Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Transport continues to present considerable challenges for both policymakers and economists throughout the world. This book provides a rigorous analytical approach to transport economics and transport policy, showing how economic principles can be applied to problems and practical solutions derived.

As well as providing detailed coverage on the conventional topics of demand, costs, market structure, externalities, investment appraisal and regulation, the book also examines the wider role of transport in the economy as a whole. In addition, the authors address the important link between transport and issues of location, urban and regional development, and economic growth. Throughout the book there are frequent references to policy issues at both the national and EU level, complemented by a comprehensive discussion on the different ways in which policy has evolved in various European countries. The concluding chapter draws together some of the problems encountered in moving from the theories and models developed in the book to the actual implementation of specific policy measures. The authors believe that only policies based on a thorough understanding of the economics of transport can help solve some of the pressing problems facing governments across Europe.

This unique book addresses a wide range of issues and makes use of cutting-edge data to provide a set of universal tools to analyse and inform policy at all levels. It assumes only a basic knowledge of economics and will be essential reading for students at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate level following courses on transport economics, regional science, urban studies and geography. It will also prove a valuable source of reference for policymakers involved in the provision and regulation of transport and researchers interested in transport planning and policy.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of figures (p. vii)
• List of tables (p. ix)
• Preface (p. xi)
• Part I Transport in the Economy
• 1 Transport and Economic Activity (p. 3)
• 2 Transport and Location (p. 31)
• 3 Transport and the Urban Economy (p. 52)
• Part II Demand and Costs
• 4 The Demand for Transport (p. 73)
• 5 The Costs of Transport (p. 120)
• Part III The Organisation of Supply
• 6 The Nature of Markets and Public Intervention (p. 167)
• 7 Optimal Public Decisions (p. 186)
• 8 Forms and Effects of Competition between Operators (p. 255)
• 9 Monopoly and Public Service in Transport (p. 302)
• 10 From Economics to Transport Policy (p. 341)
• References (p. 355)
• Index (p. 377)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This is by far, the best, most up-to-date, transportation economics textbook available today. However, its extensively reported data and practical findings are relevant for Europe and are not always applicable to the US. The book provides excellent treatments of the standard topics in transportation economics (demand, costing, location, the economy), covering air as well as surface transportation modes. The European focus means that passenger rail, a subject of great current planning interest in the US, is well covered. The book uses realistic, mode-specific, demand-and-supply curves to illustrate its points rather than the usual abstract conceptual diagrams. The book also covers "the organization of supply" with excellent chapters on current issues in competition, industrial organization, and pricing, etc., in the (European) air, rail and trucking industries. The references, index, and quality of the printing, paper and binding are excellent. The only somewhat comparable US book is Essays in Transportation Economies and Policy, edited by Jose Gomez-Iba^D nez, William B. Tye, and Clifford Winston (1999); while not really a textbook, it contains excellent summaries of transportation economics topics. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. D. Brand formerly, Harvard University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Roger Vickerman is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Economics at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.