Appraising territorial effects of tram- based systems: 1 st PHASE – State of the art

This report takes place through the frameworks of the European project “Sintropher”, acronym of “Sustainable Integrated Tram-based Transport Options for Peripheral European Regions”. The focus of Sintropher is to promote development of new or improved tram services in regions of Northwest Europe “which are disadvantaged by reason of being geographically peripheral”. The four work axes (the “work packages”) relate to technical and legal challenges (WP1), to economic feasibility of tram systems2 (WP2), to interoperability of transport hubs (WP3) and to innovative marketing initiatives (WP4). It puts the emphasis on sustainable and economic railway systems which optimize the use of existing railway infrastructures, by applying innovating technologies. These research axes, coordinated by the University College of London (UCL), are about thoughts of concepts of “Metropolis Transit” (Cervero, 1998) or “Transit Oriented Development” (Calthorpe, 1993) within “New Urbanism”. However, these concepts, by seeking better connections between public transport services and the various configurations of urban planning, become established asnew paradigms of public actions in favour of sustainable urban development. This report presents the results of the first phase of investigation aimed to deepen the way appraisals are done through organization and governance in the field of public transport policies in Europe. The analysis of decision-making process and evaluation methods which are often perceived as a tool of good governance, is also based on the investigation ofexpected benefits which can be direct or indirect, and on a look at opportunities effects as regards to employment, urban renewal, cohesion, socio-economic and sustainable development. Thus, through the example of tram networks, how can we couple governance organization with the optimization of transport infrastructures role in Europe? Up to what point, appraisal, planning, and governance, can build together conditions for synergy of development projects between tram networks projects and urban development policies