As affluence grows, it gets easier to travel faster and further. But research shows that, despite this, the average travel time in all societies remains steady at roughly an hour a day. The implication is that people are choosing to increase the distance they regularly travel, rather than opting for shorter journey times. While this clearly offers advantages in terms of reaching more desirable locations, the disadvantages are numerous - not least that of anthropogenic climate change, to which transport is the fastest growing contributor. However, the stability of travel time does not form...

Travel is central to our lives, and the transport system brings us the goods and services that we need and allows us to access the experiences and opportunities that we seek. Yet our transport system has many problems: congestion and overcrowding, noise, air pollution and carbon emissions, deaths and injuries, and the intrusion of vehicles into unsuitable locations. Much effort and money has been devoted to tackling these problems, over many years, but progress is slow. Recognition of the urgent need to respond to climate change is prompting major transport developments - particularly a...