Cities across the world are facing unprecedented challenges in traffic management and transit congestion while coping with growing populations and mobility aspirations; existing policies that aim to tackle congestion and create more sustainable transport futures offer only weak remedies. In Gridlock: Congested Cities, Contested Policies, Unsustainable Mobility, transport consultant John C. Sutton explores how two competing discourses in transport policy and planning practice – convivial and competitive ideologies – lead to contradictory solutions and a gridlock in policy as well as on transport systems.

Gridlock examines current transport and mobility in a geographical, social, political-economy and technological context. The challenges of rising congestion are highlighted through case studies from the UK, the USA, and OECD countries. Sutton offers readers a vision of a sustainable mobility future through the concept of mobility management, combining mobile communication and information technology with logistics to match travel demand to the capacity of transport systems.

Essential reading for transport professionals and students of transportation planning and policy, Gridlock offers a unique manifesto for sustainable mobility settlement, addressing the pressing problems of growing populations and congestion while looking ahead to a more sustainable future.