The House of Commons Transport Committee is enquiring into the British Strategic Road Network. Written submissions have been published, including my own. While most of the evidence submitted is reasonably predicable, given the established positions of the organisations concerned, I was particularly interested in the offerings of Ian Williams, a very experienced former transport consultant, now at Cambridge University, and of the consultants WSP. They both draw attention to changing patterns of land us, particularly increasing urban density, which are limiting the growth of car travel.
There is an ongoing debate about the future magnitude of road traffic growth. At its most broad brush, this is ‘peak car’ versus continuation of historic growth trends. At a more granular level, account needs to be taken of local demographic changes – where people choose to live and work, and how, in consequence, they choose to travel. On the whole, higher urban densities mean less car travel and more rail, both urban and interurban.
David – I wonder if you meant here to refer to WSP’s evidence at : http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/WrittenEvidence.svc/EvidenceHtml/3005? We have been following the debate on peak car closely and conducting some of our own research where possible. It should be no surprise our response aligns with Ian William’s as of course he worked with WSP for many years and we continue to keep in touch. We’re happy to share more of our thoughts should this be of interest to your or your readers.
Tim, thanks for the correction, which I’ve now made to the blog posting.