URBAN TRANSPORTATION POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS PEER COUNTRIES
All developed countries experience similar trends and problems in urban transportation: growth of cities and affluence result in an increase in car dependency. Increased volumes of car travel lead to congestion and many negative effects, often termed as the "collision of cities and cars". A review of urban transportation policies and their implementation in the United States and its peer countries--Australia, Canada, and countries in Western Europe and East Asia--indicates that all peer countries except Great Britain place major emphasis on maintaining the human orientation of cities. They pursue policies aimed at achieving multimodal transportation systems and preventing automobile dominance. The United States, after significant strides in that direction up to 1980, has returned to policies favoring car travel and reducing support for alternative modes--transit, bicycles, and walking. This trend largely ignores the spirit and mandates of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The gap between the United States and its peer countries is increasing. Present U.S. policies are likely at aggravate this situation. An example is presented: New York is compared with its peer cities in accessibility for long-distance travel. Its competitiveness in this respect is lagging. This trend cannot be ignored. As its peers learned from the U.S. experiences in highway and traffic engineering in the past, the U.S. should now learn from its peers how to avoid total car dependence and implement multimodal transportation systems to improve the livability of its metropolitan areas.
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- Summary URL:
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309062055
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1576, Financial, Economic, and Social Topics in Transportation.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Vuchic, V R
- Shin, Y E
- Bruun, E C
- Krstanoski, Nikola
- Publication Date: 1997
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: p. 132-139
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Serial:
- Transportation Research Record
- Issue Number: 1576
- Publisher: Transportation Research Board
- ISSN: 0361-1981
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Accessibility; Alternatives analysis; Automobile travel; Bicycles; Case studies; Cities; Human factors; Intercity travel; Multimodal transportation; Public transit; Trend (Statistics); Urban transportation policy; Walking
- Uncontrolled Terms: Long distance travel
- Geographic Terms: Australia; Canada; France; Germany; Japan; Netherlands; New York (New York); Norway; Singapore; Switzerland; United Kingdom; United States
- Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00743130
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 0309062055
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Nov 17 1997 12:00AM