Traffic in Towns & Transport in Cities

STEP, Edinburgh November 2013

Paul Buchanan

Structure

• Colin Buchanan

• Traffic in Towns

• Transport in Cities

Early days

• Buchanan & Halcrow

• Maps/town planning

• Road Engineer,

Exeter

• Safety – 8,000 road

deaths p/a in 1930s

less than 2,000 now

In the war …

Bridge over the River Nile

Juba, S Sudan

Demobilisation leave

RIBA

Petrol Head and Environmentalist?

“Cars – the ultimate go anywhere, at

any time, with anything, transport

machines”

“Nothing is quite so pleasurable as

driving a powerful car slowly”

“There is a great deal at stake,

conserving, in the face of the

onslaught of motor traffic, a major

part of the heritage of the English

speaking world”

Rebel?

• Union activist?

− First Division civil servants vs “professionals”

− “temperamentally unsuited to planning” (!)

− Moved to The Inspectorate

• Roskill Commission – Note of Dissent

− Did not accept the results of the cost-benefit

analysis – never trusted economists at all

− Certainly not afraid to stick with his convictions

Traffic in Towns

• Framework

• Right and wrong

• Legacy

Traffic in Towns Framework

1. Transport a function of land use – origins &

destinations

2. Major roads separated from “environmental

areas”

3. Environmental standards imply absolute

limits to traffic

4. Accessibility – Cost – Environment

5. Environmental management as well as civil

engineering solutions

Recommendations & Options

• One recommendation “the sooner attention paid

to the adverse environmental effects of motor

traffic…the better for the nation”

• Rest of report devoted to the choices available

to authorities. We did not choose for them!

Right and Wrong?

Right? Wrong?

Framework Title – public transport?

Forecasts Title – towns?

Trade-offs and Options Traffic segregation

Presentation Environmental Areas

Legacy Conclusions

• Generations of UK transport planners

• Transport Planning – a UK industry?

• Incredible longevity – the analytical framework &

policy choices much the same today

INTRODUCING

TRANSPORT IN CITIES

Transport in Cities

If how to cope with future traffic growth was the key issue of

the last 50 years, what are the key issues now?

• Urbanisation growing rapidly

• Technology changing fast

• Economic drivers, environmental constraints

• Outward sprawl of cities

• Ageing populations

• Internationalisation

How do we deal with those questions?

• Fixed land use

• Straight line growth forecasts

• Transport valued almost entirely in time savings

• Policy objectives fixed

Predict and

provide is not as

easy as you

might think!

UK transport 1900-1970

100,000

10,000

1,000

100

10

1800

1850

1900

1950

2000

TGV

Air

Two-wheeler

Horses

Waterways

Rail

Cars & buses

All modes

Trend

ME

TR

ES

Growth of Mobility in France

Distance Travelled per Day per Capita (Grubler, 1990)

Behavioural Issues

TRIPS

HOURS

KMs

Time Savings Safety

Transport

Land Use

Economy

New TechnologyDriverless vehiclesPersonal Rapid TransitDemand Responsive TransportReal Time Information

Economic DriversAgglomeration & DensityTransport EfficiencyFlexibilityInvestment costsOperating subsidy/profit

Environment

Global TrendsPeak Car?UrbanisationWifi connectivityWalk/cycleShared space

EnvironmentCarbonGlobal WarmingAir QualityHealth – active transport

TransportIn

Cities

Transport & Land UseLand use sets transport demand, but transport also sets land use with road & rail producing v different development patterns

Quality of PlaceHow can transport make cities nicer places to live and work?What is that worth?

Policy SupportInfrastructure is not enough!Policy support across planning, taxation, charging, environment is vital

Scenarios for Air Quality/Emissions

Negative Positive

Urbanisation More congestion for more people

Technology Fuel efficiency Autonomous vehicles Electrically powered

Sprawl More car dependency

Policy Tools Road Pricing Travel Demand Management Active travel

Health Health issues may be bigger than we think

Economic Drivers Quality of Place Density

Conclusions

• Traffic in Towns – remarkably insightful

and longstanding

• Framework for thinking about the issues

rather than an answer

• Still relevant 50 years on

• Transport in Cities – I’m on a hiding to

nothing!

Thank you pbuchanan@globalskm.com