Integrated Transport Strategies: A Review of Recent Developments in the UK

Some 20 urban areas in the UK have now commissioned integrated transport studies, designed to develop strategies for tackling urban transport problems over the next 20 years. These studies follow a common structure in which a statement of vision is used to specify transport policy objectives and impact groups, and strategies are generated in response to future problems. The resulting strategies combine infrastructure, management and pricing measures, and draw on the synergy between such measures. Early studies suggested that it would be possible, in this way, to achieve conditions better than today's in our urban areas, despite the underlying growth in demand for travel. More recent studies have questioned this conclusion. The paper reviews studies in Bristol and Luton-Dunstable, which indicate that, where car use is already at a higher level, it will be much more difficult to achieve a reduction in the impact of car use. Policy implications are drawn concerning, in particular, the role of pricing of car use, the potential of land-use strategies, and the need for increased understanding of the role of non-motorised modes. The paper describes briefly the analytical approach adopted in the studies, and the constraints imposed on evaluation by current government investment appraisal procedures. It outlines a study conducted for the City of Birmingham, which has developed a common investment appraisal procedure for transport policy measures, and presents a trade-off analysis devised as part of that study for appraising projects for which finance is limited. Finally, the paper considers the problem of generating optimal transport strategies, and outlines a study which is about to commence which will develop more formalised methods for strategy generation.