Purposive transition governance for road freight decarbonization

Churchman, Phil, Pangbourne, Kate, Dekker, Thijs and Sanchez Rodrigues, Vasco ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3375-3079 2025. Purposive transition governance for road freight decarbonization. Transport Policy 172 , 103771. 10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.103771

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (4MB)

Abstract

Road freight decarbonization, like other complex system transitions, presents a formidable political, social and organizational as well as technical and economic challenge. While technical and economic aspects have received considerable research focus, there is much less research on political, social and organizational aspects. Purposive road freight decarbonization furthermore needs an effective governance framework to coordinate system-level decision-making that reflects all these important system dimensions. Findings from literature regarding governance requirements for purposive system transitions are synthesized to form a novel framework organized around the three pillars of governance processes, effectiveness and legitimacy. This framework is validated and further developed via thirteen semi-structured interviews and a workshop with transport authorities and industry associations. Conclusions are drawn regarding maintaining system functions and managing asymmetric power relations during transitions; key governance enablers; and the importance of achieving input, throughput and output legitimacy. Governance connections are identified, and the implications of these for transition wickedness discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0967-070X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 August 2025
Date of Acceptance:	11 August 2025
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2025 10:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/180591

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item