Competition and ownership in land passenger transport: the fourth international conference — Part 2

In the rail industry worldwide, there has been a search for new solutions, including restructuring, corporatization, and outright privatization, but the complexity of the rail industry offers special problems. In the Workshop we looked in detail at the British, Swedish, German, Australian (New South Wales) and New Zealand experiences, as well as considering more general issues such as cost structures, vertical separation and competitive tendering. Whilst it was agreed that some developments, such as greater contracting out, were clearly beneficial, other developments such as the separation of infrastructure from operations remained of uncertain value until the issues of efficient pricing and slot allocation were resolved.     

An approach to the evaluation of changes in travel unreliability: A “Safety margin” hypothesis

Even where unreliability has been recognised as a significant component in the generalised cost of trip-making, few attempts have been made to quantify it in the evaluation of transport improvements. This neglect is perhaps explained by the difficulty of observing a suitable trade-off situation in which transport users can trade money directly or indirectly for improved reliability of their transport modes.This article investigates the characteristics of a possible trade-off which might be made by commuters — the allowance of extra time for travelling in order to avoid unpredictable lateness at destination. The form of the costs of a response to unreliability of this nature is considered within a more general framework of the allocation of time under uncertainty or risk conditions.Certain other approaches to the evaluation of travel unreliability are reviewed and a brief outline is given to a current research project which attempts to test the applicability of the safety margin in London commuters' timing of the trips that they take to work.Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Department of the Environment.     

The impact of rail transit on land use: Evidence and a change of perspective

On the basis of available evidence we cannot clearly establish a causal relationship between rail transit and changes in land use and development patterns. At best, such changes would seem to occur only in the presence of other favorable factors, such as supportive local land use policies and development incentives, availability of developable land and a good investment climate. In any event, however, determining the precise extent of rail investment's effect on urban structure is less important than assessing the role it could play in an overall strategy for reaching larger urban goals.     

Evidence of land use impacts of rapid transit systems

This paper draws from the findings of published empirical studies and observations of the impacts of rapid transit systems on urban development. Analysis is based on comparisons of impact findings by different researchers and for different cities. An initial set of key issues is proposed, against which available information is arrayed and compared. It is concluded that rapid transit can have substantial growth-focusing impacts, but only if other supporting factors are present.