Future scenarios and strategic choices - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 421

The Study shows that there is a strong economic case for more strategic road
building at an annual rate of around 600 lane kilometres, irrespective of whether
road pricing is introduced. However road-building combined with efficient
pricing would result in a much higher economic return because mobility would be
enhanced as well as congestion reduced.
(ibid. Conclusions)
The rate of road-building proposed equates with that undertaken during the decade
from 1990, but is some five times greater than the Highways Agency's programme for
2003-15.
24.7 Towards a Sustainable Transport System
'Towards a Sustainable Transport Systsem' (commonly abbreviated to TaSTS) is the
title of a White Paper published in October 2007 which represents the Government's
formal response to the Stern and Eddington reports and considers their implications
for work on the planning of transport in 2014/15 and beyond (DfT 2007s) :
Our aim is not just to set out how the Government sees the Eddington and Stern
Review being implemented, but to start a process of engaging with stakeholders
in a way that has not always underpinned previous Government-level transport
planning.
(ibid. para 1.24)
This work takes place in the context of an extension of the long-term funding
guideline for transport spending announced in the 2007 CSR which grows at 2.25%
per annum in real terms to 2018/19. In this section we report on the procedures that
Government intends to follow whilst in the following section we note the indications
it gives for the 'goals' to be pursued and the 'challenges' to be addressed.
Eddington had concluded that transport planning was conducted in a way which
often focused too early on developing a specific scheme or solution. These were
conceived within institutional arrangements which structured work around particular
modes or types of intervention. Planning should be more inter-modal and look at a
wide range of possible actions. In addition, to ensure that the best long-term outcomes
were secured, he recommended a three-level decision-making cycle based on a 20-30
year outlook, a 10-20 year medium-term strategy and short-term plans looking 5-10
years ahead (Figure 24.3).
To overcome the tendency to develop solutions - especially grandiose ones - in
search of a problem he also recommended a rigorous objectives-led approach to
planning (Box 24.3).
The Government accepted both these recommendations and DfT has therefore
begun to explore ways in which current decision-making processes might be reformed
so as to:
• allow choices to be made across the different modes
• provide clarity on the expected availability of funding
• ensure that larger schemes are not allowed to swallow up all the funding available
just because they are planned further ahead than smaller interventions
• provide enough flexibility to be able to deal with future uncertainties.