SPHR@L Discussion Paper: Policy Decisions in the Transport Sector by Rebecca Steinbach, May 2013

This discussion paper aims to inform SPHR@L’s work as part of the NIHR School for Public Health Research. To contribute to the development of our work on providing useful evidence for evaluation relating to non-health sectors, we have reviewed some key issues in decision making in other sectors through literature mapping. Here, we outline the history and background   framings of how decisions are made in the UK transport sector, and summarise the perceived legitimacy of different kinds of evidence in those decisions. Key decisions in transport were  traditionally related to cost benefit questions related to economic investment. With growing interest in the public health (and other social) implications of transport sector decisions, a broader range evidence is now incorporated.