In July 2000, 86 Local Authorities in England submitted their first full Local Transport Plans to the UK Government. The Plans set out the local transport investment programmes for 2001 to 2006 to deliver the Government's integrated transport agenda. This paper presents a review of a sample of 23 of the Local Transport Plans. The Plans have been developed to follow a detailed list of guidelines developed by the DTLR and a best practice guide, published after the submission of a series of provisional plans in 1999. The guidelines and national policy objectives have been strictly adhered to. However, as would be expected, each local authority has a different character and set of problems to be met. The review has highlighted a difference in levels of detail with which the problems are identified. This paper provides a qualitative assessment of the likely impacts of the main measures proposed within the plans. Many of the measures proposed are relatively new and certainly have received only limited implementation. Against this background, the Local Transport Plans can be seen as the key to managing a large experiment to restrain traffic growth and effect a sustainable modal shift. Reliable monitoring of the experiment must be undertaken to ensure that good practice is identified and quantified against the background of varying local factors. The targets set and monitoring procedures in place are discussed before conclusions are drawn about the implications of success and failure in the achievement of the objectives of the plans.
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