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. Students will engage in a site-specific project which examines accessibility and the potential for sustainable transport. The module will be assessed through a site-specific sustainable transport poster (30%) followed by an individual report (70%).  

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 policies 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. 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
7. understand the way in which personal values and attitudes, of both the public and the planner, can affect travel behaviour including modal choice

The module will be delivered by lectures, presentations by invited speakers, problem-solving through project work and seminars. 

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 and secondary sources)
2. the ability to produce a consultancy-style report, involving the synthesis and application of knowledge to practice including an appreciation of the need to take a strategic view
3. demonstrable applied skills in oral and graphic presentation, through working on designing and presenting poster material

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Individual Poster and Presentation

30%

Poster: max. 2 A3-sheets; Presentation: approx. 5 minutes

Autumn

Individual Report

70%

2,800 words

Autumn

Students are permitted to be reassessed in a module which they have failed, in line with the course regulations. The reassessment will usually take place during the summer.

Typically, topics covered in this module include:

• 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
• Changing travellers' behaviour
• 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

• Banister, D. (2002), Transport Planning, London: Spon (2nd edition).
• Breheny, M. J. (ed) (1992), Sustainable Development and Urban Form, London: Pion.
• Brotchie, JF, Anderson, M and McNamara, C (1995) “Changing Metropolitan Commuting Patterns” in J Brotchie, M Batty, E Blakely, P Hall and P Newton (Eds.) Cities in Competition (chapter 20). Longman: Melbourne.
• 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
• Headicar P (2009) Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain, Routledge, London
• Ewing, R and Cervero, R (2010), Travel and the Built Environment, Journal of the American Planning Association 76(3): 265-294
• Rodrigue, J-P, Comtois, C & Slack, B (2006) The geography of transport systems, London ; New York : Routledge.
• 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.