Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
are countered by reduced frequencies and increased
fares, which in turn dissuade more passengers, who
then make use of the car, either as drivers or
passengers. Bus fleets and staff numbers are reduced
in response to declining incomes, making it difficult
to maintain a satisfactory service level throughout
the day and thereby reducing the appeal of public
transport even more.
In the third world there is a rising market for
bus travel, but in many major urban areas the
existing vehicle fleets and service patterns cannot
meet demand, creating unacceptable levels of
congestion on buses, and long waiting periods and
hence unduly protracted journey times (Table
34.1).
In both the developed and developing worlds,
many groups within the urban population are
prevented by age, income or personal disability
from using cars and continue to rely upon public
transport systems that can no longer cater to their
needs (White 1990). The road safety issue is
particularly linked to the elderly, especially pedes-
trians, but it also affects cyclists and young
children, whose opportunities for walking are
becoming further eroded with the increase in
motorised traffic.
The urban transport planning process is
devoted to identifying problems, devising and
evaluating a range of solutions, and
implementing what are judged to be the most
appropriate within cost constraints and
predetermined time periods (Figure 34.1).
Remedial action can take the form of traffic
management, the upgrading of public transport,
the introduction of 'green transport' strategies,
transport coordination and policies designed to
reduce the necessity for travel through the
introduction of 'non-transport solutions'. The
latter include extending the opening periods of
essential services such as post offices, local
government offices, health centres and solicitors
into the evenings to enable urban workers to
make use of them after conventional working
hours. Each of these remedies can be applied at
different times during the period of a transport
plan and in different locations, but all are seen as
part of the overall strategy for overcoming
contemporary transport problems (Tolley 1997).
At its basic level, traffic management alleviates
current congestion and increases road capacity by
such measures as one-way systems, restrictions on
parking on through roads, reversal of traffic flows
Table 34.1
Private car and bus transport in major cities of the developing world.
Source:
Dimitriou 1990.
