01660039

Component

Climate change has long been identified as a ‘wicked problem’. It has been argued that such ‘wicked’ problems require a move away from ‘command and control’ linear policy thinking where the problem is broken down into components, to instead a ‘whole systems approach’ which embraces ‘non-linear and organic thinking…where the primacy of the whole is acknowledged’. The argument of this paper is that to date the UK has failed to address the climate change challenge in the transport sector due to its siloed linear, command and control policy approach, which has focused on the supply-side of the climate change challenge at the expense of the demand side. The UK’s approach has primarily focused on decarbonisation of the vehicle fleet without addressing more fundamental questions about how much mobility there is, how this mobility is generated, and how much mobility should be catered for (the demand side). The demand side is however crucial, as the scale of the decarbonisation challenge, and in turn the impact on climate change, is bounded by the level of demand and how it is configured. The authors identify the need instead, for a whole systems approach to thinking about climate change and mobility, which highlights the need for a more nuanced policy approach, through two UK based case studies; liberalisation of air travel, and concessionary bus travel. The case studies highlight the importance of government actions in shaping aspects of demand and, through examination of how these policies unfold over time, the recursive relationship between the promotion of demand and the increased challenge of managing it – and supplying for it.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD40 Standing Committee on Transportation and Sustainability.

18-04749

English

13p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References

Air travel; Bus transportation; Case studies; Climate change; Demand; Governance; Mobility; Privatization; Transportation policy

United Kingdom

Administration and Management; Aviation; Environment; Policy; Public Transportation

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-04749

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 11:10AM