ABSTRACT
In our everyday lives we are all constantly learning from past experiences. Although we may not consciously recognise the fact, many everyday actions that we take and behaviours that we exhibit are shaped by previous experiences. This is true for the most significant aspects of most people’s lives, for instance in personal relationships or at work, but also for the apparently more mundane aspects such as the choice of route or transport mode used for a journey. If one choice proves problematic we are likely to make adjustments and choose, where possible, to adjust travel plans. Where no alternatives are available, we are likely to become frustrated at the lack of choice available and by our inability to turn those things we have learned from previous experiences into practice in our everyday lives. Given that at this level learning from the past is so ubiquitous it is perhaps surprising that an understanding of past processes and experiences do not more fully inform present-day policy making at either national or local levels. This is certainly the case for most transport policy (the focus of this volume), where, as in most other areas of policy making, decisions tend to be taken on the basis of short-term political or practical (usually financial) expediency. We are not arguing that history repeats itself, or that every contemporary transport dilemma has an historical counterpart, but we are suggesting that in many contexts of transport planning a better understanding of the context and consequences of past decisions and processes could lead to more effective policy decisions. This requires not only that those who make these decisions are aware of, and learn from, past events; but also that historians analyse and present the past in a way that is useful for the present. The chapters in this volume collectively explore and demonstrate these points across a wide range of transport modes and contexts.
