Logical Framework Approach in Transportation Planning: The passenger services in the Messina Strait

The paper focuses on the planning process of the transportation system. Considering the large and qualified debate that evolves in the field of land and spatial planning, a main aspect of the process is examined. The process is presented according to the Logical Framework Approach (LFA), with a product plan given by a Logical Framework Matrix (LFM). From the literature, it emerges that the use of the LFA approach, in planning processes, always refers to the implementation of infrastructural interventions, while it has not been proposed and used completely, for the implementation of services. The theoretical extension of the LFA approach to a plan, relating to the activation of transport services, is therefore proposed, with the differentiation of endogenous activities for outputs, outcomes and goals. An application of LFA/M is proposed, that derives from the Italian General Mobility Plan. The application is illustrated by referring to the real case of passenger maritime services in the Messina Strait (south of Italy, EU).