To the best of our knowledge, a multidisciplinary book that introduces the reader to the transport system, its effects on accessibility, the environment and safety, while linking these effects with transport policy and drawing from broad related research, did not exist prior to the publication of the first edition of this book in 2013. Other books generally discuss transport from the viewpoint of one discipline, for example economics, or focus on one policy-relevant effect, for example the environment. This book aims to fill this gap, and it provides a revised and updated version of the first edition.
The book is written primarily for educational purposes, for use either in courses at universities or in other education programmes or for self-study. We realize that we do not, and cannot, cover all of the expectations that readers may have from a book like this. However, we consider that this book provides an appropriate general introduction to the transport system, and its effects on society and policy. This book is based on a Dutch language book (Verkeer en Vervoer in Hoofdlijnen) that was published in 2002 and updated in 2009 and 2014. The book in its multiple versions has been
used at several universities and in several professional education programmes. We did not just translate the book, but we replaced most Dutch cases with examples from other countries, added international literature and a new chapter on traffic flow theory and modelling. In this second edition we added another chapter on transport impacts on health and well-being, because of the increasing attention that this topic receives both in research and policy making. In addition to the paper version, this book can be downloaded from the website of TRAIL Research School (www .rstrail .nl/ books). In addition to the paper version, an e-book can be downloaded from the current website. Here, you can also find free teaching materials. We thank Lale Günhan for her support with developing these materials.
We hope that this will stimulate courses to use the book and that we are thereby making a small contribution to reducing the costs of education. We are very glad that Edward Elgar has again had the courage to publish the printed version of this book. We especially thank Alex Pettifer for the pleasant collaboration. We hope that at least staff members and libraries, in addition to many students, will buy the printed version of this book.
This book is made possible thanks to the Dutch transport research school TRAIL (www.rstrail.nl), which supported us financially and by doing a lot of work related to layout, editing, indexing, and the like. We especially thank Conchita van der Stelt (TRAIL) for her support and encouragement.
If you have any suggestions or questions related to this book in general or parts of it, please contact us. We wish that you enjoy this book and find it a useful source in your study of the transport system and policy!
