Project teams can develop a range of options for achieving the shared vision and objectives, taking into account the issues and opportunities identified in previous steps. Options may focus on the study area or may extend beyond it and involve wider interventions in consultation with other teams and agencies.
Step 5: Develop options
The aim of this step is to develop a range of options for achieving the vision and objectives identified in Step 1, taking into account the issues and opportunities identified in Step 4 (together, defined as the ‘problem’).
The process explains how to incorporate a Movement and Place approach into the development and evaluation of options. However, Movement and Place is just one of the broader range of considerations that apply to developing and evaluating options – other issues for consideration include common planning assumptions and constraints, demand, cost–benefit analysis, etc.
Moreover, options are not restricted to capital investment. There are a number of ways to roads and streets can be improved. Design can include change over time and does not always include building from scratch. The most successful changes to streets are not always the most expensive, nor do they have to take a lot of time. Improvements can be made relatively quickly and at very little cost if if we start with operation, then maintenance. Longer term infrastructure improvements can be more successful if a measure, trial, refine approach is taken.
The 'Measure, Trial, Refine' method take and action-oriented planning approach. With these three steps, interim initiatives are tested and evaluated to inform more refined decisions on permanent changes. Often labelled as 'pilots', 'trials', 'tactical interventions', 'tactical urbanism' or 'pop-up projects', these approaches are increasingly being recognised as a valuable tool for addressing a variety of problems facing towns and cities around the world. The Design of Roads and Streets manual further explains how this approach can offer many benefits.
Best practice business cases consider at least two options (preferred and alternative) in addition to the baseline (minimal intervention) case.
Detailed guidance on Step 5 of the Movement and Place Core Process can be found in the Practitioner's Guide to Movement and Place. For a full guide to developing options, see Australian Transport Assessment and Planning Guidelines T8 – Real Options Assessment (October 2020).
Performance Assessment
The NSW Movement and Place Framework has established a set of built environment indicators for evaluating Movement and Place projects. The indicators are based on qualities that contribute to a well-designed built environment and are grouped under themes relating to user outcomes. Project teams are required to use these indicators for measuring and evaluating options.
When assessing an option’s relative merit and value against the existing state, all projects, as a minimum, should aim to improve on each aspect of the built environment themes. In addition, an option should neither degrade any indicator nor focus improvements solely on one indicator where more holistic outcomes have been identified. However, trade-offs may be required to achieve the best fit for a project's objectives. If a particular outcome worsens one indicator in delivering another, project teams need to document how the collaborative process established the preferred solution.
For more information on communicating a preferred option to decision-makers, see the Evaluator’s Guide to Movement and Place.