Transport strategies have changed direction very substantially in the past decade or so, but the methodology of evaluation has not kept up, often because the linkages between new initiatives and outcomes are not clearly-enough defined or well-enough quantified. In addition, evaluation methodologies, in practice (if not always in theory), often assume that 'more is better' and have difficulty coping with change that includes changes in what we do (activity patterns) as well as how we get there (travel). Our tools favour the status quo and, consequently, new initiatives often have great difficulty in getting funding. The renewed emphasis on walking is a case in point, not only in respect to conventional evaluation issues, but also because of the importance of 'new' issues such as health and fitness, energy economics, greenhouse gas emissions and new dimensions of road trauma. The paper discusses issues that conventional transport planners are either not aware of or wish would go away, outlines a framework for incorporating these into assessment and evaluation, and presents a pedestrian strategy for Perth. (A)
Abstract