Codesigning decision pathways for road freight decarbonization

Abstract

The road freight system is complex with many dependencies between system components and actors. System-level design choices are required, which require consideration of technoeconomic, socio-technical and political system dimensions. Previous work identifies the need for decision pathways that define key system-level choices and sequencing. This study considers two research questions: “How can mixed actor groups codesign decision pathways for road freight decarbonization?” and “What learnings can be drawn regarding critical pathway requirements for this transition?” Five workshops were held with mixed groups of industry actors, policymakers and experts. Each workshop considered a different specific road freight decarbonization goal selected by participants. Barriers, enablers and decisions (collectively termed “nodes”) were identified and dependencies between these specified. A new software tool called “Pathplotter” was developed to facilitate the definition and analysis of nodes and dependencies. Workshop commentary was coded and qualitatively analyzed using NVivo. Regarding the first question, the study concludes that it is possible for mixed actor groups to define decision pathways, and requirements to apply this approach to road freight decarbonization are identified. Regarding the second question, conclusions on key barriers, enablers and pivotal decisions are drawn from structured node and dependency analysis and qualitative analysis of unstructured workshop commentary.