Future Transport in Cities

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Future Transport in Cities

Brian Richards, Spon Press 2001

This is Brian Richards's fourth book. His books come off the press at 10-14 year intervals. The first,New Movement in Cities appeared as long ago as 1966, the second, Moving in Cities in 1976, the third, Transport in Cities in 1990 and now the fourth, Future Transport in Cities. It is noticeable that the titles are not that different and not surprisingly there are themes and messages in the earlier books that get repeated. Illustrations of moving pavements, electric cars, interlocking buses, sky-trains, monorail, etc, that featured in 1966 appear again 35 years later, only in some cases what were utopian dreams at that time have become, or are approaching, reality now.

Much has been achieved in the transport field since publication of the third book. Although numbers of cars continue to increase, we have seen a curb to new road-building and new out-of-town centres. We have also seen the introduction of traffic calming measures on a wide scale, the improvement of public transport and the return of housing to city centres in an effort to enhance sustainability. These measures feature in Part I of the book entitled 'The Transport Situation Today' and examples are drawn from all over the world.

In Part II entitled 'Transport and the Future City' the author covers latest trends - the 'intelligent highway' including electronic road pricing, 'intelligent public transport', car sharing schemes, bike-hire schemes, car-free housing, telecommuting, innovations in weather protection, etc. Intelligent public transport gets further coverage in Part III entitled 'New Transport Technology'; this includes 'real time' boards at bus stops, guided bus systems and light rail. The author speaks highly of the light rail at Grenoble, in particular the environmental improvements which add value and make Croydon Tramlink look somewhat inferior.

The author is an architect, not a transport planner, and he approaches the subject of transport in cities with a strong sense of the visual. The frontispiece sets the tone of the book - the classic scene of transport systems in 'Metropolis', the Fritz Lang film of 1926. What follows is a feast of illustrative material and images, many produced by the author himself, which make the book sing. This book is very readable, as well as presentable, and will surely reach a wide audience.

(This review was first published in Urban Design Quarterly 82, Spring 2002 and is reproduced with the Editor's kind permission)