ABSTRACT
The transport policy and management problems which confront British cities are currently being resolved by using a mixture of short— and longer-term solutions of the kind outlined in chapters 8 and 9. But it would be misleading to suggest that there is unanimity about the ‘correct’ solutions: in practice, given the dynamic characteristics of movement in cities, it is unlikely that these can ever be identified. The problems which are demanding attention vary considerably between urban areas; the policy for a commuter centre in Surrey is unlikely to be appropriate to the needs of a more self-contained market town in Cumbria. Short-term policies and traffic-management schemes of the kind outlined in the previous chapter seem to vary, for example, according to the size and function of urban areas (see Traffic Engineering and Control, vol. 14, 1972, pp. 87–9), while many of our towns and cities still have very indeterminate policies on a wide range of detailed local problems arising from parking demand, public transport services or traffic congestion. Equally, while progress is being made in respect of improved coordination of urban transport and the legislation governing it, there is still some way to go (see chapter 8), especially in metropolitan areas where the transport problems are usually most pressing. In view of this it is rather hard to present broad generalizations about the trends apparent in the policy and management responses of British cities to the demands for movement with which they are all confronted to some degree. This task is inherently difficult because of, firstly, the constant shifts in the complexion and character of movement in each city and, secondly, the emergence of more general issues during the last ten years which are relevant at all levels in the urban hierarchy. These are the questions increasingly asked about the relationship between transport and the urban environment; the related consequences of utilizing new and improved transport technology on urban form, development and the environment; and the social consequences of contemporary attitudes towards transport provision in cities. It therefore seems pertinent to identify some of these issues in this chapter in order to demonstrate their importance for contemporary and future urban transport decision-making.
