Encyclopedia of Transportation: Social Science and Policy, 4 Volume Set

Existing reference works on the topic of transportation tend to focus on historical or on technical aspects. This is an academic work viewing transportation via the lens of current social, economic, and policy aspects. It explores the following questions and more: ·         What path is best for emerging countries to keep pace with the dramatic economic growth in transportation across the globe? ·         Should the best-and-brightest engineers be developing rocket systems for space tourism – or should they be focussing on the development and distribution of the electronic car for the masses? ·         How are decisions about transportation priorities and policies made? ·         What are the economic realities behind systems of various sorts? ·         What are the social costs when highways divide communities or leave them behind, or when an airport is expanded near a poor neighbourhood? ·         In an age of indiscriminant terrorism, how do we secure key nodes on transport systems in ways that don’t unreasonably constrict those very systems? ·         Should transportation systems be publicly or privately funded and run? What are the social and financial costs of gridlock in our cities?