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•This is a commentary on David Metz's 2017 paper in this journal.•Reviews the relationship between transport, accessibility and the final economy.•Responds to Metz's critique of the 2014/5 UK Value of Travel Time Study.•Proposes an evolutionary approach to transport appraisal.

AbstractThis paper identifies, relates and compares two popular modelling approaches to estimate the value of travel time changes. The first (random utility [RU]) assumes that the random component of the model relates to the difference between the utilities of travel options; the second (random valuation [RV]) assumes that it relates to the difference between the value of travel time and a suggested valuation threshold. This paper gives details of the theoretical relationship between the two approaches and compares them empirically at several levels of model sophistication. Datasets from two national studies (the UK and Denmark) are employed. The results show a consistent superiority of the RV approach and a systematic gap in the value of travel time between approaches. A similar pattern across models is found in both countries. This raises questions about the validity of results using the RU approach. The analysis has direct implications for both researchers and policy-makers.

Recent electroweak physics results obtained using proton-proton collision data at s=7TeVand s=8TeVrecorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are reviewed. The topics covered include: measurements of diboson cross sections, a measurement of the branching ratio for the rare decay Z→4ℓ, and studies of vector boson fusion and vector boson scattering via measurements of the electroweak components of Z jjand W±W±jjproduction. The constraints on anomalous triple and quartic gauge couplings resulting from these measurements are also summarised.

This work provides initial investigation into whether equivalence between the mean-variance and scheduling approaches to transport reliability can be applied in the context high frequency public transport services. Each of these approaches is briefly outlined and the current work is framed by previous research attempting to demonstrate equivalence: both theoretically and empirically. The basic assumptions underpinning the theoretical approach to equivalence are explored and then re-formulated based upon which variables are likely to be known. The concept of headway is introduced to the theoretical approach using notation from previous research in order to represent public transport services. An empirical illustration of the method is undertaken using smart card data obtained from the London Underground metro system. The data are combined with timetable data and a previously developed method for estimating passenger preferred arrival times, which in turn allows the theoretical equivalence between mean-variance and scheduling approaches to be tested empirically. This is initially performed for a single origin-destination (OD) pair and then for 23 other ODs of varying headways. The example using a single OD demonstrates that even for a high frequency metro service, application of the theoretical equivalence is problematic, with variable parameters substantially affected. In the case of many ODs, a linear relationship is observed between the ratio of public transport to standard scheduling parameters and headway, suggesting the theoretical equivalence becomes less viable as headway increases. At the lowest values of headway, it is concluded that the equivalence remains problematic and further work is required before equivalence between the mean variance and scheduling approaches can be implemented in the public transport context.

The impact of delays on passenger railways, with specific reference to the national rail network in Great Britain, is examined. A key distinction is made between punctuality (trains running late) and reliability (trains canceled). In Britain these have been combined into a public performance measure, which deteriorated markedly as a consequence of the Hatfield accident in 2000 but has since gradually improved. Causes of delay can be associated with train operators, infrastructure authorities, and external factors. In Great Britain, train operators apparently have been better able to manage delay than the infrastructure authority. Traditional means of valuing delay have used stated preference methods that incorporate a measure of mean lateness and have shown that a minute of late time is typically valued as equivalent to 3 min of timetabled journey time. This is referred to as the reliability multiplier. Studies have also focused on the value placed on the standard deviation of journey time and compare this valuation against that of mean journey time to produce the reliability ratio. The most recent work finds that the reliability ratio may be higher than previously thought, whereas the reliability multiplier may be lower than previously thought, especially for long journeys. In addition, recent work that has made use of revealed preference data to infer elasticities of demand with respect to delays indicates that most market segments are relatively insensitive to delays. In total, this recent work suggests that passengers in Britain may be becoming less sensitive to reliability, and reasons for this are examined.

Local Government - the Management Agenda. Edited by George Jones. ICS Publishing with Local Government Chronicle, 1993. £18.95.Local Empowerment and Business Services: Britain's Experiment with Training and Enterprise Councils. By Robert J. Bennett, Peter Wicks and Andrew McCoshan. UCL Press, 1994. Pp.327. £45.The Enterprise Culture and the Inner City. By Nicholas Deakin and John Edwards. Routledge, 1993. Pp.273. £13.99 pb; £35 hb.The Politics of Leisure Policy. By Ian P. Hendry. Macmillan, 1993. Pp.235. £9.95 pb.Local Government Economics in Theory and Practice. Edited by David King. Routledge, 1992. Pp.184. £40 hb.Local Government in Liberal Democracies: An Introductory Survey. Edited by J.A. Chandler. Routledge, 1993. Pp.209. £37.50 hb; £12.99 pb.Quasi Markets and Social Policy. Edited by Julian Le Grand and Willbartlett. Macmillan, 1993. £12.99.The Manager's Guide to Information Systems and Technology. By Rowland Waterhouse. Longmans, 1993. Pp.104. £45.'Inlogov Informs on Europe'. Edited by L. Grayson and M. Hobson. Inlogov Informs, Vol.3, No.3, 1993. Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham. £35.Disaster and After: Social Work in the Aftermath of Disaster. By Tim Newburn. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1993. Pp.204. £16.95 pb.From Hierarchy To Contract. Edited by Anthony Harrison. Policy Journals, 1993. Pp.190. £25 hb; £9.95 pb.

Housing, the State and the Poor Policy and Practice in Three Latin American Cities. by Alan Gilbert and Peter M. Ward. Cambridge University Press. 1985. pp. 352. £44.50.Housing Policy and Equality: A Comparative Study of Tenure Conversions and their Effects. by Lennart J. Lundqvist. London: Croom Helm. 1986. pp. 235. £19.95.Housing and Homelessness, a feminist perspective. by Sophie Watson with Helen Austerberry. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1986. pp. 186. £7.95Building the Industrial City. edited by Martin Doughty. Leicester. Leicester University Press, 1986. pp. 212. £27.50.

The paper reports on a questionnaire survey of a sample of projects funded by the Urban Programme. Six of the most frequently funded project types were surveyed, and questionnaires sent to local authorities and voluntary agencies running the projects. Four main areas of investigation are reported—the aims and achievements of projects and the relationship of project aims to programme aims; the origins and development of projects; the testing of some claims made of the Urban Programme; and a testing of local authority and voluntary agency reactions to the Urban Programme in general. Most projects were aimed as much at improving access to and information about other services, as they were with providing a direct service. Whilst most projects were rated as successful, the notion of what constituted success varied considerably. More than a half of all projects were modified from the original aims and structure during the course of development and more than two-thirds would be altered in more than detail were application for urban aid to be made anew. Of the four ‘claims’ about the Urban Programme tested in the survey, two were found to be largely substantiated-that the programme has a ‘multiplier’ effect, and that one of the major areas of benefit of the programme lies in the spin-offs it produces by way of experience gained and lessons learned. The two others were not substantiated—that programme funding enables rapid implementation of projects, and that the programme provides the only possible source of funding for such projects, which would otherwise not be established

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Nicola Swainson, London: Heinemann Educational. 1980. 306pp. £3.95pbSoviet and Chinese Aid to African Nations. Editd by Warren Weinstein and Thomas H Henriksen, New York: Praeger. 1980. 184pp. £13.00Nepal in Crisis: growth and stagnation at the periphery P Blaikie, J Cameron and D Seddon, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1980. 311pp. £17.50. Electoral Politics in the Middle East: issues, voters and elites. Edited by Jacob M Landau, Ergun Özbudun and Frank Tachau, London: Croom Helm & Stanford: Hoover Institution. 1980. 335pp. £19.95Survey of Economy, Resources and Prospects of South Asia. M L Qureshi Colombo: Marga Institute (in association with Third World Foundation). 1981. 274pp. npSociology of Southeast Asia: readings on social change and development. Edited by Hans-Dieter Evers Oxford University Press. 1981. 292pp. £17.50.State Manufacturing Enterprise in a Mixed Economy: the Turkish case. Bertil Walstedt, London: John Hopkins (for the World Bank). 1981. 354pp. £6.00The Political Economy of Income Distribution in Turkey. Edited by Ergun Özbudun and Aydin Ulusan, London: Holmes & Meier. 1980. 533pp. £22.95Minangkabau Social Formations: Indonesian peasants and the world economy. Joel S Kahn, Cambridge University Press. 1980. 228pp. £15.00Industrial Growth, Employment and Foreign Investment in Peninsula Malaysia. Lutz Hoffman and Tan Siew Ee Oxford University Press. 1980. 322pp. £19.50Egypt: economic management in a period of transition. Khalid Ikram, London: John Hopkins University Press. 1980. 444pp. npKorea: a decade of development. Edited by Yunshik Chang Seoul National University Press. 1980. 312pp. $10.00Pakhtun Economy and Society. Akbar S Ahmed, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1980. 416pp. £15.00Chinese Educational Policy. Jan-Ingvar Lofstedt Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 1980. 203pp. SKr 185The Caribbean Issues of Emergence: socio-economic and political perspective. Vincent R McDonald, Washington DC: University of America. 1980. 356pp. $21.25. $11.95pbThe Structure of Brazilian Development. Edited by Nuema Aguiar New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books. 1979. 258pp. $14.95Literacy and Revolution: the pedagogy of Paulo Freire. Edited by Robert Mackie, London: Pluto Press. 1980. 166pp. £3.50pbTheories of Imperialism. Wolfgang J Mommsen, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1981. 180pp. £8.50Colonialism 1870-1945: an introduction. D K Fieldhouse, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1981. 151pp. £8.95