Transport studies
Transport planning is a crucial element in the sustainable development and management of the built environment. Today, any urban transport strategy has to address two issues of primary importance: first, the imperative to facilitate the rapid decarbonisation of the transport sector and thereby contribute to the global campaign for climate stabilisation; and secondly, to exploit the rapid development of new technologies, such as zero-emission vehicles, autonomous vehicles (AVs) and internet-based apps, in a judicious manner which alleviates such problems as traffic congestion and air pollution while avoiding the undesirable side-effects that these technologies can sometimes bring with them if their potential impact is not fully understood from the outset.
CAR is committed to assisting in the process of understanding both the opportunities and the risks inherent in technological change and advising on the optimal ways of ensuring that the transport sector contributes, both at the local and the global scale, to sustainable urban living and the conservation of the natural and built environment of human settlements.
In recognition of the growing importance of this subject at a time of extraordinary change, in June 2017, CAR devoted part of its series of events to mark the 30thanniversary of the company’s foundation to the future of urban transport. Bringing together a wide range of expertise from within CAR, the University of Cambridge and CAR collaborators in Cambridge and beyond, the event was instrumental in teasing out the key issues in the context of CAR’s own back yard: Greater Cambridge, one of the UK’s fastest growing sub-regions.
Coming at a time when a fundamental review is taking place within local government about the future of transport in Greater Cambridge, this debate is particularly timely, and builds upon CAR’s extensive experience in the field of urban futures, working on studies such as Cambridge Futures, a project which was highly influential in setting the agenda for the expansion of Cambridge in the 21st Century.
