What about ‘peak car’ – heresy or revelation?

Rail, bus and tram use all peaked and then declined, so why do so many people assume that car use will either keep rising indefinitely or reach saturation and a ‘steady state’ condition?

Phil Goodwin
25 June 2010
Three transport trends, 1900-1970
Three transport trends, 1900-1970

 

I won't hide it -  this column is by way of a softening-up exercise in preparation for a future somewhat heretical part two. It’s about the concept of ‘peak car’. This puts together two recent discussions – one about ‘peak oil’, which is controversial but crucial in the field of energy projection, and the other about whether the car market has saturated or not (in which David Metz and others have been challenging demand forecasts of more-or-less...

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Phil Goodwin

Phil Goodwin

Phil Goodwin

Phil Goodwin is professor of transport policy at the Centre for Transport and Society, University of West of England, Bristol, and emeritus professor at University College London. Email: philinelh@yahoo.com

 



 

 
 
 

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