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  • Book cover of Driving Change
    David Metz

     · 2019

    Over recent decades, the UK's transport system has undergone radical changes. David Metz examines the role new business models and government policies have played in these changes, highlighting many of the unforeseen consequences for transport development and for future outcomes.

  • Book cover of The Limits to Travel
    David Metz

     · 2012

    As affluence grows, it gets easier to travel faster and further. But research shows that, despite this, the average travel time in all societies remains steady at roughly an hour a day. The implication is that people are choosing to increase the distance they regularly travel, rather than opting for shorter journey times. While this clearly offers advantages in terms of reaching more desirable locations, the disadvantages are numerous - not least that of anthropogenic climate change, to which transport is the fastest growing contributor. However, the stability of travel time does not form part of the present conceptual framework of transport policy makers and professionals - consequently, misconceived decisions lead to unintended outcomes. In this intriguing book, David Metz examines the inadequacies inherent in the current thinking, along with the resulting problems, such as pollution, congestion and noise. He highlights the impact of the rapid increase in car use in China and India, and explores the general travel experience, public vs. private transport, and transport technology. In considering to what extent travel could be avoided, he arrives at a new paradigm to underpin sustainable transport policies, based on the fundamental characteristics of human mobility and focusing on quality, not quantity, of travel. Visit the Limits to Travel website at: http://www.limitstotravel.org.uk/

  • Book cover of Travel Behaviour Reconsidered in an Era of Decarbonisation
    David Metz

     · 2024

    The transport system is central to our lives as our means to travel, but also has major impact on our environment. This has become most salient in recent years through its contribution to climate change. However, this perspective has only had a minor impact on the conventional economic analysis and modelling of transport investments, creating a dissonance between the traditional objectives of investment and the strategic need to reduce carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2050. Travel Behaviour Reconsidered in an Era of Decarbonisation argues that our transport networks are mature, and the objective should be to improve operational efficiency. Over the past half century, large public expenditures in roads and railways were justified by an analytic approach to the benefits of investment, primarily the value of the time saved through faster travel, to both business and non-business users of the networks. However, average travel time has not changed over this period. People have taken the benefit of faster travel as better access to people, places, activities and services, with the ensuing enhanced opportunities and choices. This book argues that the basis of orthodox transport economic analysis has been misconceived and a fresh perspective on economic analysis is now needed.

  • Book cover of Travel Fast or Smart?
    David Metz

     · 2016

    Britain does not have a coherent transport policy, and conventional transport economics has reached a dead end. A transport policy should incorporate systematic thinking about the travel needs of society, but in Britain public investment in the transport system has been extraordinarily volatile. We closed underused railways and then experienced a doubling of passenger numbers, prompting huge new investment. We gave up making substantial investments in motorways, but we have now chosen to revive the road construction effort in a big way. We vacillate on road pricing, introducing congestion charging successfully in London but backing off elsewhere because of local opposition. We have delayed the decision about whether and where to build additional airport capacity for decades. This mess has come about because policy has focused on big construction projects and time savings when it should have been focusing on the part that people and places play in economic development. This book sets out the principles that could underpin a strategic policy for transport. Instead of focusing piecemeal on getting from place to place ever faster, we need to think about how and where we want the economy to develop, and about how new digital technologies can help us achieve what is needed.

  • Book cover of The Quest for National Economic Goals
  • Book cover of Continuity of Care for Medical Inpatients
  • Book cover of Development of a Gene Transfer System for Brassica Oleracea and Analysis of Transgenic Plants Expressing a Bacillus Thuringiensis Insecticidal Crystal Protein
  • Book cover of Older, Richer, Fitter

    As Britain's population continues to age, so the consumer market will also have to evolve in a similar manner. This title looks at aspects such as demographics, mature marketing and addressing the special needs of ageing in order to provide a clear definition of market requirements in coming years.

  • Book cover of Good Go Decarbonising Travel After Pan
    David Metz

     · 2022

    Travel is central to our lives. The transport system brings us the goods and services that we need and allows us to access the experiences and opportunities that we seek. Yet our transport system has many problems: congestion and overcrowding, noise, air pollution and carbon emissions, deaths and injuries, and the intrusion of vehicles into unsuitable locations. Much effort and money has been devoted to tackling these problems, over many years, but progress is slow. Recognition of the urgent need to respond to climate change is prompting major transport developments - particularly a switch to electric vehicles - and it is also argued that the amount of travel we undertake will need to be reduced. The coronavirus pandemic caused a great shock to our travel patterns, showing us that we could manage with much less movement if we had to. But as the pandemic recedes, our travel behaviour is largely reverting to what it was before, albeit with less commuting to work and less shopping in person. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the transport system. It looks at how it has developed, at how it will need to evolve to meet our need for travel - sustainably and economically - and at what our options are for meeting those needs.

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    David Metz

     · 2020

    David Metz draws us into the story of a crippled man healed by Peter and John as they go to the temple at the hour of prayer. Through an examination of this miracle David reveals how the power of God can flow through every believer in Jesus Christ.