Introduction

Transport is integral to people's daily lives across the planet. It plays a profound part in determining a society's credentials in terms of economic prosperity, wellbeing and social equity, and environmental sustainability. Transport shapes and is shaped by society as populations grow and fulfilment of access to people, goods, services and opportunities is pursued. Should anyone have been in doubt, this book underlines that transport matters. Mattering, however, does not make the role of a transport minister one that is sought after or long held – at least in the UK. Being Secretary of State for Transport has tended to be seen as a mark of a politician who is passing through the role on their way up to higher things or on their descent from frontline politics. Responsibility for transport can be a poisoned chalice for the very reason that transport does matter and because it is a source of both opportunity and threat to society. There is the opportunity to better connect society and help it thrive. Yet there is the threat that the consequences of such connectivity are harmful to society in terms of reshaping it in ways that bring about environmental degradation, social inequity and adverse health consequences. This book elaborates on such opportunity and threat, and explores and critiques aspects of governance and policy making. Critical commentary on where we have been, and on the course that has been charted for developing our transport system, now matters even more. It can help inform the ongoing shaping of transport supply and demand in the face of a deeply uncertain future as we head further into the digital age.

And it is inevitable that the world changes. Change can sometimes appear dramatic. An earthquake that literally shakes up the built environment. A stock market crash. A new president. Or at a personal level, being made redundant, the arrival of your first baby or winning the lottery. But change is often much less dramatic. We may have variations in routine from day to day, but for the most part the world of today seems much as it was yesterday, last month or even last year.