Overview of Handbook of Sustainable Travel

Abstract

Current transportation systems that heavily entails > rely on car and air travel are unsustainable from an environmental and health point of view, primarily owing to that > because car and air travel produces greenhouse gases contributing to global climate change as well as causes local health hazards. Transport policies aiming to reduce car and air travel may have negative social and economic personal effects by reducing accessibility to services and social opportunities. Alternative travel modes are only sustainable under certain conditions. Therefore, an integrative view of sustainability, recognizing environmental, social, and economic aspects is necessary. These issues are briefly introduced, followed by an outline of Handbook of Sustainable Travel that describes the historical development of travel resulting in ecological, social, and psychological effects (Part I), the unsustainability of current car travel and the effectiveness of transport policies to reduce car use (Part II), the social sustainability of travel (Part III), and the directions towards more sustainable forms of travel (Part IV).