This report, from the Public Policy Institute for Wales (PPIW), considers what the Welsh Government might learn from the theory and practice of strategic transport planning internationally. The focus is on four key questions:
- What are the key issues that need to be taken into account in order to provide effective strategic transport planning?
- Are there comparator countries or regions that Wales might learn from?
- Are there models or assessment tools that Wales could consider adopting?
- What scope is there for making use of new technology and new data sources?
Traditionally transport planning has been reactive or ‘problem-oriented’. More recently pro-active, ‘objectives-led’ approaches have emerged. Both can help frame strategic transport planning, but successful plans are those which: have a clear vision of what the plan is trying to achieve; are capable of being both proactive and reactive; contain a mix of policy instruments; and make appropriate use of forecasting models and options appraisal.
International examples of best practice appear where a government is able to coordinate transport planning with other aspect of planning such as infrastructure, land use, environment, health, education and social services; and where there is a consistent approach to funding and a broad range of finance, often from devolved sources. The most useful comparators are likely to be at the city-region scale, particularly for the Cardiff/South East Wales City Region (e.g. Copenhagen, in terms of integrated public transport planning).
Transport models and assessment tools are crucial in helping decision-makers to understand existing transport usage and to predict the impact of policy interventions. There is a range of transport models at the national scale, from relatively complex disaggregate approaches (which can cost several million pounds to set-up and run) to simpler aggregate approaches.
Open data and open source software, in conjunction with new crowd sourced data and developments in cloud computing, are providing the materials to revolutionise analytical transport planning and to potentially reduce its costs. Although some inroads have been made, this is a new area and the potential benefits are yet to be fully realised. Initiatives are underway to advance the state-of-the-art.