ABSTRACT
The earlier chapters in this book defined a sustainable transport system as one that prioritised the opportunities for walking and cycling in urban areas, followed by improving the opportunities for, and the environmental performance of, public transit and multi-occupancy vehicles (Section 4.2). Only when these modes are not feasible options should reliance on low polluting private cars take precedence. It was noted that this hierarchy of transport modes, although replicated in many transport policy documents, is rarely activated in practice in the Western world. One exception to this is the city of Freiburg in Germany, where the design of car-free neighbourhoods has been successfully implemented. This case study is discussed in Chapter 7 and the outcomes derive from stable political commitment and conceptual and performance integration (Section 4.2) across several public policy sectors. Chapters 4 and 5 argued that the tools of government (viz. legal, financial, development and information powers) will have to be used in new ways to achieve institutional integration (vertically and horizontally) and presented a vision, and an action plan, for an integrated multi-scalar government system (national-regional, city-region, neighbourhood/municipality). This chapter brings together the menu of transport and land use policy instruments currently available, which are considered appropriate for securing a more sustainable and ambulant-friendly transport experience in the built environment. These specific types of interventions include legal and fiscal instruments applied by higher tiers of government to encourage resource efficiency and/or reduce noise pollution in residential areas, improvements to the physical infrastructure for active travel (walking and cycling) and educational instruments that encourage behaviour change. Those that alter the physical infrastructure in the built environment are categorised as ‘hard’ instruments and those that specifically seek to change the relative costs of services and behaviour are known as ‘soft’ instruments or measures. As Chapter 5 has suggested, the way these instruments are combined together and the process of their selection and implementation are integral to their effectiveness. The concepts of ‘accessibility’ and ‘exergy’ introduced in Chapter 3 (Section 3.2) refocuses transport planning on the accessibility needs of residents, tourists and commuters in the most resource-efficient way. The majority of the population do not have access to a car on a daily basis and, therefore, Chapters 2 and 3 argued that the wide range of
public resources should be integrated to meet their diverse travel and interaction needs in an equitable way. The presence and safety of the young child walking or cycling to school is as important as the needs of the commuter. This chapter aims to address the following questions:
1 What combination of instruments, applied at which government levels, can effectively reduce carbon and other natural resource use while synergistically enhancing the opportunities for active travel in urban environments?
