Citation

Epperson B. Transp. Res. Rec. 1995; 1487: 1-6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The establishment of effective urban transportation systems in many lesser developed countries (LDCs) has been impaired because of the indiscriminate importation of Western methods and technologies. In particular, the application of sophisticated four-step computer models and a reliance on formal cost-benefit analysis have predetermined the selection of highly capital intensive transport systems, such as subways, rapid rail lines, and elevated expressways. As an alternative, the LDCs themselves have evolved a developmental approach to transportation planning and implementation that relies on lower-cost sketch planning methods and emphasizes planning on a corridor or district basis. Equally important, this approach explicitly incorporates consideration of the distributional effects of policy alternatives and recognizes the importance of "informal" transport sectors, including nonmotorized transport modes and many forms of irregular (and often illegal) transit services. The issue is examined to determine whether these tools can be imported into industrialized nations to address the needs of their ailing urban cores. A survey of transportation programs around the country suggests that two promising areas are to encourage entrepreneurial paratransit and to promote nonmotorized modes as a stand-alone mode in core areas and as an adjunct to transit in more suburbanized areas. The problems faced in implementing both are primarily cultural and institutional, not technical.

Language: en

Keywords

Costs; Public policy; Nonmotorized transportation; Transportation; Computer simulation; Urban planning