Spatial Planning and Sustainable Travel

At the beginning of December the joint TPS RTPI Transport Planning Network (TPN) welcomed over 80 members and speakers to its annual conference in London.  Starting with an overview of the reasons for the current disconnect between planning and transport from James Harris, TPN Policy officer, Keith Buchan gave a presentation on economic benefits from transport and their appraisal entitled the Real, the Elusive and the Illusory.  Other speakers covered land use, transport and travel behaviour, and how this could support public health improvement.  The discussion which followed stressed why it is critical that we get these relationships right, drawing on the latest evidence to suggest possible ways forward in planning and appraisal.  This included the use of objectives led appraisal rather than monetised cost benefit analysis.

In the second session there were some examples of this could be embedded in practice, with case studies from Transport for the North, Greater London, and the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford growth corridor.  The final presentation heard from Giles Perkins from WSP about the ever-changing contexts that planners work in, with disruptive technologies, shifting cultural preferences and new ways of working creating new opportunities and challenges as we transition towards sustainable travel