The analysis of the relationship between transport and environmental policy invites an interdisciplinary treatment and a variety of approaches, and rightly so. An important subset of the approaches used involves economic analysis. Economic approaches often consider pricing policies, attempting to evaluate their effectiveness in comparison with more traditional measures such as command and control' regulation and directed technological innovation. Another important subset of approaches involves simulation modelling, where key relationships are presented mathematically so that their influence can be quantified and their interrelationships discerned precisely. This book treats the intersection of these two subsets: simulation models with a strong economic content. This intersection defines a broad but powerful way to study environment and transport. Its breadth is illustrated by the wide range of policies treated here, from carbon taxes to speed limits. Its power derives from the way insights into interrelated actions and the role of markets - the strong points of economic theory - are cast into a form suitable for making quantitative predictions about the results of policies. Case studies are used to show how simulation models can be designed and used to quantify the effectiveness of economic policies in terms of transport systems management and environmental protection, the emphasis being on the role of the markets in tracing the many effects that policies have, both anticipated and otherwise.

During the past two decades, most large American cities have lost population, yet some have continued to grow. Does this trend foreshadow the "death" of our largest cities? Or is urban decline a temporary phenomenon likely to be reversed by high energy costs? This ambitious book tackles these questions by analyzing the nature and extent of urban decline and growth of large U.S. cities. It includes and integrates five substudies. The first examines urban decline and some of its long-run causes, and whether cities that are losing population are performing their economic and social functions less effectively. The second substudy is a multivariate analysis of factors associated with the growth and decline of 121 large U.S. cities and their metropolitan areas. Although its causes vary, urban decline appears closely related to processes that have both upgraded individual households and generated serious problems for city governments and poor neighborhoods. A third substudy shows that neighborhood decline is part of a systematic process related to the influx of poor households into metropolitan areas. Another substudy simulates five antidecline strategies in a single metropolitan area, that of Cleveland, Ohio, and finds that severe decline (occurring in about one-fourth of large U.S. cities) could be slowed, though not stopped by vigorous policies. From the last substudy it emerges that, even if gasoline prices rose to over $2 a gallon, resulting adjustments by commuters and firms would produce little net centralization of future urban development though many older neighborhoods would probably be rehabilitated. The book concludes that further losses of population and jobs in most severely declining cities are unavoidable in the near future. Even Southern and Western cities, now growing fast, will find their rate of growth slowing as further annexation of surrounding territory is limited. The book ends with two chapters discussing policies designed both to help declining population and job losses and to minimize such loses in other cities.

The analysis of the relationship between transport and environmental policy invites an interdisciplinary treatment and a variety of approaches, and rightly so. An important subset of the approaches used involves economic analysis. Economic approaches often consider pricing policies, attempting to evaluate their effectiveness in comparison with more traditional measures such as command and control' regulation and directed technological innovation. Another important subset of approaches involves simulation modelling, where key relationships are presented mathematically so that their influence can be quantified and their interrelationships discerned precisely. This book treats the intersection of these two subsets: simulation models with a strong economic content. This intersection defines a broad but powerful way to study environment and transport. Its breadth is illustrated by the wide range of policies treated here, from carbon taxes to speed limits. Its power derives from the way insights into interrelated actions and the role of markets - the strong points of economic theory - are cast into a form suitable for making quantitative predictions about the results of policies. Case studies are used to show how simulation models can be designed and used to quantify the effectiveness of economic policies in terms of transport systems management and environmental protection, the emphasis being on the role of the markets in tracing the many effects that policies have, both anticipated and otherwise.

"America's interstate highway system is deteriorating, and traffic congestion in most urban centers is worsening. Because of the many strong and conflicting interests, policy discussions about the road system are also in gridlock. The only consensus that seems to have emerged is that public spending must be increased. Improving our highway system and its financing will not be easy. Road Work proposes a comprehensive highway pricing and investment policy to meet the goals of efficiency, equity, and financial stability. In this study, Kenneth A. Small, Clifford Winston, and Carol A. Evans base their policy on two economic principles: efficient pricing to regulate demand for highway services and efficient investment to minimize the total public and private costs of providing them. Policy recommendations include a set of pavement-wear taxes for heavy trucks, a set of congestion taxes for all vehicles, and a program of optimal investments in road durability. Their proposals should be especially attractive to policymakers because they can be implemented with current technology, offer little threat to the major interest group, and in the long run will reduce the strain on state and local governments' highway budgets. "