To carry out a Sustainability Appraisal of a Local Transport Strategy/ Plan. Please do not choose the Edinburgh Local Transport Strategy or one you have helped to produce
TEACHING OBJECTIVES:
The assessment is designed to:
• Develop a critical understanding of the impact of transport infrastructure on the case study area chosen and the
effectiveness of the transport strategy/plan as a tool to achieve more sustainable accessibility.
• Contribute to developing an understanding of how to apply sustainability appraisal in practice.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
On completion of the exercise, students should demonstrate:
• Problem identification and the analysis of current issues in transport using evidence based solutions and arguments to
formulate solutions.
• High levels of awareness of the methods involved in, and responsibilities for, transport planning in the case study area
and the cooperation with other institutions to achieve change.
• Enhanced oral and ICT communication, and group work, skills.
Assessment criteria:
The presentation (oral and written) will be assessed according to the following criteria (weighted equally):
You need to demonstrate:
• Understanding of current and proposed transport infrastructure in chosen city
• Understanding of the organizations (government and/ or private) which have the responsibility to provide and plan for
transport services in the chosen country, in which the city resides.
• Understanding of the guiding principles of sustainable transport
• Appropriate selection of sustainability indicators
• Collection and analysis of data
• Strategy appraisal and recommendations for future policy
• Effectiveness of presentation (structure; clarity, use of visual material) including timing and team-work for on-campus
oral presentations.
WORK PROGRAMME:
Description
1 Understand how transport can contribute to sustainable development (economy, environment, social/ community)
2 Identify indicators of sustainable transport. The Jones and Lucas (2012) seminar paper you will be reading later on in
the course provides a useful overview of what we know of transport impacts.
3 Develop an appraisal framework. You may find the Table 1 below helpful in choosing the indicators you will use in your
appraisal.
4 Identify data sources
5 Appraise the sustainability of a Local Transport Plan/ Strategy. Use the information you have collected to understand
what works well in your chosen city and identify those aspects that need attention. You will need to be able to assess the
direction of change: is the transport system getting more sustainable/ less sustainable?
A professional sustainability appraisal would assess the positive/ negative impacts of the transport system using monetary
values/ tonnes of CO2/ and more sophisticated analyses of the social and environmental impacts. The degree of change is
measured using a scale or set of intervals:
a. monetary values: predicted future costs/benefits estimated in relation to current values
b. Greenhouse Gases as valued in tonnes of CO2
c. seven point arbitrary scale assessing their relative adverse or beneficial economic impacts relative to current
government expenditure
d. large, moderate and slight, with an additional neutral category if no impact is predicted
You should be able to devise a scale based on (d) above.
Note on Data Sources
Besides producing a Local Transport Plan/ Strategy, Local Transport Authorities in the UK also produce theme or sector
transport strategies such as:
• Air Quality Management Plan
• Cycle Action Plan
• Walking strategies
• Public Transport strategy
Some of the larger authorities carry out their own detailed transport surveys, e.g. Transport for London/ London Area
Transport Surveys
National governments collect key transport data, for example:
• Scottish Environmental Statistics
• Scottish Government Road Accidents
• Transport Model for Scotland (2008) models congestion on major roads
• Department for Transport National Travel Survey
• Traveline Scotland’s (2008) online journey planner/ Microsoft’s (2008) online driving time utility
Readings
1. Bertolini, L., and le Clerq, F., (2003) Urban development without more mobility by car? Lessons from Amsterdam, a
multimodal urban region, Environment and Planning A, 35, 575-589.
2. Jones, P., and Lucas, K., (2012) The social consequences of transport decision-making: clarifying concepts, synthesizing
knowledge and assessing implications, Journal of Transport Geography, 21, 4-16.
3. Banister, D., and Hickman, R., (2013) Transport futures: Thinking the unthinkable, Transport Policy, 29, 283-293.
Hints on reading articles:
When reading a research article you need to understand the aims and objectives of the research, the concepts and
assumptions made by the author/ researcher.
Identify the research that was carried out: what were the aims and objectives?
What assumptions does the author make? What concepts/ ideas does she/he draw on?
What claims does she/he make, and what evidence does she/he have to support those claims?
What contribution to our knowledge does this research/ article make?
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