SACTRA: the Standing Advisory Committee for Trunk Road Assessment

The Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) is an independent committee appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport to advise on issues related to the appraisal of trunk roads. From time to time the Committee is given specific terms of reference.

In the 1996 Transport Green Paper "Transport - The Way Forward", new terms of reference were outlined:

• to consider the links between transport infrastructure and economic growth;
• to establish whether the conventional method of cost benefit appraisal omits any of the benefits of transport infrastructure to business and industry;
• to consider whether a measure might be constructed to establish the contribution of any specific project to GDP; and
• to assess the extent to which measures aimed at reducing transport intensity might affect competitiveness.

The committee commenced its consideration of this remit in the autumn of 1996, under the chairmanship of Miss Eileen Mackay CB. Documents published in relation to this remit can be accessed below. The Committee is not meeting at present - its work on the 1996 remit having been completed in August 1999 with the publication of the final report.