The Prospects for Inter-Urban Travel Demand

Mobility has increased enormously since the early days of the industrial era. Successive industrial revolutions have brought new, faster and relatively less expensive opportunities for both passengers and goods. If a contemporary of James Watt (1736-1819) or George Stephenson (1781-1848) were to return to Britain today, or to anywhere else in Europe, he would doubtless be astonished by the incredible mobility that is such an integral part of our activity schedules. His greatest surprise would not be at the number of our daily journeys (between three and four), or even the intensity – one might say the feverish pace – of our activity. Those features already existed in Europe’s major capitals, and Paris traffic jams have been famous for centuries!