David Metz
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David Metz is a British transport researcher and former civil servant. He was Honorary Professor in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London (UCL), and was formerly Chief Scientist at the UK Department for Transport.
Career
Metz read Chemistry at UCL, where he also obtained an MSc in Biochemistry. He holds a PhD in Biophysics from King's College London.[1] Early in his career he was a member of the scientific staff of the Medical Research Council and subsequently a civil servant in several Whitehall departments, principally in the energy sector.[1] He served for five years as Chief Scientist at the Department for Transport.[2] He was also Director of the AgeNet project and a visiting professor at the Centre for Ageing and Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.[1] He subsequently joined UCL's Centre for Transport Studies as an honorary professor.
Research
Metz's research focuses on travel demand, transport investment appraisal, and the influence of new technologies on travel behaviour.
Travel time stability
A central theme of his work is the observed stability of average travel time: drawing on the National Travel Survey and international data, he argues that people spend roughly one hour per day travelling regardless of improvements in transport speed or capacity, and that in the long run people use faster transport to travel further rather than to save time.[3] He contends that this has fundamental implications for conventional transport appraisal, which treats travel time savings as the primary economic benefit of infrastructure investment.[4]
Peak car
Metz has written extensively on peak car — the levelling-off and subsequent decline of per-capita car use observed in developed countries since the early 2000s — and on the limitations of traffic forecasting models that assume continued growth in car use.[5][6]
Road investment appraisal
His empirical work on the widening of sections of the M25 and M1 motorways demonstrated substantial discrepancies between forecast and outturn economic benefits.[7] A follow-up study attributed this in part to the widespread adoption of digital navigation, which diverts local traffic onto strategic roads, filling any new capacity and negating travel time savings.[8]
Other research
Other research areas include congestion pricing (with comparative case studies of London, Stockholm and Singapore)[9], autonomous and electric vehicles[10], transport decarbonisation, road pricing, and the appraisal of major projects including HS2 and airport expansion.
Commentary in Local Transport Today
Since 2016 Metz has been a regular contributor of extended commentaries to Local Transport Today, the principal UK transport policy magazine, covering topics including road investment, transport appraisal, autonomous vehicles, road pricing, decarbonisation, and the performance of the Department for Transport.[11] Since 2021 these articles have been archived and made freely available through TAPAS.network, a platform associated with the magazine.[11]
Books
- Metz, David (2008). The Limits to Travel: How Far Will You Go?. Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84407-493-8. Search this book on
- Metz, David (2014). Peak Car: The Future of Travel. Landor Links. Unknown parameter
|note=ignored (help) Search this book on - Metz, David (2016). Travel Fast or Smart? A Manifesto for an Intelligent Transport Policy. London Publishing Partnership. ISBN 978-1-907994-59-3. Search this book on
- Metz, David (2019). Driving Change: Travel in the Twenty-First Century. Agenda Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78821-121-5. Search this book on
- Metz, David (2022). Good To Go? Decarbonising Travel After the Pandemic. London Publishing Partnership. ISBN 978-1-913019-61-7. Search this book on
- Metz, David (2024). Travel Behaviour Reconsidered in an Era of Decarbonisation. UCL Press. doi:10.14324/111.9781800087163. ISBN 978-1-80008-716-3. Search this book on
Selected journal articles
- Metz, David (2013). "Peak Car and Beyond: The Fourth Era of Travel". Transport Reviews. 33 (3): 255–270. Bibcode:2013TrRev..33..255M. doi:10.1080/01441647.2013.800615.
- Graham, A.; Metz, David (2017). "Limits to air travel growth: The case of infrequent flyers". Journal of Air Transport Management. 62: 109–120. doi:10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.03.011.
- Metz, David (2017). "Valuing transport investments based on travel time saving: inconsistency with United Kingdom policy objectives". Case Studies on Transport Policy. 5 (4): 716–721. doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2017.07.003.
- Metz, David (2018). "Tackling urban traffic congestion: The experience of London, Stockholm and Singapore". Case Studies on Transport Policy. 6 (4): 494–498. doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2018.06.002.
- Metz, David (2018). "Developing Policy for Urban Autonomous Vehicles: Impact on Congestion". Urban Science. 2 (2): 33. Bibcode:2018UrbSc...2...33M. doi:10.3390/urbansci2020033.
- Metz, David (2021). "Time constraints and travel behaviour". Transportation Planning and Technology. 44 (1): 16–29. doi:10.1080/03081060.2020.1851445.
- Metz, David (2021). "Economic benefits of road widening: Discrepancy between outturn and forecast". Transportation Research Part A. 147: 312–319. Bibcode:2021TRPA..147..312M. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2021.03.023.
- Metz, David (2022). "The impact of digital navigation on travel behaviour". UCL Open: Environment. 4: 05. doi:10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000034. PMC 10208339 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 37228473 Check|pmid=value (help). - Metz, David (2023). "Drivers' Perspectives of Car Dependence". Urban Planning. 8 (3): 126–134. doi:10.17645/up.v8i3.6286.
- Metz, David (2023). "Digital navigation negates the economic benefits of road widening: The case of the M1 motorway". Transportation Research Part A. 174. Bibcode:2023TRPA..17403749M. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2023.103749. Unknown parameter
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External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "David Metz". Council of Canadian Academies. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
- ↑ "David Metz". Centre for London. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
- ↑ Metz, David (2008). The Limits to Travel: How Far Will You Go?. Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84407-493-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Metz, David (2017). "Valuing transport investments based on travel time saving: inconsistency with United Kingdom policy objectives". Case Studies on Transport Policy. 5 (4): 716–721. doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2017.07.003.
- ↑ Metz, David (2014). Peak Car: The Future of Travel. Landor Links. Search this book on
- ↑ Metz, David (2013). "Peak Car and Beyond: The Fourth Era of Travel". Transport Reviews. 33 (3): 255–270. Bibcode:2013TrRev..33..255M. doi:10.1080/01441647.2013.800615.
- ↑ Metz, David (2021). "Economic benefits of road widening: Discrepancy between outturn and forecast". Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 147: 312–319. Bibcode:2021TRPA..147..312M. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2021.03.023.
- ↑ Metz, David (2023). "Digital navigation negates the economic benefits of road widening: The case of the M1 motorway". Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 174. Bibcode:2023TRPA..17403749M. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2023.103749. Unknown parameter
|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ Metz, David (2018). "Tackling urban traffic congestion: The experience of London, Stockholm and Singapore". Case Studies on Transport Policy. 6 (4): 494–498. doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2018.06.002.
- ↑ Metz, David (2018). "Developing Policy for Urban Autonomous Vehicles: Impact on Congestion". Urban Science. 2 (2): 33. Bibcode:2018UrbSc...2...33M. doi:10.3390/urbansci2020033.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Expert Contributors: David Metz". TAPAS.network. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
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