Synopses & Reviews
Seventy percent of the oil America uses each year goes to transportation. That means that the national oil addiction and all its consequences, from climate change to disastrous spills to dependence on foreign markets, can be greatly reduced by changing the way we move. In
Transport Beyond Oil, leading experts in transportation, planning, development, and policy show how to achieve this fundamental shift.
The authors demonstrate that smarter development and land-use decisions, paired with better transportation systems, can slash energy consumption. John Renne calculates how oil can be saved through a future with more transit-oriented development. Petra Todorovitch examines the promise of high-speed rail. Peter Newman imagines a future without oil for car-dependent cities and regions. Additional topics include funding transit, freight transport, and nonmotorized transportation systems. Each chapter provides policy prescriptions and their measurable results.
Transport Beyond Oil delivers practical solutions, based on quantitative data. This fact-based approach offers a new vision of transportation that is both transformational and achievable.
Review
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Transport Beyond Oil is an excellent compendium of thought-provoking research and information demonstrating how we can move from being a nation whose transportation sector is addicted to oil to a nation whose transportation sector offers sustainable mobility and greater choice in travel options to its citizens."
Review
"I look forward to a world in which people everywhere are more mobile while transport is sustainable. Getting there is a policy challenge in need of deep exploration. This eclectic and readable collection of stimulating essays richly informs the research and lively policy debates that lie ahead."
Review
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Transport Beyond Oil shows the supply efficiency and demand mitigation strategies the market and the planet are calling for to get the economy off our transportation oil addiction. This collection will get us closer to kicking our addiction and lead the way to the sensible use of this natural treasure."
Review
"Because the United States transportation system wastes so much oil today, moving beyond mobility that guzzles gas, diesel, and kerosene like there's no tomorrow will actually be easier than many anticipate. And after many of the solutions put forward in this book are implemented, people will wonder why America waited so long to break away from such an unhealthy addiction to oil."
Review
"Editors Renne (Univ. of New Orleans) and Fields (Texas State Univ.) have produced a well-written volume that makes an excellent case for the need to reduce the oil dependence of the US transportation system"
Review
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Transport Beyond Oil is an interesting book on an important subject, showing how to simultaneously cure oil dependence and obesity, regenerate cities and mitigate climate change."
Review
"[
Transport Beyond Oil] presents opportunities and viable options for improving our transportation systems in an attempt to encourage less dependence on fossil fuels and also presents options for creating healthier, safer and more efficient environments through policy choices."
About the Author
John L. Renne, Ph.D., AICP, is Director of the Merritt C. Becker Jr. University of New Orleans Transportation Institute and Associate Professor in the Department of Planning and Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans. He is also Managing Director of The TOD Group, LLC. John lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Billy Fields, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas State University. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Where Have we Come from? Where Are we Going? Interstate 2.0 \ Gil Charmichael
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Moving from Disaster to Opportunity: Transitioning the Transportation Sector from Oil-Dependence \ John Renne and Billy Fields
PART I. Petroleum Consumption Impacts and Trends
Chapter 1. The Role of Transportation in Driving Climate Disruption \ Debbie Gordon and David Burwell
Chapter 2. Oil Vulnerability in the American City \ Neil Sipe and Jago Dodson
Chapter 3. Full Cost Analysis of Petroleum Consumption \ Todd Litman
Chapter 4. How Does Induced Travel Affect Sustainable Transportation Policy? \ Robert Noland and Christopher Hanson
Chapter 5. Bending the Curve: How Reshaping U.S. Transportation Can Influence Carbon Demand \ Deron Lovaas and Joanne Potter
PART II. Transportation and Oil Dependence: A Modal Analysis
Chapter 6. Public Transportation as a Solution to Oil Dependence \ Bradley Lane
Chapter 7. Taking the Car Out of Carbon: Mass Transit and Emission Avoidance \ Projjal Dutta
Chapter 8. High-Speed Rail and Reducing Oil Dependence \ Petra Todorovich and Edward Burgess
Chapter 9. The Challenges and Benefits of Using Biodiesel in Freight Railways \ Simon McDonnell and Jie (Jane) Lin
Chapter 10. Healthy, Oil-Free Transportation: The Role of Walking and Bicycling in Reducing Oil Dependence \ Kevin Mills
Chapter 11. Building an Optimized Freight Transportation System \ Alan Drake
Part III. Moving Forward
Chapter 12. Imagining a Future Without Oil for Car Dependent Cities and Regions \ Peter Newman
Chapter 13. The Pent-Up Demand for Transit-Oriented Development and Its Role in Reducing Oil Dependence \ John Renne
Chapter 14. Deteriorating or Improving?: Transport Sustainability Trends in Global Metropolitan Areas \ Jeffrey Kenworthy
Chapter 15. Policy Implications of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program: Redefining the Transportation Solution \ Billy Fields and Tony Hull
Chapter 16. From Potential to Practice: Building a National Policy Framework for Transportation Oil Reduction \ Billy Fields, John Renne, and Kevin Mills
About the Contributors