The project begins with a review of the key linkages between transport, the environment and economic growth, and an assessment of the key performance indicators that can show whether policies can successfully reduce travel demand while maintaining economic growth and enhancing environmental quality.

To obtain a wide selection of innovative measures from across the Community clearly requires broad and multi-sector consultation. It is likely that many of the innovative measures may not be directly transport related. A shift to localised production, or the development of dedicated shopping, bill-payment and banking terminals using digital subscriber line communications are all innovative means that will impact on transport without being transport measures. The project will also consider measures which are not in themselves entirely innovative, but which suggest a new or novel approach to implementing known measures.

Furthermore, within transport, differentiation must be made between freight and passenger transport. This clearly includes potential measures such as hydraulic piping to retail and commercial organisations for goods, which are sector and purpose focused. Some potential measures, such as reducing urban road capacity or increased use of inland waterways could, directly or indirectly, affect all purposes and sectors. This means that not only must a wide variety of means be collected, and that considerable care must be taken on assessing them within a broad framework, if the overall 'cost-efficiency' is to be appraised.

The project approach is to use a relatively small consortium, and use each partner to focus on a subset of European countries with which they are familiar. Each partner will use their extensive network of contacts to identify key persons and institutions where innovative means may be generated. An initial position paper and questionnaire will be sent out, asking for innovative means suggestions and short descriptions. From these extensive mailings, a reasonably comprehensive list of current thinking is expected, supplemented by trawls through literature and data sources such as the internet. The use of partners from across Europe will overcome language barriers and make best use of existing knowledge and contacts.

From this, three panels will be convened made up of those who provided the most promising responses. Three panels provides some compromise between geographical spread whilst maintaining a suitable size for the panels. The framework f