Current trends in transport, particularly the rise in CO_2 emissions, indicate that major changes in technology, public policy and individual behaviour are necessary to make the transport system more compatible with environmental sustainability. What then are the possible futures for sustainable systems of transport? In this book future scenarios are constructed on the basis of the recently developed 'spider model'. This model constructs an evaluation framework - based along spatial, institutional, economic and socio-psychological axes - which visualises the core factors that influence transport systems. These factors can operate either separately or in combination - this interaction creates scenarios which range from market-oriented to regulatory systems, and from individual to collective modes of transport. Drawing on the work of a range of transport analysts, the book suggests that the current trend away from sustainability and collective systems is likely to continue, but when sound policies are introduced, a sustainable transport system becomes a feasible option.

Peter Nijkamp is a Dutch economist, Professor of Regional Economics and Economic Geography at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a fellow of the Tinbergen Institute and President of the Governing Board of the Netherlands Research Council. Sytze A. Rienstra is the author of Transportation Planning and the Future, published by Wiley.