Making concepts matter: sustainable mobility and indicator systems in transport policy*

Abstract

Strategies for sustainable mobility and transport have, in recent years, been launched in many countries and also on the international level: so far, limited success has been recorded. However, the questions arise how the sustainability of transport systems and policies can in fact be measured, and how these measurements can be used in transport planning. This article focuses on indicators and monitoring frameworks applied in the transport sector. It explores a limited number of indicator systems presently in use, discussing if and how they contribute to making the concepts of sustainability operational for the governance of mobility. The six systems discussed include one general environmental indicator system, one transport policy performance measurement framework, and four indicator systems, which in particular focus on the interaction between transport and the environment. Four of the systems are national (Denmark, Canada and two from the US), and two are international (the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD)). The paper concludes that these and other indicator systems appear to provide relatively limited guidance towards achieving sustainable mobility. There are four major issues which need considering if the aims of sustainability are to be incorporated more adequately: how to manage environmental comprehensiveness; how to bring causal factors into the systems; how to incorporate sustainability and policy targets, and how to link indicator systems and policy making.