Research Projects on Transport and Infrastructure

  • Understanding how rail construction affects mental health and wellbeing

    Researchers are exploring how the UK's High-Speed Rail 2 development might affect people who live near the railway line. What they learn will contribute to the design and assessment of later phases of the HS2 scheme.

    18 Nov 2021

  • Decarbonising UK transport

    A series of seven roadmaps for decarbonising domestic transport in the UK informed the UK Government’s 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan. These roadmaps address: cars and light goods vehicles; buses; coaches; heavy goods vehicles; rail; domestic shipping; and domestic aviation

    15 Jul 2021

  • Understanding the reasons for domestic tourism

    Domestic tourism benefits both the broader UK economy as well as businesses within a specific destination. To help understand the factors that influence people’s decisions to take domestic holidays, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) commissioned RAND Europe to examine the impact of publicly funded domestic tourism marketing.

    15 Jul 2021

  • Identifying patterns and factors affecting adoption of electric vehicles across the UK

    Researchers examined patterns of electric vehicles adoption across the country to help locate areas where investment in electric repair and servicing skills is needed.

    01 Mar 2021

  • Developing a New Transport Demand Model for the London Area

    With rising populations in London leading to higher demand on road and transport networks, Transport for London asked researchers to develop a new strategic travel model for London, which will be used to develop strategic land use and transport policy scenarios to assist with future investment in London’s transport systems.

    01 Mar 2021

  • A review of induced travel demand

    Through an extensive literature review, researchers found evidence that road capacity improvements result in induced travel demand, but most of the evidence came from large metropolitan areas outside the UK. More evidence from local studies would be helpful to ensure induced travel demand is properly accounted for in appraisal of capacity improvements to the UK's Strategic Road Network.

    28 Nov 2018

  • A New Transport Model for South East Wales

    RAND Europe researchers developed models capable of predicting levels of transport demand in South East Wales in response to a range of different policy options and in light of demographic changes.

    18 Sep 2018

  • Improved connectivity would benefit China's BRI

    Trade routes developed as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aim to promote regional cooperation in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Improving multimodal transport infrastructure and connectivity in the BRI region would likely benefit all partners, and rail improvements would have the greatest impact.

    08 Aug 2018

  • More data needed on bus demand elasticities and diversion factors

    To plan and invest appropriately, policymakers need to understand the impact of price, journey time and other variables on bus passenger demand. More research and data are needed to help future policy efforts, according to a review of the evidence.

    09 Jul 2018

  • Would the EU Benefit from Common Liability Rules for Autonomous Vehicles?

    Researchers explored the potential impacts of AVs on European car manufacturers, the insurance industry, connected industries and markets, and those who provide public provision of services and supervise compliance.

    20 Apr 2018

  • Quantifying travellers’ willingness to pay for a tolled tunnel in central Copenhagen

    Stated choice experiments helped researchers quantify the willingness of car and van travellers to pay to use a proposed new tunnel to cross to and from Amager in central Copenhagen. The results from this study will inform the Danish Road Directorate's proposed new infrastructure.

    21 Mar 2018

  • Updating the UK National Car Ownership Model

    The UK car ownership model was known to over-predict car ownership in dense urban areas, particularly London. In re-estimating the UK's current car ownership models using more recent data, researchers made improvements to the model specifications.

    22 Dec 2017

  • Supporting Brazilian Regulation to Encourage Private Investment

    Regulatory frameworks enable a business environment that encourages private investment. Researchers prepared a roadmap for logistics infrastructure investments for the Brazilian Ministries of Planning and Finance.

    09 May 2017

  • Understanding the Demand for Rail Travel in the UK

    An analysis of the National Travel Survey allowed researchers to quantify the impact of external socio-economic factors on rail demand. Application of the improved models for forecasting purposes requires the collation of socio-economic and demographic forecast data at an appropriately granular level.

    27 Apr 2017

  • Examining Future Transport Scenarios to Drive Innovation in the UK

    The UK’s roads, railways and airports are some of the most congested in the world. RAND Europe, in collaboration with Risk Solutions, explored how emerging technologies might make the transport system more efficient and effective by the year 2035.

    24 Jun 2016

  • Developing a New National Transport Model for the UK

    At the request of the Department for Transport, RAND Europe and Atkins are updating the UK's national transport model using current datasets. The project team may also suggest further enhancements to improve the forecasting functionality and/or consistency of the model.

    15 Mar 2016

  • What Factors Affect the Wider Adoption of Electric Vehicles?

    To understand the factors affecting the wider adoption of electric vehicles, RAND Europe sponsored a project to review the barriers and relevant government interventions. The project team conducted a survey to determine the potential uptake of electric vehicles within a municipality, using Cambridge, UK, as a case study.

    22 Feb 2012