Step 2: Visioning

To develop a vision, which adequately reflects local needs; it is necessary to have consultations, whether formal or informal, with a broad range of stakeholders, particularly the freight transport community from the private sector that had been identified during the Diagnosis step. The visioning process requires a consensus given the potentially conflicting priorities of the various stakeholders involved and the wide range of elements that underpin the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable freight transport. Consultations during the visioning exercise can help identify ways in which the diverse freight transport perspectives can best be integrated into the sustainable freight transport planning process. Such consultations should take into account the needs of all affected parties, including smaller players such as single owner-drivers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small shippers. The vision statement should also result from a collaborative effort among the various stakeholders.

A set of goals should support the vision statement to provide strategic direction to the sustainable freight transport strategy. These goals should be framed as broad statements that describe the desired end-result. A vision statement can have many goal statements (see tables below for relevant examples).

As noted above, a broad vision statement helps identify the strategic elements and priorities that serve as the basis for developing more detailed goals, objectives, and corresponding targets and policies. For example, if a goal is to improve the mode share of waterways or shipping, then the focus areas may include carrying out port improvements, enhancing interconnectivity with highways, and, ensuring the availability of relevant infrastructure. Under an environmental goal for example, more attention would probably be given to concerns such as air pollutant and GHG emissions, water and soil quality, noise, etc.

Once the goals have been identified, the next step is to formulate a set of objectives. While goals relate to the "big picture" or desired end-results, the objectives could be both broad-based and/or specific and measurable i.e. outcome, output, and activity-based objectives.

The objective answers the question, "What do we ultimately want to achieve through the sustainable freight transport strategy? It should include or lead to the development of targets and KPIs that are required to support effective decision-making. This is further detailed in the step dealing with Targets and Indicators.

Objectives must be precise, sufficiently concrete and not be open to varying interpretations by different stakeholders. Such objectives are often known as SMART objectives that are specific, measurable, accepted, realistic, and time-bound.

For example, if the diagnosis exercise had established that the level of ‘rail freight usage is low’, relevant stakeholders could decide to adopt the following vision: “safe, reliable and efficient movement of freight”. They could also agree on the following goal: “increase rail freight mode share”. To achieve this goal, objectives that are underpinned by the SMART principle may involve increasing the share of rail freight transport by 50% by 2030. They may also involve increasing railway investments by 30% and the fuel tax for diesel by 5%. The example in table 3 how the Vision, Goal and Objectives can be interlinked.