B2n SEA practice in transport planning
Paul Tomlinson, TRL Limited, UK
Key issues to be addressed
Position Paper:
Transport planning is perhaps better equipped to face the challenges posed by Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) than other development sectors. However, it faces many unique challenges due to its heavy reliance on quantified modelling techniques and cost benefit analysis. Often this has led to the understanding of the problem and the objectives being somewhat secondary to the pursuit of pre-defined solutions promoting particular interests. SEA is also being introduced at a time when the forces for change in transport planning are evident and perhaps in some countries have begun to decline as the need for quick solutions becomes more imperative. Nevertheless, a cultural change is taking place
While individual countries have adopted different approaches to transport planning, the basic elements tend to be similar, although some models may operate on more of a bottom-up than a top-down approach. Given the common elements, SEA is able to be easily fitted into the rational transport planning model. As transport planning often operates at a variety of planning scales, so it is imperative that SEA does not introduce additional burdens that further delay the change in transport infrastructure and services that are needed. Indeed, it should set out to reduce the burden and improve the efficiency of the decision making process by providing decision makers and the public with meaningful information about the trade-offs to be made
A central theme of the transport stream at Prague 2005 will be the effective integration of SEA into transport planning, whether this is in terms of links with transport modelling, economic appraisal or health impacts. It will also focus upon the tools and techniques needed to avoid duplication, to produce meaningful analysis rather than another exercise in paper consumption. Consequently, the call for papers is deliberately oriented towards identifying common issues, threats and opportunities focusing upon SEA and transport planning