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Transport Crisis in Britain

By Philip S. Bagwell
December 1996
Spokesman
ISBN: 0-85124-598-6
197 pages, illustrated
$29.50 paperback

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What solutions are there to Britain's worsening transport crisis? This book, written by a leading transport historian, examines the role of roads, railways, canals and coastal shipping in the movement of goods and people in the United Kingdom. Extensive use has been made by the author of primary sources. Comparisons are made with the policies of other European countries. It is shown that excessive dependence on market forces has led to a wasteful allocation of transport resources. While railways have lacked adequate government support for investment, and are under-utilized because fares are among the highest in Europe, road transport is heading relentlessly towards gridlock in some regions of the country. This timely volume contains a full critical examination of the process of privatization of transport and its consequences. In Part III the author advocates legislative and fiscal measures to restore public ownership and control of buses and railways in a system designed as a vital service to passengers and traders.

The Transport Crisis in Britain is essential reading for all those determined to create and preserver a congenial environment in cities, towns and the countryside.

Transportation
Socialist Renewal, No. 12