In developing a transport strategy or plan it is essential to be clear as to what the strategy or plan is designed to achieve. The answer to this question can be expressed at varying levels of generality or detail, from broad statements of vision, through strategic objectives, to more specific objectives and lists of problems to be overcome.
There are in practice, two different approaches that can be adopted to identifying objectives and related problems. The first is the true objectives-led approach in which objectives are used to identify problems by assessing the extent to which current or predicted future conditions, in the absence of new policy measures, fail to meet the objectives.
The alternative approach is problem-led, using data on current (or predicted future) conditions to identify when and where these problems occur. The objectives are implicit in the specified problems, and may never actually be stated. This approach has the merits of being easily understood. However, it is dependent on developing a full list of potential problems at the outset.