Transport Revolutions

Modern societies rely almost entirely on oil for moving people and freight. This book analyses five episodes of rapid and radical change in the way people and goods have travelled. It examines the world-wide state of transport today, especially its energy use and its impacts, positive and negative.

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Modern societies now rely almost entirely on oil for moving people and freight. The impacts on transport of scarcer and more expensive oil pose major challenges to humanity. They require revolutions in our thinking about mobility, and consequent changes in all forms of transport. This book analyses five episodes of rapid and radical change in the way people and goods have travelled. It examines the world-wide state of transport today, especially its energy use and its impacts, positive and negative. The authors then show, focusing on the United States and China, how ample movement of people and freight could be sustained beyond 2025 with much-reduced dependence on oil. Preparations for the end of cheap oil include: substantial use of electricity to power land transport; use of wind to help power water transport; reduced movement of people and goods by air; and, new approaches to transport planning, finance, and management. Written for transport professionals, planners, policymakers, managers, and investors, this book will appeal to all who need to keep ahead of mobility changes.