Substantiality in urban transport has multidimensional meanings and states reflecting various concepts according to the viewpoint based on the atmosphere of the area. Substantiality in Asian context should have its particular concept considering megacities of high density and mixed use of urban areas. Substantiality is regarded as a key concept to guide transport policy and planning in an Asian context.
With this background, the chapter discusses substantiality in transport safety, energy and environment, security, social aspect, robustness in facing natural disasters and finance.
An estimated 1.2 million people die annually from road crashes which should be focused by our efforts with regard road safety. With the increase in economic growth, travel demand and mobility in Asia has led to serious increase of pollution and fuel consumptions. Security is one of the most critical issues after such incidents such as the Tokyo subway gas attack in 1995, the London bombings in 2005, and terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in the USA in 2001. The Asian region has suffered from various natural disasters that brings about much damage to the transport system for a long time and covers 37% of the total number of disastrous events in the world. Finally, the chapter review financial resources of urban transport considering sustainable urban transport.