Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG)
Transport Scotland has completed a refresh of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) with the aim of making it more user-friendly and easier to understand.
The result is this refreshed version of The Guidance, which continues to represent best practice in transport appraisal. The Guidance is supported by a Technical Database which provides detailed guidance on the methodology and reporting structure to be used when completing a STAG appraisal. The communication of future updates, known as Business as Usual updates, will be made available through the Technical Database.
The Scottish Government’s Purpose is: “to focus the Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.”
The Guidance supports the Scottish Government’s purpose by providing a clear framework to assess evidence based transport problems and opportunities. It does so by promoting robust, objective-led analysis that can be consistently applied in all transport appraisal contexts.
The principles of STAG are unchanged as a result of the refresh. STAG is one process comprising four phases – Pre-Appraisal, Part 1 Appraisal, Part 2 Appraisal and Post Appraisal – and should be applied proportionally but comprehensively, with the level of detail determined by the scale of the transport challenges under consideration. The principle of being objective-led, rather than solution-led remains. This allows the appraisal of options against Planning Objectives, STAG Criteria and establish policy directives. Any final report must also include proposals for robust monitoring and evaluation plans.
For help and advice on the application of this Guidance, please email the Scot-TAG Mailbox or use the Contact Us link.
Practitioners should note that the previous version of STAG has now been superseded, and should not be used for new studies. An archived version of the previous STAG is available here.
