This website supports a new book, Peak Car: the future of travel, published in 2014 as an e-book and paperback. The paperback edition is also available direct from the publisher.
Four articles based on the book were published in the magazine Local Transport Today in March-May 2014. Four articles
Travel is central to our lives. Decisions about where and how we live and work depend crucially on the possibilities for daily travel. Over the past two centuries, the development of transport technologies has transformed our lives by allowing us to travel faster than walking pace. But this era of ever-faster travel has come to an end. Car use has reached its peak and is indeed declining in the most dynamic large cities, where digital technologies seem more attractive than clunky cars. This book offers a comprehensive account, based on the author’s research, of why and how we travel, and what is changing as populations grow and technologies develop.
David Metz is a visiting professor at the Centre for Transport Studies, University College London, where he is engaged in analysis of travel behaviour and the transport system. He has had a varied career as research scientist and civil servant, which included five years as Chief Scientist at the UK Department for Transport.
Based on his close understanding of decision-making within government, the author challenges the basis for current national transport policy and investments. He contrasts sensible policies adopted by London with the counterproductive policies of national government.
This is a follow-up to his 2008 book, The Limits to Travel. The new book is based on his recent research and analysis that has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and is intended to make the ideas accessible to non-specialist readers.
David can be contacted at david@davidmetz.org or david.metz@ucl.ac.uk