Public versus Private Transport

Abstract

This book compares the economic and environmental characteristics of public and private transport modes, and reviews the potential for modifying modal split in each of the main sectors of the transport market. Opening with a review of the traditional track-cost argument on the relative merits of public and private transport, the author concludes that it is the comparison of costs and benefits of future infrastructure changes rather than historic revenue and cost comparisons that is relevant to the issue of choice of modal split. A consideration of the relative pollution and resource depletion caused by different modes furthers the conclusion that normal commercial criteria do not provide a good way of allocating resources in the transport sector. Alternative methods of modifying modal split are then considered. A chapter is devoted to each of the main sub-divisions of the transport market. On urban passenger transport it is concluded that a strategy based on major use of public transport rather than large-scale road building is feasible and has many advantages. In the inter-urban and rural passenger market, whilst there is evidence of resource misallocation the problem of how to deal with it is harder to resolve. Although much freight traffic is captive to road transport given patterns of institutions and land use - there is likely to be scope here too for beneficial changes not only in modal split but also more generally in methods of freight handling. The final conclusion is that it is only by looking at specific locations and specific traffics that the question of optimal division between public and private transport can be resolved. /TRRL/