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About

A bit of history

The University of the West of England has in recent years demonstrated its effectiveness in investing in, supporting and expanding its research. With its long tradition of vocationally-oriented study, UWE has been well placed to develop research that combines academic rigour and practical relevance. At the start of the new millennium the University and its Faculty of the Built Environment recognised that transport was a key area of research that should be invested in. It represented a natural extension of coverage in relation to the existing disciplines in which the Faculty engages. These include geography, environmental management, planning, architecture, housing, urban studies, local government and sustainable development. It was also apparent that in the South West region there was a lack of postgraduate teaching provision to support the transport planning profession. An objective was set to develop UWE as a centre of excellence for teaching and research in transport.

In September 2002, following the appointment of Glenn Lyons as Professor of Transport, the Unit for Transport & Society (UTS) was formed. By the end of 2002 further appointments had already created a small team.

At the start of 2003 the new MSc in Transport Planning had its first intake of 10 part-time students. UWE was also accepted by the UK's Universities Transport Study Group (UTSG) as a full member.

By the end of 2003, five further people had joined UTS. 21 new students registered for the second intake onto the MSc course in September 2003. UTS made strong progress in its first year in developing its research portfolio and a proposal was submitted to the University's Academic Board Research Committee in October 2003 for Transport & Society to be conferred with formal University Research Centre status. This proposal was successful and as from January 2004 the Centre for Transport & Society (CTS) formally came into existence.

In its first annual report (reflecting upon 2004) CTS boasted a research portfolio of in excess of £1M and a team of 19 people. A key strength of its assembled team was becoming apparent - a blend of individuals with substantial experience of transport planning, policy and practice and individuals with backgrounds in the social sciences. Such a multidiscplinary mix (and indeed a healthy gender balance within the team it must be said) was proving well suited to the Centre's interest in the study of human behaviour.

Since these early beginnings, CTS has become recognised as one of the key centres of transport studies in the UK and known for its distinctive focus on transport and society.

Why 'Transport and Society'?

Car dependence continues to grow and the resultant problems of congestion, pollution persist; and climate change concerns to which transport contributes have come into sharp focus. Many people's lifestyles are founded upon high levels of personal mobility. Patterns of land-use have evolved in ways that equate access and participation in society with mobility. Whereas once, transport policy sought to meet society's mobility demands by providing more transport system capacity, we now recognise that we cannot simply build our way out of congestion. Increasingly there is a need to question, understand and influence our demand for travel and the means of travel (or indeed means of access) we choose to use and even the destinations we visit. Understanding comes from considering why we travel and what shapes our patterns of travel. In other words we need to address the relationships between transport and society.

It then follows that transport scholarship must span a number of disciplines - those mentioned earlier and others besides, such as psychology and sociology. Scholarship must extend beyond the traditional transport strongholds of engineering and technology.

The overlapping circles that form our motif, embody the societal and multidisciplinary orientation of CTS.

CTS has a stated aim to improve and promote understanding of the inherent links between lifestyles and personal travel in the context of continuing social and technological change.