Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

KENNETH J. BUTTON
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

DAVID A. HENSHER
University of Sydney

1. Introduction

Transport is an important element in economic development and affords the

social and political interactions that most people take for granted. This series of
Handbooks is intended to provide readers with up-to-date information on how the
transport system functions, and how the various components that constitute
transport systems interact with each other. This volume focuses on matters
pertaining to transport systems. It complements the previous volumes in the series
on transport modeling, and on logistics and supply chain management.
Transport is provided across a range of networks. These have grown with time
as technology improvements and innovation have allowed individuals to develop
new networks and refine the systems that exist. Earlier transport by foot or pack
animal involved lanes, tracks, and pathways, but the system was extended as
boats became available for inland navigation and ships for maritime movement.
The advent of the sail led to further developments on both water and land
(the "Chinese wheelbarrow"). The past two hundred years have seen further
transformation with steam power, the internal combustion engine, and jet power
revolutionizing transport. More recently telecommunications has provided an
alternative to travel, and sometimes a complementary infrastructure that leads to
increased travel.
In all these cases, and at any period of time, transport was provided as a system
over a network of links and nodes. In a previous volume in this series -Hand book
of Transport Mode lling - papers were published that were largely concerned with
looking at how one may develop models to assist in public and private decision­
making. In Volume 1 of the series we emphasized the theoretical aspects of
transport models with limited attention given to the working of the transport
system. These are of immense importance in policy formulation but they say little
2 K.J. Button and D.A. Hensher

about the ways transport systems are developed, planned, managed, and
regulated. They take as axiomatic that policy instruments are available and may be
deployed to influence future events.
A second volume - Handbook of Logistics and Supply Chain Management - was
concerned with how those operating transport services make use of transport
systems with some limited information on the public sector's role. This volume
looks at transport systems more directly. It is also much more public sector
focused in the sense that it is government and government agencies that provide
much of the key underlying infrastructure that allows transport systems to
operate, and that control access to that infrastructure and the ways in which it is
used.
The current volume is more concerned with the broader nature of transport
systems and with the implementation of public policy across transport systems.
These are no small issues at a time when problems such as urban traffic
congestion, environmental intrusion, transport safety, and budgetary constraints
are exercising the minds of policy makers. But first, what exactly do we mean by a
transport system?

2. What are transport systems?

Transport systems are complex and subject to continual change. Furthermore,

there is no simple definition of what constitutes a transport system. Much depends
on the eye of the beholder.
From one perspective there are the various modes of transportation (ships,
airplanes, trucks, and so on), each of which may be seen as a system. From another
perspective one can separate out different infrastructure systems (rail networks,
seaports, roads, and so on) and again each may be seen as a system although in
some cases they may be used by several different modes of transport (roads by
trucks, buses, bicycles, and cars). Again, another slice of the pie may produce
systems seen as ways of meeting a particular transport objective (e.g., the various
modes and route alternatives that allow a package to move from origin A to
destination B).
A rearrangement of this idea can lead to transport systems being differentiated
by distance into urban, interurban and international transport. From a transport
operator's point of view (e.g., a distributor such as the Post Office or UPS), the
vocabulary of collection, trunk haul systems, and distribution systems also comes
very close to this concept. This same type of geographical separation takes on a
slightly different form, however, when it comes to public policy and terms such as
urban transport and rural transport systems become the more common parlance.
More recent distinctions may be between physical transport systems and those
concerned with the transport of information through cables or by wireless means.
Ch. 1: Introduction 3

Some transport systems may be perceived as the combination of physical and

informational inputs that allow a transport activity to take place (e.g., the
combination of telecommunications and transport required in modern just-in­
time production).
Much also depends on who is concerned with the system. The consumer of
transport services normally views the transport system that is available in a rather
narrow way and is only concerned with those aspects of any transport system that
are immediately useful. A national transport planner, in contrast, by necessity
takes a much wider, generally multimodal view that embraces the interaction of
infrastructure and the use made of that infrastructure.

3. Transport systems from the user's perspective

Few individuals are happy with the transport systems that exist. And if one goes
back and reads the stories of travelers in the past when one learns of dirty,
uncomfortable, delayed, and expensive trips, this feeling is not certainly one
peculiar to the current populace. Transportation is part of everyone's life and a lot
is demanded of the transport systems that provide it. The difficulty is in part that
users are not homogeneous in their demands, the transport system is not infinitely
flexible (particularly in the short term), and there are other parties to consider
who live along transport links or would be displaced if the transport network were
to be expanded.
Users of transport systems represent a variety of diverse groups. These groups
seek different things from the systems and have different degrees of access
to them. There are, for example, gender differences and differences in the
perceptions of able-bodied and disabled people. The commercial parts of the
overall system are allocated on market principles with profits and losses
determining the scale and nature of supply. This means that those willing and able
to buy space on any system get priority in its use. Others either have to use it at
different times (e.g., when they can afford or are willing to pay off-peak-period
airfares), use different systems, or cannot use it at all.
Large parts of the overall transport system are not, however, provided on a
commercial basis. They are often subsidized on the argument that these parts
meet a social need and should be provided free or at reduced cost. Other parts of
the system, most notably roads, are not provided commercially in most countries
but users have to pay a variety of charges and fees to access them. The user's
perspective at the time of using the transport system is that the monetary costs of
infrastructure use are virtually zero, and the result is inevitably excessive use, with
high levels of congestion the outcome. Equally, there are costs that are borne by
non-users, most notably environmental costs that again affect the perspective of
users and can enhance their proclivity to overuse.
4 K.J. Button and D.A. Hensher

The situation is also not static, and sometimes not logical. The users of transport
systems have a tendency to use increasingly higher benchmarks. Air travel is far
safer now than in the 1930s but the quest is for even safer flights. The safe speeds
attained by cars now far exceeds those of earlier vehicles and they are much more
comfortable. But road users seek even faster travel. Comparisons between
systems are also often not based on objective fact but rather on perception - many
people fear flying, and every time there is a plane crash there is a major inquiry
and often considerable sums are then spent on various forms or remedial action,
despite the fact that flying is safer than driving.

4. Transport systems and transport policy

Transport has always been under some degree of control from public policy. It
serves important military needs that the state has always sought to control and is
important for the successful governing of internal affairs. But it also serves
important commercial purposes. The exchange economy could never have
developed if farmers and craftsmen could not have got their products to market.
The exchange economy is underpinned by at least a very basic transport system.
Crossroads have traditionally been centers of commerce and production and
provided the focal points for the first great civilizations. Maritime transport for
two thousands years carried the bulk of long-distance commerce and led to the
economic power of large port cities. Even in the 21st century, high-technology
companies make extensive use of air and road transport to meet the needs of
customers and to conduct their own business-to-business dealings.
At the broad macro level, the links between transport and development are
fairly clear but when moving to more detail, complexities emerge. There is also the
policy question of how government can best develop positive links between
transport and the economy.
An initial question concerns the old problem of the "chicken and the egg."
Whilst there is correlation between transport and economic change, it is not
altogether clear what the direction of causality is. On the one hand, there is a
school of thought, amply backed by historical evidence, showing transport to be
the stimulating factor. The 18th century Industrial Revolution in the U.K., for
instance, is often depicted as being preceded and stimulated by a Transport
Revolution involving improved shipping and the construction of canals and
turnpikes. But equally, the evidence has been marshaled to show that much of the
new transport infrastructure building chronologically followed enhanced
industrial performance and could only have been financed from surplus revenues
that enhanced industrial performance generated. Similar debates have emerged
in recent years regarding the social and economic returns from public
infrastructure investment. The topic is still largely unsolved but there has been a
Ch. 1: Introduction 5

move away from looking at this sort of macro question, with a greater focus now on
micro issues concerning individual systems, modes, or technologies.
Nevertheless, the large matter of how transport policy in general is best
formulated still remains. Two broad schools of thought dominate the policy
debate, each in a way viewing the causality matter in a different way. On one side is
the "Continental philosophy" that has much of its basis in concepts underpinning
the Code Napo leon. Transport systems, within this approach, treat transport as
input into a wider sociopolitical-economic framework. Transport is seen as a
device for achieving a range of policy objectives and as such should be heavily
regulated and controlled. Whether transport infrastructure is provided and
operated in a narrow economic manner is less important than its role in meeting
wider aims and goals of government. The level of governmental intervention, at
various levels, is considerable with state ownership of transport infrastructure and
a large part of operations being the norm.
This view of the transport system is in contrast to the "Anglo-Saxon
philosophy," which sees transport as just another sector in the economy that
should be provided as efficiently as possible in its own right. If all sectors of the
economy are involved in market processes then people will be able to consume
goods and services that yield them the greatest benefits, and producers will
provide what the consumers want at lowest resource costs. This is more akin to the
classical economic view of the world. Markets are normally seen to provide a more
efficient way of enhancing welfare than excessive government intervention that,
either because of lack of adequate information or through manipulation of the
system to serve the interest of policy makers, results in losses to society. Policies
based on this view of the role of a transport system involve private ownership of
the system with access to it determined largely by commercial criteria.
No public policy perspective regarding transport systems falls exactly into one
of these schools. They are extremes. The public perception of how to treat
transport systems, however, can be characterized as leaning toward one or other
of these positions. There are also shifts in the way transport systems have been
viewed over time. Although some countries, such as the U.S.A. and U.K., have
always had a tendency towards the Anglo-Saxon school, the intensity of this
position has varied. The 1930s to the 1970s, for example, saw extensive regulation
in the ways that transport systems could be provided and used but more recently
measures of deregulation, privatization, and the encouragement of more
competitive markets have seen a more laissez-faire approach to transport. France
has always been much more of an advocate of the Continental philosophy but even
in that country the current trend is towards allowing markets more scope to
function freely.
The involvement of government means that somewhat different decision­
making tools are required from those used for commercial decisions. This involves
modeling (much of which was covered in Volume 1 in this series) but also
6 K.l Button and DA. Hensher

embraces such things as cost-benefit analysis, issues of environmental protection,

and matters of safety. The lack of markets, or efficiently operating markets, also
means that there is a need to control the transport system. This may be done
through fiscal measures such as road pricing and subsidies or through physical
controls over traffic flows and, in the longer term, in the way the transport system
is planned.

5. Traffic control

Traffic has probably never been free of controls and regulations. Certainly in
Roman times there were rules about when carts could be moved around Rome,
but even prior to that, evidence from archaeological sites of real systematic rutting
of primitive roads indicates a controlled use of infrastructure. Much of the control
was as much for reasons of efficient military and political control as for facilitating
commerce and personal activities.
The rules applied to controlling traffic are only partially to do with simple
efficiency of the network. In many cases there are also issues of equity and also the
meeting of wider social goals. Traffic light sequencing, for example, is seldom
designed purely to maximize traffic throughput. If it were then vehicles entering
from a side street would have very little priority. Instead the rules represent a
trade-off between getting the greatest flow possible and allowing "reasonable"
priority for those entering from secondary links.
Recent advances in information technology have provided new opportunities in
traffic control. The notion of an intelligent transportation system has become
much more of a possibility. This applies not only to road networks, where there are
new methods of conveying traffic information, directions, and warnings, but also
to areas such as air traffic control and activities such as public transport
scheduling. The very way in which information is disseminated across transport
system users influences traffic patterns. These advances also offer opportunities
for applying control measures that have in the past been largely ignored, in part
because of the difficulties of implementation. For example, the tolling of roads
can now be done without large numbers of collection points, and electronic
congestion charging, whatever the political barriers, is now a technical possibility.
These developments in traffic control have come at an opportune time as many
countries face mounting pressures on their existing transportation infrastructure
and, for a variety of fiscal, environmental, and practical reasons, have limited
scope for capacity expansion. The battle cry of transport policy-makers, although
not entirely constraining the construction of new systems or the expansion of
existing ones, is that of "managing traffic growth." Consequently traffic control,
which was once thought of primarily in terms of making efficient use of an optimal
transport system or network, is increasingly being seen as a mechanism for
Ch. 1: Introduction 7

expanding the use of whatever is available irrespective of whether the system is

optimal or not.

6. The Handbook

This book is the third in the series of Hand books in Transport. The earlier volumes,
as we noted above, have been concerned with transport modeling and with
transport logistics and supply-chain management. As with the others in the series
the coverage here is meant to be neither comprehensive nor always excessively
deep; it is neither a textbook nor a research monograph. It aims to follow the
Oxford Dictionary's definition of a handbook, namely a "guidebook" or a
"manual." The objective is to furnish the reader with information and concepts in
a concise manner. Accessibility is seen as an important requirement of any
handbook and every effort has been made to make the material contained here as
accessible as possible.
The collection does not contain all of the material that one might anticipate in a
volume dealing with transport systems and traffic control. Some topics are not
covered in this handbook quite simply because articles on them can be found in
companion volumes (e.g., several forms of systems modeling, such as that relating
to demand and signal systems, are covered in Volume 1 of the series as well as in
this book) . Such material was put in these other volumes because they had as
much right to be there as to be in this collection. The lines that have been drawn
are pragmatic and open to question, but lines did have to be drawn to make the
project manageable.
The material here has been organized with chapters grouped to reflect the
important elements of modern transport systems and approaches to traffic
control. There are more general chapters at the beginning of the volume, where
there is more emphasis on transport systems. The later part of the volume is
concerned with matters of traffic control.
The chapters are all original and the international collection of authors were
selected for both their knowledge of a subject area and, of equal importance, their
ability to put on paper in a fairly few words the core of that subject. They have not
all gone about their task in exactly the same way but that adds to the richness of the
material and reflects the diversity of approaches that can be adopted. It also shows
the individuality of the various contributors and their ways of thinking.
The common denominator extending across the contributions is that they try to
be up to date in their treatment of topics. The topics themselves were selected to
embrace most elements of modern transport systems and to cover the important
aspects of traffic control. The topics included in the volume extend beyond
domestic issues and the coverage embraces many matters, such as cross-border
issues, that are important for efficient international trade.
8 K.J. Button and D.A. Hensher

The authors have approached their task using a variety of tools including
modeling, synthesis, and case studies but have aimed at ensuring a reader should
be provided with contemporary material, set within a contextual background
when that is important. Equally, some of the topics and their coverage are more
abstract while others take a much more pragmatic bent. Again this is by design.
Further, there is a degree of interlinkage and overlap between some contributions
that reflects the artificial boundaries that often have to be drawn in our quest for
understanding. Humans are creatures who habitually compartmentalize things
but the resultant divisions should be seen as porous.
The readership that contributors have been asked to target is far from
homogeneous. Handbooks are aimed at serving both the purpose of keeping
individuals informed and of updating those already in the field, whilst offering an
opening for those who wish to gain an introductory acquaintance with it. This has
by necessity limited the technical components of some papers, although not
all, but equally has drawn forth some very articulate verbal accounts of topics.
Overall, we think that the contributors have done an admirable job in meeting the
challenges that we posed them.