Seventy percent of the oil America uses each year goes to transportation. That means that the national oil addiction and all its consequences, from climate change to disastrous spills to dependence on foreign markets, can be greatly reduced by changing the way we move. In Transport Beyond Oil, leading experts in transportation, planning, development, and policy show how to achieve this fundamental shift.
The authors demonstrate that smarter development and land-use decisions, paired with better transportation systems, can slash energy consumption. John Renne calculates how oil can be saved through a future with more transit-oriented development. Petra Todorovitch examines the promise of high-speed rail. Peter Newman imagines a future without oil for car-dependent cities and regions. Additional topics include funding transit, freight transport, and nonmotorized transportation systems. Each chapter provides policy prescriptions and their measurable results.
Transport Beyond Oil delivers practical solutions, based on quantitative data. This fact-based approach offers a new vision of transportation that is both transformational and achievable.
"Because the United States transportation system wastes so much oil today, moving beyond mobility that guzzles gas, diesel, and kerosene like there's no tomorrow will actually be easier than many anticipate. And after many of the solutions put forward in this book are implemented, people will wonder why America waited so long to break away from such an unhealthy addiction to oil."---Anthony Perl, Professor, Urban Studies and Political Science, Simon Fraser University "[Transport Beyond Oil] presents opportunities and viable options for improving our transportation systems in an attempt to encourage less dependence on fossil fuels and also presents options for creating healthier, safer and more efficient environments through policy choices." "Transport Beyond Oil is an excellent compendium of thought-provoking research and information demonstrating how we can move from being a nation whose transportation sector is addicted to oil to a nation whose transportation sector offers sustainable mobility and greater choice in travel options to its citizens."---William W. Millar, retired president, American Public Transportation Association "I look forward to a world in which people everywhere are more mobile while transport is sustainable. Getting there is a policy challenge in need of deep exploration. This eclectic and readable collection of stimulating essays richly informs the research and lively policy debates that lie ahead."---Martin Wachs, University of California and RAND Corporation "Transport Beyond Oil shows the supply efficiency and demand mitigation strategies the market and the planet are calling for to get the economy off our transportation oil addiction. This collection will get us closer to kicking our addiction and lead the way to the sensible use of this natural treasure."---Christopher B. Leinberger, President, LOCUS; Professor, GWU School of Business; author of The Option of Urbanism "Editors Renne (Univ. of New Orleans) and Fields (Texas State Univ.) have produced a well-written volume that makes an excellent case for the need to reduce the oil dependence of the US transportation system" "Transport Beyond Oil is an interesting book on an important subject, showing how to simultaneously cure oil dependence and obesity, regenerate cities and mitigate climate change."
