3.4.1.3 Refinement, Identification of Conflicts

The above process is likely to produce a substantial number of draft objectives which now will need to be worked up in more detail.  Practitioners should aim to apply the SMART principles, described above, in moving towards precise and relevant final objectives. It is important to remember that the specific values associated with objectives can be altered at a subsequent stage in light of new data or experience, so practitioners should not be unduly wary of proposing provisional figures.

The process of refining the various objectives will make any conflicts between them increasingly explicit.  It is helpful to address these conflicts directly by comparing each pair of SMART objectives and identifying those for which there is a possibility that one could be met at the cost of achieving the other.  Where conflicts are identified, it will be necessary to do one of two things:

• One or both of the objectives can be altered so as to remove the conflict; or
• Accept that weighting will ensure the relative importance of these objectives which will be reflected in the outcome of the appraisal.

An important part of the refinement process is to ask whether the objectives developed are sufficiently specific in terms of:

• Demographic or social groups;
• Modes;
• Geographic areas; or
• The focus of the option (e.g. provision of transport, management of demand, other areas such as provision of information).