Abstract
Decisions on transport plans and projects involve relevant public investments and may also determine radical changes in users’ costs. Unfortunately, it is not rare that—especially at the strategic planning stage—decisions on alternative projects or scenarios are made on a qualitative basis or, at best, by setting some indicators and verifying how much they reach the politically decided targets (e.g., “increasing the use of bicycles by 10%”). In order to reduce subjectivity, a more quantitative and comprehensive approach to the evaluation is needed. A Cost-Benefit Analysis is a tool commonly used to assess public expenditure, but its application to mobility plans introduces further practical and theoretical complexities. In this paper, we will thus try to contribute to the topic of the assessment of both sustainable mobility transport plans and infrastructure projects by presenting the operative application of a CBA methodology that is, at the same time, theoretically coherent and rich in outputs to support the decision-maker. Moreover, we will discuss the possible use of GIS software in order to provide to the decision-makers a clear and immediate “picture” of the effects on the network linked to different scenarios. The structure is as follows. Firstly, we discuss the complexities involved in the evaluation of plans with respect to a single infrastructure. Secondly, we introduce the available approaches for the assessment of consumer surplus, namely, the Rule of Half and the logsum function method, which allow the perfect integration between CBA and transport models. Thirdly, we present, through some operative case studies, the methodologies applied to the assessment and the network effects visualization of the urban mobility plan and new infrastructures. Finally, we underline how we can make the results more understandable to politicians, policy-makers, stakeholders, and citizens and in general improve the transparency and the awareness of the choices.
Highlights
Evaluating Transport Plans and Infrastructural ProjectsModern transport plans try to achieve different objectives and, in general, try to obtain a more sustainable and inclusive transport system, as suggested by the recent European Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) guidelines [1]
We introduce the available approaches for the assessment of consumer surplus, namely, the Rule of Half and the logsum function method, which allow the perfect integration between Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and transport models
Due to the different nature of the actions taken into consideration, we provided a double version of the Net Present Value (NPV), the Net Benefit over Investment Ratio (NBIR), and the Benefit Cost Ratio (B/C), calling them, respectively, “base” and “extended.” The first set is based on a reliable quantification of all the monetized effects related to the single scenario implementation
Summary
Modern transport plans try to achieve different objectives and, in general, try to obtain a more sustainable and inclusive transport system, as suggested by the recent European Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) guidelines [1]. This is usually done by foreseeing, simultaneously, the improvement of existing transport services and infrastructure, together with the implementation of sustainable mobility policies. The economic evaluation of transport investments is usually intended in terms of assessment of transport infrastructure, while plans include a broader range of actions, where expected environmental and social impact can play a dominant role in policy evaluation [5]
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