What role do targets have in transport planning?

The Treasury requires all Government departments to set out a number of targets against which progress can be measured. The Department for Transport has adopted 6 key targets which are based on those set out in the 10 Year Plan. However, progress towards the targets has been slow and the targets have also been criticised. At a local level, local authorities have been required to develop five-year local transport plans that also include targets for the same period. The targets for each local authority are to be tailored to local circumstances. As such, there is little comparability between the targets and it is difficult to compare the value for money of investment in different areas. This paper reviews the evidence on the impacts of target setting in transport. It provides a comparison of targets across different local authorities and also compares national targets in transport with those from other areas of Government. The paper concludes that the use of targets as a means to drive and reward performance is a relatively new discipline with little behavioural understanding. However, what evidence there is suggests that targets do have an impact on decision-makers and that having the right sort of targets is therefore important, to avoid perverse incentives. The paper also raises significant questions about what is meant by performance and how this can be judged against the different external factors and base conditions which each local authority faces.