Search

I measure the economic effects of greenbelts that prohibit new construction beyond a predefined urban fringe and therefore act as urban growth boundaries. I focus on England, where 13% of the land is designated as greenbelt land. I provide reduced-form evidence and estimate a quantitative equilibrium model that includes amenities, housing supply, a traffic congestion externality, agglomeration forces, productivity and household location choices. Greenbelt policy generates positive amenity effects, but also strongly reduces housing supply. I find that greenbelts increase welfare because amenity effects are sufficiently strong. At the same time, however, greenbelts decrease housing affordability by limiting housing supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable interest in the contribution that workplace-based mobility management interventions can make to achieving more sustainable mobility patterns. A number of studies have evaluated the impacts of workplace-based interventions on the commuting behaviour of staff, but the broader potential of such initiatives depends on the willingness of employers to support them. Little research has been carried out examining the perspectives of senior managers. The research which has been conducted has focused on employers located in urban or rural areas. This paper reports on in-depth interviews with senior managers of employers located in two peri-urban areas on the edge of the city of Bristol, south-west England. The research was carried out during a period when public funding was available to support the introduction of sustainable transport measures. The interviews aimed to find out whether senior managers perceived the promotion of sustainable transport as relevant to their business concerns, and how this varied between different types of organisation. The results showed that all managers believed that measures to increase the use of alternative modes for commuting and local business travel could be beneficial for their business, even if these benefits were indirect and difficult to quantify. The perceived benefits of sustainable transport included: helping to ease traffic congestion on the road network, thereby reducing associated delays and stress; helping employers manage excessive demand for car parking; improving staff wellbeing; and widening the recruitment opportunities among workers lacking access to a private car. Employers who perceived the greatest benefits were also the most willing to engage with public authorities in introducing new workplace-based mobility measures. The findings on employer support for mobility management are relevant not only to peri-urban areas but also to employment sites within other areas (in particular suburban areas and the rural hinterland) where the same challenges may apply of encouraging alternatives to single occupancy car use without the means to invest in comprehensive public transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to estimate the causal effect of accidents on traffic congestion and vice versa. In order to identify both effects of this two-way relationship, I use dynamic panel data techniques and open access 'big data' of highway traffic and accidents in England for the period 2012–2014. The research design is based on the daily-and-hourly specific mean reversion pattern of highway traffic, which can be used to define a recurrent congestion benchmark. Using this benchmark, I am able to identify the causal effect of accidents on non-recurrent traffic congestion. A positive relationship between traffic congestion and road accidents would yield multiplicative benefits for policies that aim at reducing either of these issues. Additionally, I explore the duration of the effect of an accident on congestion, the 'rubbernecking' effect, as well as heterogeneous effects in the most congested highway segments. Then, I test the use of methods which employ the bulk of information in big data and other methods using a very reduced sample. In my application, both approaches produce similar results. Finally, I find a non-linear negative effect of traffic congestion on the probability of an accident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics by which policy ideas rise and fall can be linked to the intimate interactions between discrete physical time dimensions, such as policy windows, and distinctive perceptions of time, particularly the connections made between past, present and future in the form of narratives. Kingdon describes how ‘an idea whose time has come’ can be carried forward in the key policy change instrument of a policy window, but much remains to be understood about the dynamics of windows, including why they apparently open for a relatively short time period, and the significance of the legacy left by windows in terms of their ability to influence later events. The article seeks a greater understanding of these dynamics through an examination of the potentially vital role played by the construction of narratives. The case study is taken from the politically sensitive area of urban road pricing, in the form of the London Congestion Charge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Macroscopic fundamental diagrams (MFD) of traffic for some networks have been shown to have similar shape to those for single links. They have erroneously been used to help estimate the level of travel in congested networks. We argue that supply curves, which track vehicles in their passage through congested networks, are needed for this purpose, and that they differ from the performance curves generated from MFD. We use a microsimulation model, DRACULA and two networks, one synthesizing the network for Cambridge, England, and one of the city of York, England, to explore the nature of performance curves and supply curves under differing patterns of demand. We show that supply curves differ from performance curves once the onset of congestion is reached, and that the incorrect use of performance curves to estimate demand can thus seriously underestimate traffic levels, the costs of congestion, and the value of congestion relief measures. We also show that network aggregated supply curves are sensitive to the temporal distribution of demand and, potentially, to the spatial distribution of demand. The shape of the supply curve also differs between origin–destination movements within a given network. We argue that supply curves for higher levels of demand cannot be observed in normal traffic conditions, and specify ways in which they can be determined from microsimulation and, potentially, by extrapolating observed data. We discuss the implications of these findings for conventional modelling of network management policies, and for these policies themselves. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Developing a network for cycle traffic is a complex process, particularly in a dense and heavily motor trafficked city such as London. The London Cycle Network Plus has delivered cycle routes on strategic highways, and local cycling stakeholders have assisted in the design process through cycle route implementation and stakeholder plans. Stakeholders were trained in aspects of highway engineering and used the London cycling design standards as a reference tool. The paper summarises the lessons learnt, and concludes that knowledge from stakeholders is needed to help in the design process, and such intense involvement was novel in transport planning. The current proposals for cycle superhighways and other borough transport schemes seek to build on previous participative successes and also emphasise planning issues in the geographical neighbourhood of routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents tips to travelers about getting around London in England. They can travel through public transportation via the London Underground and the city's buses which operate on the same system of six fare zones. In taking taxis, travelers can head for a cab rank or hail one in the street or take minicars when the regular ones are scarce or the Tube stops operating. They are discouraged to drive around the city due to traffic and parking. The city has designated paths for bicycles along the streets.