Handbook of Transport Strategy, Policy and Institutions, edited by Kenneth J. Button and David A. Hensher
这本手册全面回顾了运输政策及其应用，涵盖制度环境、规划、资产管理、监管、评估框架和国家研究，适合运输从业者、研究人员和教育工作者参考。
Handbook of Transport Strategy, Policy and Institutions , edited by Kenneth J. Button and David A. Hensher . 2005 . Handbooks in Transport, Vol. 6 . Amsterdam : Elsevier . 834 + xxvi . ISBN 0-08-044115-7 , $185, €170 . Following five previous volumes in the series Handbooks in Transport, this mega-handbook provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of transport policy and its applications. During the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in transport strategy and transport policy. They have become the subjects of many legislative decisions in most of the industrialized countries (and a great current interest in less developed and transition economies). However, transport policy involves much more than regulatory issues; it embraces a variety of disciplines such as economics, politics, planning, and behavioral sciences. This book introduces a rather unique way to employ all these disciplines, rather than emphasizing a specific and narrow approach. With such an overall approach, some minor overlaps with other handbooks of this series (mainly with its first volume, Handbook of Transport Modelling, edited by Hensher and Button, 2000) cannot be completely avoided. However, the editors, aware of this issue, provide the reader with a handbook that rather completes the others and makes a significant contribution to the bookshelf of any transport practitioner, researcher, or educator. The 46 chapters are divided into six main parts: “Institutional Setting and Marketing,”“Planning Perspectives,”“Asset Management and Funding,”“Regulatory Issues,”“Evaluation Frameworks,” and “National Studies.” These part titles are not included in the 10-page table of contents, and the reader might find the task of browsing through the book to be more complex than it should. More than 60 individuals contributed to the book. Too many cooks might spoil the soup, but that is not the case here; its structure lends itself well to the topics, and the reader is introduced to divergent views that reflect well different perspectives of planning, management, and evaluation. For example, one of the original chapters is on a “banking perspective” by Nicholas Hann and Tim Mack (Chapter 18). It explains, using a language that is easy to understand, how (and why) bankers look at transport projects differently from economists. The first part (Chapters 2–9) provides a review of many key issues with respect to institutional setting and marketing. It starts with an explanation by Kenneth Button of market and government failures. Using basic concepts of economic theory, Button provides the reader with an essential background to one of the key issues: the extent to which transport markets should be regulated and controlled by government, or left to free market forces. The debate continues in the following chapters, with many examples of regulatory and institutional issues. David Hensher explores performance evaluation frameworks, and discusses the many dimensions of performance evaluation. He uses the Strategic-Tactical-Operations (STO) paradigm in order to demonstrate a useful and holistic framework to achieve a range of policy objectives. An overview of the transport planning process, emphasizing the relationship between transport modeling and policymaking, is provided in Chapters 10–15. A chapter on integrated transport strategies (by A. D. (Tony) May et al.) describes clearly the meaning of integration and provides empirical evidences of the benefits of integrated strategies, using examples such as the recent congestion charging in London. The part of the book on asset management and funding (Chapters 16–22) provides a good review of transportation asset management, different financial and institutional models, private and public finance issues, and a strong focus on financial analysis. With the chapter on the World Bank, Kenneth Gwilliam introduces us to the policy objectives and the unique process and instruments used by an organization that has a major influence on the development of the transport sector in many countries. Other chapters in this part are on the role of the private sector in financing road infrastructure and highlight some of the unique issues in financial evaluation of projects in developing countries. Regulatory issues related to different markets and modes are included in the next part. Steven A. Morrison provides a comprehensive review of deregulation of U.S. air transportation; Wayne K. Talley discusses the role of international maritime transport; Jacob B. Polak focuses on regulatory issues of inland waterways. Sergio R. Jara-Diaz and Antonio Gschwender discuss pricing in public transport. This part ends with two chapters on rail regulation, one of them about the captive railroad shipper. All these chapters treat the effects of regulatory issues on key measures of the transport system's performance, using the results of theoretical economic models and empirical evidence. This part covers regulatory issues of almost every possible mode; individual modes of transport, such as walking and cycling, are covered in the next part. Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) techniques to evaluate transport policies are presented in the next two chapters (Chapters 29–30). Although providing a good review of CBA and MCA, the focus on methodological issues of policymaking is not strong enough. Rather than just being introduced to the evaluation techniques, the reader could have benefited by having them reviewed from a practical point of view of a policymaker. How are different (and sometimes conflicting) interests of different stakeholders and interest groups reflected when using CBA and MCA? What are the attitudes of policymakers toward such methods? Do they represent well the preferences and the priorities of the policymakers? What are the common methodologies used in practice? These issues that many policymakers are concerned with are not directly addressed here. Recognizing car dependence as a major problem, causing negative impacts on environment and society, has made travel mode choice an important issue in transport policy. Reducing the use of “undesirable” modes and positive encouragement of the use of more sustainable alternatives is the subject of several chapters: “Voluntary Travel Behavior Change” by Peter R. Stopher; “Non-Motorized Transportation Change” by Matthew Page; “Stimulating Modal Shift” by Peter Bonsall; and “Marketing Public Transport” by Genevieve Giuliano and Sara Hayden. Several approaches to solve the social dilemma of travel-mode choice are presented and discussed. These include structural approach methods that are based on the concept of transport as a derived demand; taxes and charges, regulations and physical restrictions, and financial inducements are among the “hard” measures often used in order to create a system of positive and negative reinforcements (“carrots and sticks”) to stimulate modal shift. But there is also a review of a psychological approach to reduce travelers' car use; this includes interventions aimed as influencing travelers' attitudes and beliefs rather than making physical or economical changes in the transport system. Such approach has not been studied much in previous literature, and these chapters are a welcome addition to the limited number of resources on “soft measures” that are likely to attract more attention in the near future. The book provides information and advice on such approaches, including awareness campaigns, journey planning, and effective presentation and marketing of public transport. Recent studies (mainly from Australia and U.K.) described here provide evidence that such soft approaches appear to be cost-effective. Some authors point to the need to develop nonmotorized transport policy, the need to develop short-term and long-term evaluation procedures, and the need to provide good design for facilities of sustainable modes. As the editors mention in the introduction, the overall approach to transport policy varies considerably between countries. The last seven chapters include national studies of policy, reviewing some of the more interesting developments that have taken place in recent years (mostly oriented on industrialized countries). A conclusion to this part, comparing the national policies, would have been a welcome addition to the volume. If anything is missing from this wide-ranging handbook, it is perhaps some form of a conclusion at the end of it. Such could help to summarize the material presented, highlight the questions remaining open, and set future opportunities and challenges in policy. In the reviewer's view, it would contribute to the overall excellent quality of this essential book that makes a significant contribution.