# Presentation: 082987

## Sustainable transport and the role of performance indicators- Breakout Session 4A: Sustainability/Economics  

***Henrik Gudmundsson***hgu@dtf.dk

**Third International Performance Measurement Conference**
**Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, Irvine, California**** **
**September 10-12, 2007**

## Presentation

- Henrik Gudmundsson
- Environmental planner, PhD Copenhagen Business school
- Sustainable transport research since ca 1995
- DTF (work):
- Former gov. Transport Institute; Now part of Danish Technical University
- COST 356 (European research network):
- “Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport”
- IMPACT (European research project):
- Implementing Sustainable Mobility: When is knowledge leading to action?

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## Overview

- Definitions and criteria of Sustainable Transport
- Sustainable Transport Indicators and performance measures
- An example on the use and influence of ST Indicators (TERM)
- Summary

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## 1.Definitions and criteria of Sustainable Transport

- Different ways to look at sustainability
- Diffrerent ways to define it
- Sustainability + Transport =  Not a finite object ...
- ...a sense of direction will be provided

- Intro

- Sustainable Development is development that meets....

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## Different perspectives on sustainability

- Normative: What is valued, where to go, what comes first? *(orientation)*
- Analytical: What will it require; how does the systems work? *(operationalisation)*
- Strategic: How to make it happen, who cares about what? *(implementation)*
- ...do not always match up.

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## World Commission (Brundtland) definition

- “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. “
- “(...) It contains within it two key concepts:
- The concept of “**needs**” in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given, and
- The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the **environment**’s ability to meet present and future needs”
- 	(WCED 1987, p. 43)

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## Three dimensions?

*1 Hierarchy*

*2 Overlap*

*3 Trade-off*

*Four*

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## Slide 8

|  | Present generation
(‘Development’) | Future generations
(‘Sustainability’) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Environ-mental | Environmental quality and health for the present generation | Nature’s life-support systems  |
| Economic | Income in monetary terms | Income opportunities for future generations (capital) |
| Social | Human development apart from monetary income
Avoiding poverty | Equity for future generations |
| Institu-tional | Involvement of major stakeholder groups | Representation of future concerns |
|  | Policy Integration |  |

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## Sustainable transport is hard to define

- Overall limits not known...(sustainability problem)
- System boundaries (linkage problem)
- Transport is only a partial contributor (allocation problem)
- “There is no such thing as a generally accepted definition of ‘sustainable transport’, and it is doubtful whether one would – or could – ever exist”
- (Peter Nijkamp et al 2004)
- ....

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## Proposed approach in IMPACT project:

- No definition, but direction...
- a potential step towards Sustainable Transport should.....
- contribute to reduce pressures on natural life support systems (including the climate system), that are overexploited with regard to their continued support of society’s needs, or are at the risk of becoming overexploited within the effective lifetime of the change or policy
- and,
- contribute overall to increase he well-being in a broad sense of the present generation, avoiding entirely negative effects on people living in absolute poverty
*Other dimensions also to be considered*
*Active participation of major affected stakeholder groups*

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## 2. ST Indicators and performance measures

- What are indicators and performance indicators?
- Indicators of Sustainability and Sustainable Transport
- Sustainable Transport IMPACTS
- D-P-S-I-R and other frameworks

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## “Indicare”

*To: point out*, *inform*, *show*, *declare*, *disclose*, *make known*, *reveal*, ...*betray *(!)

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## Functions of indicators

- Informative function
- How are we doing?

- Action function
- - What to do?

- Diagnostic function
- - What is ’wrong’?

- Communication function
- - Why is this important?

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## Types of indicators

- Descriptive indicators
- ’neutral’ illustration of time series, maps etc
**Normative (Performance) indicators**
- Comparing status with baseline, norm, average, trend, benchmark or target
- Efficiency indicators
- Ratio between two or more variables
- Comparative indicators
- Comparing entities (countries, cities, policies)
- Index
- Composite of several underlying data streams

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## Measuring sustainability

- “Sustainable development indicator: A statistical measure that gives an indication on the sustainability of social, environmental and economic development.”
- 	(OECD Glossary 2007)
- ...quantitative measures of human wellbeing, economic activity, and natural processes and conditions; they are needed to sense the degree to which human activity may be continued or expanded in the future.
- (International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences 2001)
- ...’the reproducibility of the way a given society utilizes its environment’
- 	Kuik & Verbruggen (1991) In search of indicators of sustainable development

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## ‘Bellagio principles’ – measuring sustainabilIty

**1. GUIDING VISION AND GOALS**
**2. HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE**
**3. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS. (e.g. **resource use, poverty, ecological conditions, economic development)
**4. ADEQUATE SCOPE (e.g. **human and ecosystem time scales)
**5. PRACTICAL FOCUS (e.g. **a limited number of key issues for analysis)
**6. OPENNESS (e.g. **explicit judgments and assumptions).
**7. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION (e.g **draw from indicators that are stimulating and serve to engage decision-makers)
**8. BROAD PARTICIPATION**
**9. ONGOING ASSESSMENT**
**10. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY**
- (Moldan &  Billharz 1997)

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## Sustainable transport indicators

- Working definition proposed to the COST 356 Action:
- An indicator of **environmentally sustainable transport** is a variable,
-  based on measurements,
- representing potential or actual critical impacts on the environment,
- or factors that may cause such impacts, due to transport systems, flo**w**s or policies,
- as accurately as possible and necessary in the particular context
- (OBS: Not endorsed by COST 356)

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## COST 350 / COST 356 Environmental Impact list

**1.**** Climate change**
**2. Land take, landuse**
**3. Hydraulic risk / hydrological changes**
**4. Visual qualities of landscape/townscape, light pollution**
**5. Habitat fragmentation (biota and humans) **
**6. Air pollution (primary and secondary)**
**7. Soil and water pollution: drinking water, agriculture and recreation**
**8. Noise: short-term noise emission, vibration, quiet areas **
**9. Non-renewable resource use**
**10. Waste**
**11. Perceived pollution: Odour, soiling, visibility**
**12. Ecotoxicity**
**13. Human health**
**14. Traffic safety**

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## D-P-S-I-R framework

**Response**

- Economic growth
- Car ownership and use
- Mobile technologies

- Emissions
- Land take
- Ressource extraction

- Air Quality
- Outdoor noise levels
- Biodiversity
- Stocks

- Health
- Ecosystem
- Climate change
- Wellbeing

- Mitigation
- Planning
- Taxation
- Research and development

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## 3. Actual use and influence of ST indicators

- Why research the use and influence of indicators?
- Views from theory
- An example: The European TERM indicators

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## Words of warning from research...

- “A substantial literature on knowledge utilization documents how little, on the whole, formal analysis and information influence decisions”
- 	(Judy Innes 1998)
- [our research...] “... confirms the hypothesis that political decision makers gather information and _**do not use it**_; ask for more information and _**ignore it**_; make decisions first and look for relevant information _**afterwards**_; and, collect and process a great deal of information that has little or _**no direct relevance**_ to decisions”
**	****(**Sager & Ravlum 2005)

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## Theories of how indicators get ’influential’

**’****Positivist’ **: Indicators explaining the causes of a development will point to effective policy levers (diagnostics)
**’****Historicist** : Indicators must tell a convincing story, and thereby compel actors to act
- (Cobb &  Rixford 1998)
- ..........................................
**’****Government’**: Provides useful information to formal decision making; Institutional integration
**’****Governance’**: Provides stakeholders with a common perspective; support to collaborative processes
- (Eckerberg & Mineur 2003)

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## Success factors for indicators

- Conceptual: Clear idea of what is being measured
- Operational: Clear strategy for how to measure, verify, update
- Communicative: Dissemination, vizualisation, timing
- Institutional: Links to decision processes, budgets, etc.
- 	(inspired by Judy Innes 1990)

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## What is it to ’use’ indicators?

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## TERM indicator report example

- European Environment Agency
- Purpose: to monitor strategies to **integrate environmental concerns in transport policies **in the European Union (30+ countries)
- Annual reports since 2001
- Indicator based

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***2. General ideas***

- The seven TERM questions:

- Is the _environmental performance_ of transport improving?
- Are we getting better at _managing transport demand_ and modal split?
- Are _spatial and transport planning_ becoming better coordinated so as to match transport demand to the need for access?
- Are we _optimising the use of existing transport infrastructure_ capacity and moving towards a better-balanced intermodal transport system?
- Are we moving towards a _fairer and more efficient pricing system_, which ensures that external costs are internalised?
- How rapidly are _cleaner technologies_ being implemented and how efficiently are vehicles being used?
- How effectively are _environmental management and monitoring_ tools being used to support policy- and decision-making?

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## TERM Indicators (1)

|  | ‘00 | ’01 | ‘02 | ‘03 | ‘04 | ‘05 | ‘06 | ’07 | ’08 | ’09 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TERM 01 - Transport final energy consumption by mode |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C | C |
| TERM 02 - Transport emissions of greenhouse gases |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C |
| TERM 03 - Transport emissions of air pollutants |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C |
| TERM 04 - Exceedances of air quality objectives due to traffic |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C |
| TERM 05 - Exposure to and annoyance by traffic noise |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | N |  |
| TERM 06 - Fragmentation of ecosystems and habitats by transport infrastructure |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ? |  |
| TERM 07 - Proximity of transport infrastructure to designated areas |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ? |  |
| TERM 08 - Land take by transport infrastructure |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ? |  |
| TERM 09 - Transport accident fatalities |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  | C |
| TERM 10 - Accidental and illegal discharges of oil at sea |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 11a - Waste from road vehicles (ELV) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 11 - Waste oil and tires from vehicles |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 12a - Passenger transport |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C | C |
| TERM 12b - Passenger transport modal split by purpose |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C | C |
| TERM 13a - Freight transport |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C | C |
| TERM 13b - Freight transport modal split by group of goods |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C | C |
| TERM 14 - Access to basic services |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 15 - Regional accessibility of markets and cohesion |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 16 - Access to transport services |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 18 - Capacity of infrastructure networks |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 19 - Infrastructure investments |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |  |

| Available on WWW | No indicator | Available on CIRCA | Soon to be available | Under development |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |

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## TERM Indicators (2)

| Indicator | ‘00 | ‘01 | ‘02 | ‘03 | ‘04 | ‘05 | ‘06 | ’07 | ’08 | ’09 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TERM 20 - Real change in transport prices by mode |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  | C |
| TERM 21 - Fuel prices and taxes |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  | C |
| TERM 22 - Transport taxes and charges |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 23 - Subsidies |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 24 - Expenditure on personal mobility by income group |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |  |
| TERM 25 - External costs of transport |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |  |
| TERM 26 - Internalization of external costs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 27 - Energy efficiency and specific CO2 emissions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |
| TERM 28 - Specific emissions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |
| TERM 29 - Occupancy rates of passenger vehicles |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 30 - Load factors for freight transport |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 31 - Uptake of cleaner and alternative fuels |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C | C |
| TERM 32 - Size of the vehicle fleet |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 33 - Average age of the vehicle fleet |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |
| TERM 34 - Proportion vehicle fleet meeting certain emission standards |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | C |  |
| TERM 35 - Implementation of integrated strategies |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 36 - Institutional cooperation |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 37 - National monitoring systems |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 38 - Implementation of SEA |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 39 - Uptake of environmental management systems by transport companies |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| TERM 40 - Public awareness |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

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## Study of the use and influence of TERM

- Web search of references to TERM (2002-2005)
- Document analysis (TERM reports, Key EU transport policy documents)
- Interviews (EU Commission, stakeholders)
- Survey (Member state key personnel)

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## Tentative results

- TERM framework and results recognised at highest policy levels (European Council)
- No examples of direct (instrumental) use in EU transport policy documents; mostly symbolic influence
- Some use of TERM indicators in national reports and policies (e.g. Commission for Integrated Transport, UK)
- Extensive use of TERM fact sheets at expert level
- Conceptual influence on national monitoring systems

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## Conclusions (1)

- Need for more Sustainable transport will not go away
- Difficult to define in the absolute; Transport ‘borrows’ whatever sustainability it has from the society that demands its functions, provides its input and suffers its impacts
-  Therefore: need for indicators and performance measures
- Should measure in a comprehensive way;  present and future needs in all 3+1 dimensions
- Consider reproducability; ’distance to critical targets’
- Should be sensitive to context and stakeholder needs
- Conceptual, Operational, Communicative, Institutional...

**End**

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## Conclusions (2) – reflections from PM3

- Customer view: The future generations are not on the market
- Assests: Consider also _environmental and social_ capital
- ’Positivist’ and ’historicist’ approach... to be combined
- Targets .....will help, but direction is more impoartant
- What gets measured... does NOT ALWAYS GET DONE

**End**

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## Selected References

- Gudmundsson, H. (2004). Sustainable Transport and Performance Indicators. In: Hester, R.E. & Harrison, R.M. (Eds.). Issues in Environmental Science and Technology. Transport and the Environment 20: pp. 35-63
- Gudmundsson, H. (2001). Indicators and performance measures for Transportation,Environment and Sustainability in North America. Research Notes Nr. 148, National Environmental Research Institute, Roskilde, Denmark
- ........
- Cobb, C. & Rixford, G. (1998). Competing Paradigms in the Development of Social and Economic Indicators. CSLS Conference on the State of Living and the  quality of Life in Canada, October 30-31 1998, Ottawa
- EEA (2007) Transport and environment:on the way to a new common transport policy. TERM 2006: indicators tracking transport and environment in the European Union. European Ewnvironment Agency
- Innes, Judith Elanor (1990). Knowledge and Public Policy. The search for meaningful indicators. Second expanded edition. Transaction publishers, New Brunswick
- Moldan, B & Billharz, S. (eds) (1997) : Sustainability Indicators. Report on the project on Indicators of Sustainable Development. Wiley, Chichester
- Nijkamp, Peter (2004) Perspectives on Sustainable Transport, in: Transportation Engineering and Plannig, Encyclopaedia of Life Support Sys-tems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers, Oxford ,UK. [http://www.eolss.net] [Retrieved January 4, 2006]
- Sager. T & Ravlum, I.A  (2005) The Political Relevance of Planners’ Analysis: The Case af a Parliamentary Standing Committee Planning Theory (4)1 pp. 33-64
- WCED (1987). Our Common Future. World Commission of Environment and Development. Oxford University Press, Oxford

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## Websites

- European Environment Agency. _[www.eea.europa.eu](http://www.eea.europa.eu/)_
- IMPACT project: _[www.transportmistra.org](http://www.transportmistra.org/)_
- COST 356 Action: _[http://www.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=241&action_number=356](http://www.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=241&action_number=356)_

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## Thank you for your attention! 

*Henrik Gudmundsson** hgu*@dtf.dk

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## Extra slides

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## Policy contexts for ST indicators

**Sector performance plans**** **
**(e. g. USA)**

**Governmental**
**Planning**

**State of the Environment ****reporting**

**Sustainable Development **
**Planning**

**Sector environment assessment**
**(e.g. EU)**

**Performance planning with Sustainable Dev**** **
**(e.g. Canada)**

**Environmental target reporting**
**(e.g Sweden)**

**Sustainable**
**Transport indicators**

*Gudmundsson (2002)*

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## Different approaches to indicator use 

|  | Positivist | Historicist |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government | Indicators used to design and review top down policy actions | Indicators used to justify the need for top down policy actions  |
| Governance | Indicators used to design and review actions by relevant actors at all levels | Indicators used to build broad consensus of the need for actions by relevant actors at all levels |

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