The most widespread approach to transport appraisal is to combine cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with environmental assessments and public consultations. However, large-scale transport projects such as the HS2 high-speed rail system in the UK seem to have pushed this approach beyond its limits, leading to broad discontent with the appraisal process. There is a need both to develop new methods capable of integrating a wide range of perspectives in a systematic manner and to test these for large-scale projects. Multicriteria analysis (MCA) has proven useful in supporting transport decision-making by including a broader set of criteria in the appraisal process. Multiactor multicriteria analysis (MAMCA) has extended this approach to include multiple actors and stakeholders in the judgment and decision-making process. This paper builds on the MAMCA method and demonstrates its practicability and usability by applying it to the case of HS2. The purpose of this paper is not to reach a definitive conclusion on the desirability of various project options, but to complement existing transport appraisal methods by making different perspectives explicit. For example, the results for this case show contrasting views for different groups of transport professionals: a favorable assessment of HS2 among transport planners employed in government, but an unfavorable assessment among transport researchers with a background in sustainability. In terms of contribution to the development of data collection methods, this research demonstrates the usefulness of conducting semistructured interviews in conjunction with an online questionnaire for the assessment and weighting process within MCA. Because MCA results are expressed in terms of relative desirability of projects, the approach also effectively systematizes the inclusion and assessment of multiple options. Overall, the proposed method enhances the capacity to analyze conflicting views in large-scale transport project appraisal processes.
It is generally expected that the three dimensions of the economy, society and the environment must be included in any measurable sustainability pathway. However, these do not provide much guidance as to how to prioritize impacts within and between the dimensions. A conceptualized approach to sustainability based on the nested model is therefore presented seeking to provide an alternative approach to sustainable transportation assessment, namely the SUSTAIN Decision Support System (DSS) model. This model is based on a review of basic notions of sustainability presented by the Brundtland Commission report, which is used to validate the nested model of sustainability for countries operating under the paradox of affluence. This provides a theoretical rationale for prioritising longer-term ecological integrity over shorter-term economic concerns, in line with the stronger conceptualisation of sustainability supported by ecological economists. This conceptualisation is operationalized by the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and a multiplicative version of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The planning and decisionmaking process related to a new connection across the Roskilde Fjord in Frederikssund, Denmark, is used as a case study. It is found that the SUSTAIN DSS model results provide a type of benchmark for connecting to the essence of sustainable development as well as to integrate sustainability more explicitly into the planning and assessment practice.
Several recent papers presented at TRB and elsewhere seek to make sustainability manageable. To this end they suggest using indicators and performance measures to help conceptualize and operationalize sustainability for transportation-related planning and decision-making. These studies often present frameworks that will allow sustainability indicators and measures to be included in, for example, agency strategies and practices. Moreover, some suggest criteria for selection of individual indicators and performance measures. The studies, however, do not always agree on what is really meant by a framework or how to use it for making sustainability-based decisions, and the aspects and concerns they underline tend to differ. This paper addresses the issue of frameworks more generically and explores what the authors term a 'meta-framework' with a set of associated criteria to guide the framing of indicators for sustainable transportation. Based on an explicit framework theory, it is found that the three functions of conceptualization, operationalization and utilization provide a logical structure of complementing features for building indicator frameworks. Characteristics of robust indicator frameworks were evaluated in terms of their significance for the three key functions and collected into a list of criteria. A review of the Brundtland report provides an example of how a more finely grained understanding of sustainability can inform the conceptualization criterion 'Ranking of sustainability impacts'.The meta-framework is primarily intended as a basis for undertaking empirical analysis and to 'meta-evaluate' existing practice frameworks with regards to the strength of the level for sustainability they are likely to provide.Keywords: Sustainability, Transportation, Framework, Indicators, Evaluation LIST OF TABLES INTRODUCTIONDespite associated complexity, it would no longer be fair to depict sustainability as a marginal or exotic concern in the assessment of transportation policies, plans, programs, or projects. On the contrary, many agencies in the US and around the globe have adopted notions of sustainability principles or goals for parts of their activities or even as a more general direction. Several recent reports, papers and guidance documents seek to make sustainability manageable by suggesting indicators and performance measures as tools to help conceptualize and operationalize sustainability for planning and decision-making. According to several studies in this field, the best approach is not to simply add a few sustainable transportation indicators (STI) to an agency's existing performance measurement system. The recommendation is rather to integrate sustainability principles and goals at the higher level of strategic planning and performance measurement and then to derive a set of indicators that serves this purpose (1-4). If successful, this approach is likely to result in a more meaningful approach to sustainability by an agency than simply parachuting in a few indicators into an otherwise unal...
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