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Transport, Health and Policies in London

Transport, Health and Policies in London MARK McCARTHY Introduction Transport is fundamental to contemporary urban life, and has underpinned significant social change. Improved transport has allowed people to live further from their work, and choose between (and change) jobs in different directions; it has supported more widely separated social networks; and it has allowed more goods to reach markets for consumption and choice. In recent years, the impact of transport on the health of the population has developed. 1 The traditional health concern of transport planning was accidents, although in a rather limited form. Thus, the idea that lives could be 'saved' by 'safer' roads was used by cost-benefit analyses to justify building motorways and road junction improvements. These assumptions have been challenged,2 and a more complex relationship proposed - that car drivers balance the risk of an accident in relation to their driving environment. They go slower in difficult conditions (lane restriction, poor visibility) and faster in good conditions (open roads, clear skies), so that theoretical 'safety' benefits may be converted into 'performance' benefits for the driver. The major constraints on building new roads in London in recent decades have been social and political rather than for safety. Recent strategic planning documents, for example http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present Taylor & Francis

Transport, Health and Policies in London

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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 1997 Maney Publishing
ISSN
1749-6322
eISSN
0305-8034
DOI
10.1179/ldn.1997.22.2.175
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

MARK McCARTHY Introduction Transport is fundamental to contemporary urban life, and has underpinned significant social change. Improved transport has allowed people to live further from their work, and choose between (and change) jobs in different directions; it has supported more widely separated social networks; and it has allowed more goods to reach markets for consumption and choice. In recent years, the impact of transport on the health of the population has developed. 1 The traditional health concern of transport planning was accidents, although in a rather limited form. Thus, the idea that lives could be 'saved' by 'safer' roads was used by cost-benefit analyses to justify building motorways and road junction improvements. These assumptions have been challenged,2 and a more complex relationship proposed - that car drivers balance the risk of an accident in relation to their driving environment. They go slower in difficult conditions (lane restriction, poor visibility) and faster in good conditions (open roads, clear skies), so that theoretical 'safety' benefits may be converted into 'performance' benefits for the driver. The major constraints on building new roads in London in recent decades have been social and political rather than for safety. Recent strategic planning documents, for example

Journal

The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present – Taylor & Francis

Published: Nov 1, 1997

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