SOME SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH NEEDS

Four major shifts that will shape research and policy agendas through the 1980's are enumerated and discussed. It is noted that the highway development backlog has now been completed and ways are being sought for improving the performance of the transportation network. Economists, lawyers, environmentalists and sociologists are entering the field of transportation planning and management. The concern for equity has supplanted that for efficiency in the above field. It is also noted that the hitherto powerful role of transport in shaping land use may now be ending. Another major shift is the decline in public transit and the absence of an obvious successor. Concern about highway accidents, energy, and the environment has generated engineering changes that will improve the auto highway system. However, other problems remain, the most serious is that the accessibility afforded by the automobile is not available to everyone. The more effective use of transit services, small vehicle transit service, and paratransit using automobiles as the public transit vehicle are likely prospects for the future. Studies of new organizational forms for redistributing services is recommended. Comments are made on the influence of the automobile on land use patterns.

• Record URL:
  • https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trcircular/187/187-006.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00978515
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This article appeared in Transportation Research Circular No. 187, Transportation Research Needs Related to Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • WEBBER, M
• Publication Date: 1977-12

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: p. 32-34
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Circular
  • Issue Number: 187
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0097-8515

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Automobiles; Environment; Land use; Paratransit services; Public transit; Research; Socioeconomic factors; Transportation; Transportation operations; Transportation planning; Transportation policy
• Old TRIS Terms: Transportation administration; Transportation research
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Research; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00173193
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 18 1981 12:00AM