Policy instruments (1) - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 188

12 Policy instruments (1)

Infrastructure investment

12.1 Introduction
We now proceed to consider the instruments (or 'means') available to Government
to influence conditions in pursuit of the objectives and targets (or 'ends') that were
discussed in the previous chapter. These instruments are of two main kinds:

1 action to alter the physical nature of transport networks

2 action to alter the behaviour of travellers or transport operators in their use of

these networks.

Both types of instrument are used to:

a improve the operational performance of networks (improving the speed, safety,

reliability etc. of journeys made on them), and/or

b lessen their adverse environmental or social impacts.

The two types of measure may be utilised in complementary fashion. For example
the building of a bypass is likely to produce greater benefits if it is accompanied by
management measures (e.g. direction signing or weight restrictions) to maximise its
use by through traffic and in the bypassed settlement (by traffic calming and promotion
of walking and cycling) to ensure that the opportunities created for environmental
improvement are secured. Alternatively it is possible that management measures alone
could be introduced to improve traffic and environmental conditions in the existing
settlement instead of building a bypass. Indeed it is possible to conceive of a range of
options involving different mixes and scales of 'hard' and 'soft' measures which could
be tested for their cost-effectiveness in addressing issues within an area. Unfortunately
such an approach is inhibited by current funding mechanisms which make a very sharp
distinction between 'major' and 'minor' investments and between capital and revenue
expenditure.
Having drawn attention to the way in which the different types of instrument may
be linked we are now going to consider each of them in more detail. In this chapter
we focus on investment in transport networks whilst in the following four chapters
we explore the various types of instrument available for controlling or otherwise
influencing travel behaviour.
In this chapter we begin by considering the nature of 'investment' and the rationale
for public investment in transport projects (12.2 and 12.3). We then consider the