Transport and Ethics: Ethics and the Evaluation of Transport Policies and Projects

by Bert van Wee

Overview

This insightful book discusses the use of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for transport policy options from an ethical perspective.

Each detailed chapter deals with issues such as; the use and ethical aspects of CBA in transport, social exclusion, the environment and long term sustainability, safety, ethics of research and modeling transport. It summarizes ethics-based critics on CBA and discusses their relevance for accessibility, the environment and safety. In addition it explores ethical dilemmas of doing CBAs and CBA related research. The book concludes with possible avenues for furthering exploring the links between transport and ethics.

Transport and Ethics will appeal to researchers in the area of CBA for transport, postgraduate and undergraduate students in transport economics, transport policy, transport planning and transport geography, as well as policy makers in the area of transport.

Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. The Opinion of the Target Group; 3. How Suitable is CBA for the Ex-ante Evaluation of Transport Projects and Policies?; 4. Social Exclusion; 5. Long Term Sustainability and Transport Evaluation; 6. Safety: Indicators, Pricing Humans and Democracy; 7. The Ethics of Doing Transport Research; 8. The Use of Models; 9. Epilogue and Discussion; Index

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849809641
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	10/31/2011
Series:	Transport Economics, Management and Policy series
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Bert van Wee, Professor of Transport Policy, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Opinion of the Target Group 3. How Suitable is CBA for the Ex ante Evaluation of Transport Projects and Policies? 4. Social Exclusion 5. Long-term Sustainability and Transport Evaluation 6. Safety: Indicators, Pricing Humans and Democracy 7. The Ethics of Doing Transport Research 8. The Use of Models 9. Epilogue and Discussion Index

Editorial Reviews

'Prof. van Wee draws on extensive research and nearly three decades of professional experience to shine a welcome spotlight on a neglected yet critical area of transportation research and practice: the role of ethics in the ex ante evaluation of infrastructure projects and transportation policies. Aiming more to raise questions and provoke thought than to provide answers, his balanced and systematic treatment of the subject makes the book an invaluable resource - one which should be on the shelves and (more importantly) in the minds of every transportation policymaker, planner, and modeler.'
- Patricia L. Mokhtarian, University of California, Davis, US

'This book on transport ethics fills a clear gap in the literature. Many researchers and practitioners in the transport field are aware that transport policies have important ethical dimensions, but these have not been systematically explored in the literature. Bert van Wee did a great job by bringing transport and ethics together. His decision to focus on ex ante evaluations of transport policies works out very well, since it enables him to achieve considerable depth on a theme that might otherwise be too broad.'
- Piet Rietveld, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

From the Publisher

'Transport impacts on all aspects of our lives and businesses, but the inclusion of ethics is not seen as a central concern. This book fills a major gap in the literature, through its understanding of the many important dimensions of ethics and its treatment of a range of situations in transport, through asking about the why, what and how as it relates to ethics. The clear conclusion is reached that ethics should feature much more prominently in all transport decisions, but that it is also context specific in both time and space. The approach adopted is transparent and informative, and the author guides the reader through the main conceptual and theoretical issues, using examples to illustrate the range of important ethical choices raised in the evaluation of transport policies and practices.'

David Banister

‘Prof. van Wee draws on extensive research and nearly three decades of professional experience to shine a welcome spotlight on a neglected yet critical area of transportation research and practice: the role of ethics in the ex ante evaluation of infrastructure projects and transportation policies. Aiming more to raise questions and provoke thought than to provide answers, his balanced and systematic treatment of the subject makes the book an invaluable resource – one which should be on the shelves and (more importantly) in the minds of every transportation policymaker, planner, and modeler.’

Patricia L. Mokhtarian

‘This book on transport ethics fills a clear gap in the literature. Many researchers and practitioners in the transport field are aware that transport policies have important ethical dimensions, but these have not been systematically explored in the literature. Bert van Wee did a great job by bringing transport and ethics together. His decision to focus on ex ante evaluations of transport policies works out very well, since it enables him to achieve considerable depth on a theme that might otherwise be too broad.’

Piet Rietveld