Steve Kidd's Transport Pages

The interest and objective of the author of these pages is social welfare - A betterment of the human condition. There are no sponsors, I have no paymasters and I have no interest other than that engendered by logic and evidence.

Transport is the aspect of our relationship with society and the environment which I reckon is the most neglected. Specifically our addiction to petrol make us generally less happy, and leaves a legacy of pollution and waste for our descendants. The fundamental philosophy of this site is:

Wherever possible, all costs for all activities should be paid for by the beneficary

It is an unequivocal endorsement of free market economics and this adage can be, should be, applied to all our activities. As of Christmas 2006, as regards transport, the logical implication is that petrol users should pay a great deal more for their activities.

This is not the message which the majority of people wish to hear, vicariously it is a message neglected by politicians, transport planners those in the media, academics and society in general, nevertheless, to dismiss an argument of the grounds of unpopularity is somewhat disingenuous. It is hoped that these pages will illustrate a few of the many arguments in favour of a radical (by present day standards) re-thinking of transport policy. Being a resident of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, a lot of the stuff is fairly 'Yorkshire-centric', but I have tried to collate the local stuff underneath the section headed "Wakefield". Regarding transport at local, regional, national and international scales can be incredibly dispiriting.

I will try to collate as much writing and information as I can. As with any web site they are always "under construction" so forgive omissions and lack of continuity, but do not forgive broken links or mis-information. My Kids are the greatest, and Danny Dorling & Phil Rees are my heroes.

Last update: January 9^th 2014

You will find some links at the top of this page for local stuff. Here are a few essays/ideas/criticisms

• Transport History A precis, with special reference to the second half of the 20th century
• How Bad is Transport? How could anybody read such a polemic? Angry rantings! But true.
• Provision for walkers and cyclists makes more economic sense than any new road building
• The 'school run' and the rationality of driving
• Abolish Road Tax How could anybody fail to support such a measure?
• Petrol Rationing How could anybody support such a measure?
• Do Speed Cameras Improve Road Safety? Yes!
• Transport Theory Boring Boring Boring...
• Wakefield Where I live
• Why Railways Suck GNER & Arriva have the 'wrong type of brain' - kinda local
• Graham's Irish Trip There is some positive stuff, but these beacons of hope are basically holiday snaps
• Transport Planning Society Quiz Night More snaps

  "for economic reasons as well as social or environmental, all transport users should meet all their external economic, social or environmental costs" Rod Eddington

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  A couple of dozen commuters in Leeds, 24 in Utrecht.
  Why do transport planners in Britain suck so much?