5.1 Introduction

The Part 1 Appraisal is an initial appraisal of the options generated during Pre-Appraisal and involves a qualitative assessment of their likelihood of meeting the Transport Planning Objectives, and subsequently proceed to the more detailed Part 2 Appraisal.

In this respect, Part 1 Appraisal is intended to focus appropriate effort and resource towards options which merit detailed quantitative appraisal and eliminate options which are unlikely to meet the Transport Planning Objectives, alleviate problems or realise opportunities identified during Pre-Appraisal.

Where a number of alternative options have been generated during Pre-Appraisal, the Part 1 Appraisal should be used to scope and test alternatives. It is likely that no single option will emerge from the Part 1 Appraisal, and as such, the Part 2 Appraisal should be used to appraise the alternative options in detail.

The Part 1 Appraisal concentrates on the following areas:

• An initial appraisal of the likely impact of options against Transport Planning Objectives;
• An initial appraisal of the likely impact of options against the STAG Criteria;
• An initial appraisal of the fit of options with established policy directives; and
• An initial appraisal of the feasibility, affordability and likely public acceptability of options.

At this phase in the STAG study, practitioners must produce an indicative assessment of the scope and scale of the benefits and impacts associated with an option for each area noted above. In addition to these tasks, it is important to be clear about relevant background information including the geographic, social and economic context for a particular study.

It should be noted that quantitative information can be used as evidence of impacts if this is available and likely to support the Part 1 Appraisal.