Regional strategies - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 297

Box 18.2 Requirements of a Regional Transport Strategy
The RTS should provide:
• regional objectives and priorities for transport investment and management
across all modes to support the spatial strategy and delivery of sustainable
national transport policies
• a strategic steer on the future development of airports and ports in the region
consistent with national policy and the development of inland waterways
• guidance on priorities for managing and improving the trunk road network, and
local roads of regional or sub-regional importance
• advice on the promotion of sustainable freight distribution where there is an
appropriate regional or sub-regional dimension
• a strategic framework for public transport that identiies measures to improve
accessibility to jobs and key services at the regional and sub-regional level,
expands travel choice, improves access for those without a car, and guides the
location of new development
• advice on parking policies appropriate to different parts of the region, and
• guidance on the strategic context for local demand management measures within
the region.
Source: PPS11 Annex B para 4
single large project as this potentially increases their chances of receiving additional
funding.
RPBs are expected to include in their strategies a 'framework' within which
affordable priorities for public sector investment can be determined. The implication
is that RTS will refer to more potential investments during the plan period than
will be affordable in practice - in effect presenting a 'long list' or 'preparation pool'
from which individual schemes will subsequently be selected and brought forward
for implementation. This occurs because neither the likely level of funding nor the
cost, practicability or value for money of proposals will be known beyond the initial
few years. This may be a realistic reflection of the uncertainties involved in planning
and managing major investment programmes but it does raise questions about what
exactly is 'included' in an RSS/RTS and whether this is sufficient for its impacts to be
identified and its soundness and deliverability to be assessed.
For all the emphasis placed on public involvement in the preparation of the strategy it
is decisions made subsequently about the progressing and funding of individual schemes
which determines what actually materialises. The prioritisation undertaken within the
medium-term Regional Funding Allocation (RFA) is a critical subsequent stage (22.6).
For evidence of case studies and commentary on the RSS/RTS process in practice
readers are referred to Glasson and Marshall (2007).
Administrative procedures
Administratively the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) is handled as an integral part
of RSS and is therefore subject to the same arrangements. However the RTS is a
component which lends itself to revision separately from the remainder of the strategy