The book covers a certain number of aspects related to the main topic of urban sustainable mobility in the light of a steady growth of urban motorised traffic. The volume presents and criticises various methodological approaches adopted to assess the relation between the environment and sustainable travel behaviour in order to reduce efficiently environmental and economic problems and thus raise standards of living in our cities.
To do so, as suggested by some authors in this book, the development of a correct transport policy based on quantitative approaches is essential to investigate the concrete needs of transport demand, with a particular attention on the importance of service quality, in order to have a modal shift from private motorised traffic towards more sustainable modes of transport.
It is moreover crucial to raise awareness among citizens about the effect of their choice of transport mode on the quality of urban environment. But it is also the duty of local authorities to provide real alternatives for people to walk, cycle and use public transport instead of driving alone and to promote intermodality. Several measures have been proposed in this direction, but there is often disagreement on their application because of their unpopularity. As a matter of fact, sustainable mobility is in contrast with the excessive use of private transport, which is the preferred mode for most citizens but also detains the main responsibility of negative externalities associated to traffic. Some solutions to this controversial issue are presented in the volume.

Elisabetta Venezia is a researcher at the University of Bari, where she is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research in Transport Economics and Policy, mainly in urban transport. She has published widely in academic and other journals on Transport Economics. Her research in recent years has focused on the effects of privatisation and deregulation in the local bus industries, and on transport sustainability. She is specialised in evaluation of public projects, and provides policy advice to governments.