Journal of Transport Geography 81 (2019) 102525

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Journal of Transport Geography

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo

Critical review

How the Journal of Transport Geography has evolved since 1993 T

a,b,⁎
Richard D. Knowles
a
School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom
b
Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Journal of Transport Geography was founded in 1993 by British and American transport geographers to create
Accessibility a focus for research in the field of transport geography. This paper examines how the journal has expanded and
Mobilities evolved over 25 years into one of the leading international research journals in transport, geography and eco-
Sustainability nomics.
Transport geography

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Transport Geography was experien-
cing an international resurgence following new research opportunities
provided particularly by globalization; transport deregulation and pri-
vatization; the collapse of communist regimes with command econo-
mies; mobility and gender gaps; impacts of large transport infra-
structure projects; increasing urban congestion; transport's reliance on
finite fossil fuel resources; and greater environmental awareness. This
was marked particularly in the publications of the Institute of British
Geographers' Transport Geography Study Group (for a full list, see
Hoyle and Knowles, 1992, 1998; Knowles, 2012).
1. Origins and remit of the Journal of Transport Geography
From the outset, the Journal of Transport Geography has provided an
international forum for research analysing: impacts of transport policies
including deregulation and privatization; impacts of investment in
transport infrastructure; the development of transport networks; the use
and operation of passenger and freight transport systems; the demand
for transport; transport and welfare; environmental issues; and trans-
port and leisure.
The journal also includes Special Issues or Special Sections on to-
pical themes, critical reviews of transport books and a Transport
Geography Page highlighting research activity in different countries.
Nine Research Agendas were identified after consultation with the
28 Board members and 40 other transport geographers, namely:

Prior to 1993, there was no dedicated journal for research in
Transport Geography and research was scattered in a very wide variety
of Geography and Transport journals. To fill this gap, the Journal of
Transport Geography was established by the Transport Geography Study
Group of the Institute of British Geographers (since 1995 renamed as
the Transport Geography Research Group [TGRG] of the Royal
Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers) with the
support of the Transportation Geography Specialty Group of the
Association of American Geographers, who nominated an Associate
Editor, to stimulate research and discussion and provide a focus for the
sub-discipline of Transport Geography (Table 1).
The journal's original publisher was Butterworth-Heinemann
(Oxford), taken over in 1995 by Elsevier (Oxford). The ambition was to
create a truly international research journal, and the original Editorial
Board contained members from 18 countries and five continents. The
remit was to develop a specialist journal within geography, focussing on
transport and spatial change at local, national and global scales.
• Policy practice and analysis
• Impacts of infrastructure provision
• The declining friction of distance
• The mobility gap and differential accessibility
• Demand modelling
• Transport, environment and energy
• Travel, recreation and tourism
• Challenges in theory and methodology
• Information for transport planning operation (Knowles, 1993).
In the first six issues of the journal, eight of the nine themes (ex-
cepting travel, recreation and tourism) were addressed in one or more
papers, whilst a tenth research theme was identified: effects of climatic
hazards on transport operation and use (Knowles, 1994).
Research issues in sustainable transport and social change, and
globalization, information technology, and institutional considerations
were assessed at joint meetings of the European Science Foundation

⁎
Corresponding author at: School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom.
E-mail address: r.d.knowles@salford.ac.uk.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2019.102525
Received 21 November 2018; Received in revised form 29 April 2019; Accepted 6 September 2019
Available online 14 October 2019
0966-6923/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R.D. Knowles Journal of Transport Geography 81 (2019) 102525

Table 1 transport sustainability intensified with transport geography's interest

Journal of Transport Geography: Editors, Associate Editors and Book Reviews in deregulation, urban development and regeneration (e.g. Banister,
Editors 1993–2019. 2011; Dobruszkes, 2006; Dobruszkes and Graham, 2016; Ferbrache and
Editorsa Associate Editorsb Knowles, 2016; Goetz, 2012; Horner, 2013; Knowles, 2006b). The vis-
Richard Knowles (UK) 1993–2012 Howard Gauthier (USA) 1993–1995 ibility and reach of transport geography research was boosted further
Tim Schwanen (UK) 2013–2015 William R. Black (USA) 1995–1998 by the Transport Geography Research Group's establishment of two
Frank Witlox (Belgium) 2016- Bruce Ralston (USA) 1998–2004
dedicated book series on Transport and Mobility (published by Ashgate,
Book Reviews Editors Andrew Goetz (USA) 2004–2012
John Farrington (UK) 1993–1994 Jon Shaw (UK) 2005–2011 UK, 2000–2018) and Transport, Mobilities and Spatial Change (pub-
Richard Gibb (UK) 1994–1999 Kevin O'Connor (Australia) 2008- lished by Edward Elgar, UK, 2018 onwards).
Clive Charlton (UK) 1999–2008 Karen Lucas (UK) 2011–2015 Contemporary research needs in transport geography were re-
Karen Lucas (UK) 2009–2011 David Keeling (USA) 2012- assessed through seminars at the Association of American Geographer's
Susan Kenyon (UK) 2011–2013 Becky Loo (Hong Kong) 2013-
Conference in 2006 (Horner and Casas, 2006) and at the Royal Geo-
Lisa Davison (UK) 2014–2018 Peter V. Hall (Canada) 2014-
Angela Curl (New Zealand) 2018- Helena Titheridge (UK) 2016–2018 graphical Society Conference in 2012 (Curl and Davison, 2014).
Elizabeth Delmelle (USA) 2019- The growing volume of high quality research papers led to the
Mark Zuidgeest (South Africa) 2019- Journal of Transport Geography increasing its Page Budget, the ap-
a
pointment of a second Associate Editor in 2005 and a third in 2008, and
The Editor of the Journal of Transport Geography is nominated by TGRG.
b an increase in publication frequency to six Issues per year from Volume
One Associate Editor of the Journal of Transport Geography is nominated
by the Transportation Geography Specialty Group of the American Association
14 in 2006 (Table 1) (Knowles, 2006a). The journal's Page Budget cap
of Geographers. was abolished in 2011, publication frequency was lifted to eight Issues
per year, annual page length tripled to an average above 1500 pages,
(ESF) and the American National Science Foundation (NSF) in and two additional Associate Editors were appointed in 2013 and 2014
Arlington and Strasbourg in 1996 and published in a Special Issue and a (Table 1). By 2019, marking over 25 years since the journal's first issue,
Special Section of the journal (Black, 1997; Leinbach and Smith, 1997). the journal's Editorial Board had increased in size to 55 members from
The then quarterly Journal of Transport Geography was instrumental 19 countries and six continents, including six Associate Editors (Journal
in stimulating research and discussion within transport geography's 10 of Transport Geography, 2019; Table 1). Regular refreshing of the
research agendas in the 1990s and leading its renaissance as a sub- journal's Editorial Board membership meant that just three members
discipline of geography. This in turn generated a plethora of new remained from the original Editorial Board in 1993.
transport geography texts in the UK, USA and Germany supporting
undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research (Black, 2003; 2. Impact Factor
Docherty and Shaw, 2003; Goetz et al., 2004; Hanson and Giuliano,
2004; Hensher et al., 2004; Hoyle and Knowles, 1998; Knowles et al., The Journal of Transport Geography's inclusion from 2008 in
2008; Nuhn and Hesse, 2006; Rodrigue et al., 2006; Tolley and Turton, Thomson Scientific's (now Thomson Reuters) Annual Social Sciences
1995, 2001). Citation Index raised the journal's profile further and greatly increased
New opportunities for research and analysis arose from: the number of papers submitted. The Journal of Transport Geography's
Impact Factor increased strongly from 1.271 in 2008 to an all-time high
• Technological innovation in transport and telecommunications of 2.699 in 2017 with a Five Year Impact Factor of 4.051 (Table 2).
• Global and regional economic integration These high Impact Factors placed the journal continuously from 2008 in
• Worsening traffic congestion and the effects of charging vehicles for the top nine international transport research journals, reaching second
the use of road space highest in 2011. They also placed the journal continuously in the top 16
• Transport's high dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels international geography research journals since 2010, reaching seventh
• Sustainability of transport highest in 2011 and 2014, and in the top 50 international economics
• Links between personal mobility, accessibility and connectivity research journals since 2012.
• Concerns about the increasing mobility gap between rich and poor The Journal of Transport Geography is now Abstracted/Indexed in
• Gender and disability issues in transport GEOBASE; Health and Safety Science Abstracts; International Civil
• Growth of travel, recreation and tourism Engineering Abstract; Oceanic Abstracts; Risk Abstracts; Science
• Continuing theoretical and methodological development Citation Index; Scopus – abstract and citation database; Social Sciences
(Knowles, 2006a). Citation Index; TRID; TRIS (Transportation Research Information
Services); and ITRD Database. Full text is available on Science Direct.
Preston (2001) advocated a broader, more geographical approach to
transport research by integrating transport with socio-economic activity Table 2
and with sustainability. A common interest in ‘mobilities’ and accessi- Journal of Transport Geography: Thomson Reuters Citation Scores 2008–2017.
bility helped transport geography to become more engaged with con- Source: Pringle (2018).
temporary social and cultural geography and other social sciences (e.g.
Year Total Impact 5 Year Transport Geography Economics
Banister, 2011; Barr et al., 2017; Black, 2001; Farrington and
Farrington, 2005; Gant, 2002; Jain and Lyons, 2008; Keeling, 2007; Cites Factor Impact Journals Journals Journals
Knowles, 2006b; Knowles et al., 2008; Line et al., 2011; Lucas and
2008 428 1.271 NA 8/18 22/51 NA
Jones, 2012; Preston and Raje, 2007; Shaw and Hesse, 2010; Shaw and
2009 669 1.421 NA 9/18 22/62 NA
Siddaway, 2011; van Wee, 2016). 2010 756 1.706 NA 7/23 16/67 NA
Links with economic geography and other transport disciplines re- 2011 1211 2.538 2.973 2/24 7/73 NA
vived with transport geography's interest in globalization, freight 2012 1575 1.942 2.520 5/26 13/72 50/333
transport systems and flows, and logistics and supply chain manage- 2013 2060 2.214 2.768 5/29 8/76 44/333
2014 2781 2.650 3.215 7/30 7/76 28/333
ment (e.g. Banister and Berechman, 2001; Bowen, 2008; Derudder and 2015 3067 2.090 2.933 7/32 16/77 46/345
Witlox, 2008; Dobruszkes, 2006; Hesse, 2013; Hesse and Rodrigue, 2016 4692 2.675 3.848 6/33 12/79 37/347
2004; Keeling, 2007; Knowles, 2006b; Lakshmanan, 2011). Links with 2017 5681 2.699 4.051 9/31 16/84 46/353
urban geography, the built environment, regional development and
NA: not applicable.

2
R.D. Knowles Journal of Transport Geography 81 (2019) 102525

Table 3
Journal of Transport Geography: Ten Most Cited Papers.
Source: Pringle (2018).
Author(s) Topic Citations JTG

Geurs & van Wee Accessibility; Land Use strategies 694 12(2) 2004
Chapman Transport & Climate Change 432 15(5) 2007
Coffin Roadkill: road ecology 357 15(5) 2007
Hesse & Rodrigue Logistics & freight distribution 342 12(3) 2004
Preston & Raje Social Exclusion: access & mobility 234 15(3) 2007
Schwanen & Mokhtarian Affects on commute mode choice 225 13(1) 2005
Kenyon et al. Social Exclusion & virtual mobility 220 10(3) 2002
Geels Low carbon transitions 206 24 2012
Jain & Lyons The gift of travel time 205 16(2) 2008
Fleming & Hayuth Hubs: centrality and intermediacy 200 2(1) 1994

3. Seminal research and iconic papers
Over the last 25 years, much seminal transport research has been
published in the Journal of Transport Geography. Iconic papers can be
identified by high citation scores but also on their influence in devel-
oping research areas.
Ten papers have been cited 200 or more times and a further 47
papers have been cited more than 100 times (Table 3) (Pringle, 2018).
The 10 most cited papers cover a diverse range of topics: two papers
each on sustainability and climate change (Chapman, 2007; Geels,
2012) and on social exclusion (Preston and Raje, 2007; Kenyon et al.,
2002); one paper each on accessibility (Geurs and van Wee, 2004); road
ecology (Coffin, 2007); logistics and freight distribution (Hesse and
Rodrigue, 2004); commute mode choice (Schwanen and Mokhtarian,
2005); mobilities and travel time (Jain and Lyons, 2008); and on lo-
cation of transport hubs (Fleming and Hayuth, 1994).
The journal has published many other iconic research papers and
Special Issues or Special Sections covering all the journal's key themes.
After 25 years of development and expansion, the Journal of
Transport Geography has long since become one of the leading inter-
national interdisciplinary journals for publication of high quality re-
search in transport, geography and economics.
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