The Integration Criterion has three sub-criteria, which together should summarise the full extent of integration impacts. These include:
Transport Integration
This relates to the degree to which an option fits with other transport infrastructure and services.
Given the guidance concerning the degree to which the TEE can be expected to capture costs and benefits of transport interchange, any impacts recorded under this criterion can only be identified if practitioners can confidently answer "yes" to the following two questions:
The supporting information should include a brief explanation as to why practitioners have answered yes to both. If the answer to one or the other is "no", practitioners should provide details explaining why there are "no impacts".
Transport and Land-Use Integration
This relates to the fit between the option and established land-use plans and land-use/transport planning guidance.
A preliminary appraisal of the option's fit with established land-use policy and environmental designations at a local and, where appropriate, national level, should be carried out in Part 1 Appraisal. This will allow any serious conflicts to be identified early and so avoid any wasted effort in working up an option which is not viable. In its most specific sense, this is a test of whether any land required for the option is preserved for uses which are entirely incompatible with transport.
Whilst the Part 1 Appraisal will largely determine the option's performance under this sub-criterion, there is scope for additional analysis to be carried out in Part 2.
Policy Integration
This relates to the appropriateness of the option in light of wider policies, including those of both Central and Local Government.
In any transport planning exercise, there will exist statutory documents concerning planning which should be checked as a matter of course to establish any spatial conflicts. In the exercises to which this guidance relates, development plans comprising the following are likely to feature:
Practitioners should take care to establish with confidence the nature and gravity of any spatial conflicts between the options under consideration and established planning policy at either level - this will ordinarily form part of the Part 1 Appraisal and as such, it is not appropriate to grade the compatibility; however, it will be necessary to record the conflict and to take a view as to whether it would be likely to jeopardise the feasibility of the option.
Similarly, in a Part 1 Appraisal of Policy Integration all that is required is a simple check to see if the option is in harmony with the aims of wider (non-transport) government policies and national transport targets, and whether it would have an actively positive impact in terms of contributing towards these objectives.
At the Part 1 Appraisal stage, a qualitative assessment should be completed using the seven point scale assessment, considering the relative size and scale of impacts. The supporting information could include:
