applied Transport Economics, London: Kogan Page.

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