LEARNING FROM THE BEST AND WORST: TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE LESSONS FROM THIRTY-TWO INTERNATIONAL CITIES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR GASOLINE USE AND EMISSIONS

The first part of this paper provides a detailed perspective on thirty-two major world cities. It shows the large variation that exists in urban transportation and land use, their interrelationships and connection to gasoline use per person. Gasoline use per person gives an overall feel for the transportation system in each city by acting as a kind a barometer which rises with increasing emphasis on automobiles. These data together provide a useful perspective on the potential that exists for changing cities towards better balanced transportation systems. The second part of the paper considers the policies needed to achieve a more balanced city. As part of that it will concentrate on one specific area of urban policy that has considerable influence in shaping many of today's cities: the belief that major road building programmes and other traffic engineering policies designed to improve average speeds are of public benefit through creating smoother, freer flowing traffic. A major part of the standard cost benefit analysis used to justify road projects involves potential community fuel savings, and in some cases reductions in vehicular emissions, due to alleviation of congestion. The whole rationale behind this approach is examined and assessed and recommendations are made about future directions in this area. The paper concludes with a general statement on how various actors in the urban scene must recognise that they each have a unique (although necessarily interrelated) role to play if more balanced urban transportation systems are to be developed. This paper was presented at the Eighth Annual Pedestrian Conference in Boulder, Colorado, October 1-4 1987. (TRRL)