Christopher Foster is a former Director General of Economic Planning at the Ministry of Transport and was Professor of Urban Studies and Economics at the LSE. He was also the former head at Coopers & Lybrand of the economics and public policy division.

Part 1: The Framework 1. The Shortcomings of Some Simple Solutions to the Transport Problem 2. The Policy of a Public Enterprise 3. The Basis for an Economic Solution Part 2: The Rail Problem 4. Railway Costs and Charges: Profit Maximisation 5. Railway Investment: Profit Maximisation 6. The Consumers' Surplus Criterion for Railways 7. Regulation and Subsidy Part 3: The Road Problem 8. The Road Programme 9. The Costs of the Road System 10. Charging for the Use of the Road System 11. The Consumers' Surplus Criterion for Investment in Roads Part 4: The Transport Problem 12. Competition and Coordination 13. Summary to Conclusions. Appendices.

Originally published in 1982, this book gives a concise commentary on the development and performance of car ownership prediction procedures and a wide-ranging survey of the modelling techniques associated with forecasting. The book provides a basic appreciation of the key points, whether they are mathematical or otherwise. Throughout the book there is a theme which relates the academic debate surrounding the issue to technical rather than philosophical concepts.