Presentation

Transport Policy is an international journal aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice in transport. Its subject areas reflect the concerns of policymakers in government, industry, voluntary organisations and the public at large, providing independent, original and rigorous analysis to understand how policy decisions have been taken, monitor their effects, and suggest how they may be improved.

The journal treats the transport sector comprehensively, and in the context of other sectors including energy, housing, industry and planning. All modes are covered: land, sea and air; road and rail; public and private; motorised and non-motorised; passenger and freight. It is recognised that policy concerns in transport have to be very wide, to cover safety, efficiency, economic development, local and global environmental impact, energy, land-use, equity and access for the widest range of travellers with special needs.

Policy topics include expectations of traffic growth and how to cope with it; infrastructure and vehicle design; traffic restraint, calming, management and control; regulation, deregulation and privatisation; economic and commercial pricing policy; and the methodological tools available to predict and assess the effects of alternative policy options.

It is intended to give special priority to understanding the nature and influences affecting policy change, including technical, attitudinal, institutional, structural and political constraints. Detailed local and sectoral case studies will be recorded, with an emphasis on policy and management implications.

WCTRS has published selected proceedings of its conferences in book format. However, with the continuous changes in technology and policy, the society looked for new venues to best serve and inform its international audience. The opportunity to collaborate on the publication of Transport Policy is a timely achievement, which can only benefit readers and society members, alike.

Having begun with Volume 6, the Journal adopted a new format, reformed and enriched, with the intent of attracting a wider number of readers, researchers and practitioners. We see this as an exciting chance to evolve the Journal and broaden international appeal.

Moshe Ben-Akiva of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will assume the role of Editor-in-Chief. Yoshitsugu Hayashi of Nagoya University and John Preston of Oxford University will act as Editors. All three will share the editorial responsibilities and will also serve on the WCTRS steering committee. Phil Goodwin, who established this Journal in 1993, is stepping down from his position as Editor for the past five years. He will remain on the international editorial board in his role as Founding Editor. An Advisory Editorial Board of up to 40 researchers of international standing has been developed, building on the existing board of Transport Policy(...).

WCTRS News Section

Yoshitsugu Hayashi will edit a WCTRS Society News Section and a series of invited papers. The News Section will provide useful information including a) Reports on activities of Special Interest Groups , b) Announcements from WCTRS, c) Plans for the next WCTR, d) News from related societies and organizations and e) Events and opportunities. The invited papers will cover the latest issues and perspectives in transport policy and innovative development of policy analysis methodologies(...).

 Objective and Scope

By becoming the journal of the WCTRS, Transport Policy will be read by a wider and more diverse group of researchers and practitioners. We intend to publish articles that cover a range of worldwide transport issues. We will particularly welcome papers on innovative methodologies and policies. In terms of style: "As far as possible our idea is that every article should be comprehensible to all readers, interesting to most readers, and actually useful to at least some readers" (ibid.).