The Role of Decision Support in the Implementation of “Sustainable Transport” Plans

Improved decision support is deemed essential for the planning and implementation of sustainable transport solutions, but limited evidence exists that decision-relevant information is effectively used for these purposes. This paper applies a framework inspired by research in “knowledge utilization” to examine to what extent various kinds of decision support are used and have become influential in three different planning situations—a local cycle plan in Copenhagen, the Stockholm congestion charging trial and the UK national transport strategy. The results reveal the extensive use of decision support but also the difficulty of unpicking its exact role in each case. Stockholm presented the most successful case, with a mix of academic and experience-based knowledge inputs facilitating understanding and acceptance. The cycle plan example revealed very limited influence of cycling design guidance. The UK national transport strategy fell somewhere in between with evidence of assessment and monitoring of the plans being well bedded in the culture of the organizations involved, but less supportive of sustainability objectives. While decision support and monitoring are clearly relevant, they provide no guarantee for the implementation of sustainable transport solutions.

[1]  Robert F. Rich,et al.  Social science information and public policy making , 1981 .

[2]  E. Ampt.  Man and his transport behaviour. Part 2c Planning as a substitute for implementation: a bicycle case study , 1984 .

[3]  J. Innes.  Knowledge and Public Policy: The Search for Meaningful Indicators , 1989 .

[4]  Carol H. Weiss,et al.  Have We Learned Anything New About the Use of Evaluation? , 1998 .

[5]  Judith E. Innes,et al.  Information in Communicative Planning , 1998 .

[6]  Tim Rayner,et al.  ‘When knowledge matters’: the role and influence of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution , 1999 .

[7]  S. Harrison.  Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice , 2001 .

[8]  Vicente Carabias-Hütter,et al.  Indicators into action : local sustainability indicator sets in their context , 2002 .

[9]  Andrew Morrison,et al.  Researching Icts in Context , 2002 .

[10]  H. Gudmundsson.  The Policy Use of Environmental Indicators - Learning from Evaluation Research , 2003 .

[11]  Joseph S. Szyliowicz,et al.  Decision-making, intermodal transportation, and sustainable mobility: towards a new paradigm , 2003 .

[12]  Melvin M. Mark,et al.  Beyond Use: Understanding Evaluation’s Influence on Attitudes and Actions , 2003 .

[13]  R. Tolley.  Sustainable transport : planning for walking and cycling in urban environments , 2003 .

[14]  Nabil Amara,et al.  New Evidence on Instrumental, Conceptual, and Symbolic Utilization of University Research in Government Agencies , 2004 .

[15]  O. Bina,et al.  New Agendas for Appraisal: Reflections on Theory, Practice, and Research , 2004 .

[16]  J Kelly,et al.  Successful Transport Decision-making: a project management and stakeholder engagement handbook. Volume 1:Concepts and tools; Volume 2: fact sheets , 2004 .

[17]  T. Sager,et al.  The Political Relevance of Planners’ Analysis: The Case of a Parliamentary Standing Committee , 2005 .

[18]  Performance Targets for Transport , 2005 .

[19]  Peter Bonsall,et al.  Performance Targets in Transport Policy , 2006 .

[20]  C. Taylor,et al.  Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change , 2006 .

[21]  Andres Monzon,et al.  Highway and Urban Environment , 2007 .

[22]  Iain Docherty,et al.  New deal or no new deal? A decade of ‘sustainable’ transport in the UK , 2008 .

[23]  Angela Hull,et al.  Developing a set of decision-support tools for sustainable urban transport in the UK , 2008 .

[24]  G. Marsden,et al.  Improved Indicators for Sustainable Transport and Planning Deliverable C 2 Measuring wider economic benefits of transport A case study in good practice for indicator selection , 2008 .

[25]  S. Dennis.  Using Pricing to Reduce Traffic Congestion , 2009 .

[26]  F. Carden.  Knowledge to Policy: Making the Most of Development Research , 2009 .

[27]  T. James,et al.  Policy Knowledge, Policy Formulation, and Change: Revisiting a Foundational Question , 2009 .

[28]  J. Elíasson,et al.  The Stockholm congestion – charging trial 2006: Overview of effects ☆ , 2009 .

[29]  Paolo Delle Site,et al.  Thematic Research Summary: Decision Support Tools , 2010 .

[30]  Hans Peter Peters,et al.  Mass-Mediated Expertise as Informal Policy Advice , 2010 .