Skip to content

 School of Geography and the Environment

University of Oxford

 The Transport Studies Unit

Outreach

Part of the School of Geography and the Environment
Gordon Stokes

People

Gordon Stokes

Academic Profile

Gordon Stokes has worked in transport research for 30 years. After researching time-geographic indicators of accessibility for different social groups in the University of Reading he worked on the Tyne and Wear Metro Impact Study and walking as a mode of transport at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory in Crowthorne. Between 1986 and 1995 he worked at Transport Studies Unit in Oxford (when it was in Bevington Road) on a range of areas including analysis of household travel panel surveys, the effects of bus deregulation, attachment to the car and car dependence, and forecasting travel demand in rural areas.

Between 1995 and 2001 he worked for Transport Consultancies, working on European funded research projects (CAPTURE and MIMIC), as well as doing research for the Department for Transport and other national organisations on a range of issues including changing travel behaviour, transport assessments for new developments, and Rural Transport Partnerships.

In 2001 he joined the Countryside Agency as a transport policy advisor, and from 2005 to 2010 worked for the Commission for Rural Communities, following the reorganisation of Defra agencies. During this time he has done much research on rural travel behaviour and well as working with others on a wide range of rural issues. He was the editor and one of the main authors and analysts for the State of the Countryside Report for 2007, 2008 and 2010. He left the Commission for Rural Communities in late 2010 following the announcement of its abolition to pursue other transport research interests.

He became a Research Associate with TSU in early 2009.

Current Research

Gordon is well known for his research, knowledge and expertise in rural transport issues and travel behaviour analysis, but the bulk of his recent work involved commissioning and managing research, and more direct policy related work. He is also a member of the Transport Practitioners Meeting committee, and an active committee member of the Transport Statistics Users Group.

  • State of the Countryside Reports
    Editor of the 2007 and 2008 reports covering analysis of rural trends with commentary. Author of the Living in the Countryside chapters, carrying out analysis of most tables and maps in this chapter. Overall editor of full report. He also wrote the Living in the Countryside Chapter for the final 2010 report.
  • Analysis of the National Travel Survey
    Analysis of National Travel Survey data studying equity issues as part of the UKTRC social impacts and social equity issues in transport series of framing seminars. Analysis of changes in travel behaviour of different groups of people (by age, income, area of residence and suchlike) to investigate the nature of recent lack of growth in car use.

Selected Publications

  • Stokes, G. (2011) Transport poverty - what is it, can we measure it and what should we do about it? Paper to Transport Practitioners Meeting, Liverpool. PTRC Education and Research Services Ltd.
  • Stokes, G. and Lucas, K. (2011) National Travel Survey Analysis. TSU Working Paper Series, Ref. 1053. School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G. (2011) Rural transport and the economy. Paper to University of West of England seminar series "Moving the region forward", March.
  • Shaw, J. and Stokes, G. (2011) How will rural people travel in 2030? Commission for Rural Communities, Cheltenham.
  • Stokes, G. (2010) Can we afford to ignore travel behaviour in rural areas? Paper to Transport Practitioners Meeting, York. PTRC Education and Research Services Ltd.
  • Commission for Rural Communities (2008) The State of the Countryside 2008. Commission for Rural Communities, Cheltenham.
  • Countryside Agency (2003) Transport in tomorrow's countryside. Countryside Agency.
  • Stokes, G. (2002) Strategies to change people's travel behaviour - where do we start? Paper to PTRC conference on Changing Travel Behaviour, London.
  • Cullinane, S. and Stokes, G. (1998) Rural transport policy. Pergamon, Oxford.
  • Campaign to Protect Rural England (1997) Traffic trauma or tranquility - scenarios for traffic growth on minor rural roads. CPRE, London.
  • Stokes, G. (1996) Strategies to reduce car dependence. Paper to the CAPTURE Cities Conference, London, December.
  • Goodwin, et al. (1995) Car dependence. A report for the RAC foundation for motoring and the environment. RAC Foundation, London.
  • Stokes, G. and Parkhurst, G. (1995) Change through interchange: making complex journeys easier. Research for the Rees Jeffries Road Fund. TSU Working Paper (Ref. 838), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G. (1995) Assessing the effects of new transport policies on rural residents. TSU Working Paper (Ref. 836), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G. (1995) Rural transport policy in the 1990s. In, Special edition of Institution of Civil Engineers Transport Journal on Transport Policy, August. Originally, TSU Working Paper (Ref. 835), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G. and Taylor, B. (1994) Where next for transport policy? In, Jowell, Curtice, Brook and Ahrendt (eds.) British Social Attitudes - The Eleventh Report. Dartmouth, Aldershot. Originally, TSU Working Paper (Ref. 804), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G. and Dargay, J. (1993) What is a sustainable transport policy? PTRC Summer Annual Meeting, Manchester, September.
  • Stokes, G., Goodwin, P.B., and Kenny, F. (1992) Trends in transport in the countryside. Report to the Countryside Commission. Countryside Commission Research Report CCP 382. Countryside Commission, Cheltenham.
  • Stokes, G. (1991) Test of a time-geographic accessibility measure. TSU Working Paper (Ref. 631), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Goodwin, P.B., Hallett, S., Kenny, F. and Stokes, G. (1991) Transport: the new realism. Report to Rees Jeffreys Road Fund. TSU Working Paper (Ref. 624), School of Geography and Environment, Oxford.
  • Stokes, G., Goodwin, P.B., Hallett, S., Hass-Klau, C., Bradburn, P., and Kenny, F. (1991) Buses in towns. Transport Advisory Service, Preston.
  • Stokes, G., Kenny, F. and Hallett, S. (1991) The love affair with the car - wedlock or deadlock. Paper presented to PTRC Summer Annual Meeting, 1991.
  • Stokes, G., Pickup, L., Meadowcroft, S., Goodwin, P.B., and Kenny, F. (1990) Bus deregulation: the metropolitan experience. Association of Metropolitan Areas, London, 1990.
  • Stokes, G. (1989) Bus users and car choosers: an analysis of the 1988 South Yorkshire household travel survey. Transport Studies Unit, Oxford.
  • Robinson, F. and Stokes, G. (1987) Rapid transit and land use: the effects of the Tyne and Wear Metro. University of Newcastle, CURDS, Discussion Paper, no. 88.
  • TRRL (with others) (1986) The Metro report: the impact of Metro and public transport integration in Tyne and Wear. Published by the Metro Monitoring and Development Study, and TRRL.
  • Mitchel, C.G.B. and Stokes, G. (1982) Walking as a mode of transport. Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Laboratory Report 1064.