Curbing car use: the dangers of exaggerating the future role of public transport in Transport in Transition (ed. Francis Terry), Public Finance Foundation, CIPFA, 1996
Analysis of National Travel Survey data showed that most of the growth in car use has not come about from transfer from public transport but from additional journeys generated by the ownership of a car, and that it is far more desirable and cost-effective to promote cycling and walking than bus use for urban journeys currently made by car.
Speed Control and Transport Policy (with Stephen Plowden), Policy Studies Institute, 1996
Report on the connections between speed and the various harmful effects of road traffic. The likely outcome of lower speeds on journey times and travel times and the wide benefits of lowering vehicle speeds beyond that of casualty reduction, are analysed. Identifies the scope for the reduction of various harmful social, environmental and economic costs and proposed variable speed limiters, set according to the particular class of road, as means of enforcement.
Roadside plaques to mark fatalities in Social Innovations – A Compendium (eds. Nicholas Albery et al.), 1993
One of the most effective ways of making it easy to put road crashes involving personal injury “out of sight, out of mind” is by removing all the evidence of their occurrence quickly. A proposal was put to the Greater London Council in 1984 that, provided close family members agreed, a circular black plaque recording details of each fatality should be erected adjacent to the site of each road fatality.
Reviving the City: Towards Sustainable Urban Development (with Tim Elkins and Duncan McLaren), Friends of the Earth and Policy Studies Institute, 1991
In favour of the compact city in The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form? (eds. Mike Jenks, Elizabeth Burton, and Katie Williams), E&FN Spon, 1996
The contributions to these two publications proposed changes to the form of existing and new urban settlements to take account particularly of the implications for sustainability of climate change. Among the recommendations were relatively high residential densities to allow for economy in the provision of shared heating and waste disposal services, to reduce the need for motorised travel, for priority to be given to the non-motorised modes, for intensive development to be sited close to public transport interchanges, and for the minimisation of resource use, especially fossil fuels. In recent years, the Government has committed itself to policies reflecting appreciation of the justification for these recommendations.
Danger on the Road: the Needless Scourge (with Stephen Plowden), Policy Studies Institute, 1984
Road danger identified as a much more serious problem than the number of casualties suggests. Concludes that cost estimates of road danger are far too low as they take no account of the other ways in which unsafe conditions impinge on people’s lives. This leads to a distortion of priorities within transport policy. Inter alia, lower speed limits and use of modern technology to help enforcement are recommended.
Social Consequences of Rail Closures (with Anne Whalley), Policy Studies Institute, 1980
A report commissioned by British Rail reached conclusions based on the findings of a survey of ten rural rail closures. It found that the substitution of bus services had resulted in a marked diminution in the quality of public transport and thus a significant curtailment of the activity and opportunities of the communities from which the rail services had been withdrawn. It recommended ending the programme of further closures.
Social Goals for Transport Policy in Proceedings of Conference, Transport for Society, Institution of Civil Engineers, 1974
This paper argued that social and ethical principles should be introduced more widely into the transport planning transport process and that this process should become less mechanistic. It set out goals based on these principles and the alternative policies to which their attainment would lead. It concluded by outlining some of the implications of their adoption.
Personal Mobility and Transport Policy (with Anne Whalley and Irwin Henderson), Policy Studies Institute, 1973
A large measure of “mobility deprivation”, in the main resulting from the increase in mobility of car owners, was recorded among those without a car – especially children, the elderly and the infirm. The report recommended the reversal of priorities so that the non-motorised modes, and then public transport, are favoured. It concluded that the key to the solution posed by growth in car ownership and use lies in reducing the need for motorised travel through the medium of appropriate transport and planning policies.
The social costs of hypermarket developments Built Environment, Vol.2 No.2, February 1972
Patterns of shopping and their traffic consequences were outlined, leading to a questioning of the wisdom of giving planning permission for large-scale retail stores, particularly out-of-town stores, in view of the transport implications, associated social and environmental costs and effects on the viability of local shops.
Mobility in New Towns Doctoral Dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1970
The relative merits of each form of transport were evaluated from the viewpoint of their social, environmental and economic costs and benefits. The thesis concluded that the optimal solution for the design of new towns lies in reducing the need for motorised travel through land use planning and promoting walking as the principal means of travel. Studies the relationship between urban land-use development in relation to new towns and transport patterns and the wide-ranging consequences of the rise in the ownership, use and dependence on cars.
Dr Mayer Hillman 