READING:Christian Gerondeau

One of the great prizes at the International Road Federation conference in Toronto recently was that they were giving away copies of “Transport in Europe” by Christian Gerondeau, a meaty, stimulating, well written, well-illustrated, competently translated, 423p hardcover book. This giant of transport policy writes sharply but moderately on all the issues that torment us in transport policy — road congestion, rail vs road, safety, underground roads, traffic calming, pollution, the car’s appeal, ITS, highspeed rail, tolls vs taxes, land use & transport. For Americans he punctures the myth that everything is different in Europe, that they are crisscrossing the continent with efficient, economical highspeed rail, that they aren’t building highways, that bicycles and transit dominate etc. Of course things are different, but between different European countries as much as between the US and Europe, and they are changing rapidly so what may have been true of Europe a few years ago isn’t now. This is absolutely the best single book you can buy to sharpen your understanding of transport policy issues — as much if you live in the Americas or Asia as in Europe. If you missed out on your promotional copy at IRF you just have to buy one. Essential! It is priced high, but worth every dollar. (Transport in Europe: Christian Gerondeau ISBN 0-89006-931-X, 1997 Artech House Boston 617 769 6334 fx 617 769 6334 artech@artech-house.com)