ABSTRACT
Transportation studies permit alternative responses to the control and management of urban travel to be monitored and evaluated in the light of evidence taken at a point in time about existing travel behaviour. The time scale involved is usually at least 20 years, but the approval of a strategy based on a time period of this kind does not easily resolve the serious problems which confront movement in cities now rather than in a decade or two. The solutions suggested by a sophisticated analysis of existing problems may take large amounts of money and time to implement and, indeed, goals may never be achieved because of changes which take place between the present and the forecast year. There are a large number of short-term problems to be solved, and much time and effort has been devoted to finding ways of overcoming them. Probably the most crucial problem concerns the conflict between towns and road traffic. It has become apparent that the physical form of most British towns is not suited to the effects of uncontrolled growth of car ownership and use. Saturation level for car ownership has yet to be reached but there is already insufficient room to accommodate flows of private vehicles at peak hours or to provide space where vehicles can be parked conveniently near to the destinations that their users are attempting to reach. Private vehicles offer flexibility of choice, but this very flexibility is choking urban arteries, particularly those which lead to, and provide circulation within, the heart of the city, the central business district, which still contains a large proportion of all the jobs, shopping and other trip attractions.
