Transportation Megaprojects Research Articles

Managing Transportation Megaproject Schedule Risks Using Structural Equation Modelling: A Case Study of Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub in China

Tight schedules, multifunctional scopes, and colossal sizes usually characterize transportation megaprojects as challenging tasks for completion. In order to address these situations, a schedule risk management method was developed in this paper based on the structural equation model. In the proposed method, risk identification, evaluation and response were arranged as a sequence, and the expert elicitation technique was adopted in order to quantify the schedule risk status. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, a megaproject case in China, the Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub (SHITH), was chosen. Information within the expanded risk register was collected including the probability and consequence of risk events, the complexity of risk responsible owners, the reaction time, and the time lasting for risk countermeasures. Final risk control results showed that the method could not only address the schedule risks correlations effectively, but also maintained the simplicity for construction management practices.

Storylines, Leadership and Risk, Some Findings from Australian Case Studies of Urban Transport Megaprojects

This article is about how storylines are interwoven with mega transport project success. It examines the animating stories that inspire support for a project, the leadership that carries forward and expresses these stories and in turn becomes defined by them, and one particular impact this has on the management of risk. In developing this article we have used data collected on three Australian mega urban transport projects (MUTPs) for OMEGA Project 2, an international project on MUTPs. Framing the discussion also are some wider questions of political ethics which the expenditure of large amounts of public funds entails. In this article we first discuss our interpretive theoretical framework. We adduce evidence on the three elements (storylines, leadership and risk) before reaching our conclusion that whether or not a project is subsequently judged a ‘success’ depends on the combination of a persuasive storyline, strong leadership and the effective management of risk. Finally, we turn to the wider normative ambitions of the OMEGA project and question whether these can be achieved in an Australian context in which infrastructure planning is so highly politicised.

What’s Taking So Long? Identifying the Underlying Causes of Delays in Planning Transportation Megaprojects in the United States

By integrating literature on transportation planning, megaprojects, and public choice theory, this article identifies the following eight factors that can cause delays in planning transportation megaprojects in the United States: impacts to neighborhoods and the environment, laws and regulations relating to the environment and planning, insufficient funding, changes in scope and design of a project, government bureaucracies and conflict between agencies, overly optimistic expectations, uncertainty involved in identifying the best alternative, and the absence of an effective public sector champion.

Conflict between Independent Scrutinisers of Transport Megaprojects: Evidence from Australia

If, in the context of an ‘audit explosion’, public sector projects are subject to multiple and uncoordinated forms of independent scrutiny, then the different scrutinisers could reach contradictory conclusions, adopt incompatible methods, and ultimately provide less effective oversight. In the Australian state of Victoria, three independent scrutiny mechanisms operate concurrently on transport megaprojects. The three mechanisms – performance auditing, probity auditing and gateway reviews – are not coordinated and yet have overlapping goals relating to integrity and value for money. This paper describes the three scrutiny mechanisms, before presenting evidence that the mechanisms can generate contradictory conclusions that remain unreconciled, and that the mechanisms conflict in ways that affect the viability of at least one of the mechanisms. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for Europe and directions for future research.

Digging through the Heart of Reunified Berlin: Unbundling the Decision-Making Process for the Tiergarten-Tunnel Mega-Project

The Berlin Tiergarten tunnel project (VZB) consisted of a joint planning approval procedure for one road and several rail tunnels (inter-city, metro rail and city subway). The tunnels lead through the heart of re-unified Berlin, starting at the site of the new Central Railway Station, cutting underneath the River Spree and the new Federal government quarter, as well the Tiergarten Park and the new entertainment complexes at Potsdamer Platz. This paper traces the decision-making processes for this crucial post-Berlin Wall mega-project, and raises important questions regarding optimistic forecasts, cost overruns, the role of prestige in large infrastructure projects, and the limits of public review procedures. It provides particular insights into a complex case where multiple urban transport mega-projects were bundled together for joint approval and implementation.

Assessing Feasibility of Transport Megaprojects

Results of the Swissmetro European Market Study are presented. Swissmetro is a proposed high-speed passenger ground transportation system that would operate magnetically levitated trains in underground tunnels with reduced air pressure by using linear motor technology. The market study considered the market feasibility of constructing Swissmetro on potential European corridors. It evaluated technology, market conditions, European policy, investment costs, and risks associated with the project. The study conclusion was that there is not sufficient market potential for the Swissmetro system in European long-distance transport. The main problems with Swissmetro identified in the study were the long time necessary to bring the technology to commercial deployment; the lack of obvious corridors (most high-demand corridors will be served by high-speed rail by 2020); strong competition from other modes, such as air and high-speed rail; European Union policy of supporting an interoperable system of rail lines; Swissmetro's high capital and operating costs—plus the risk that these costs may be significantly underestimated—and Swissmetro's long construction time.

Transportation Megaprojects, Globalization, and Place-Making in Hong Kong and South China

This paper draws on an argument presented at the 2005 TRB Annual Meeting by one of its authors claiming that traditional methods of evaluating transportation megaprojects (TMPs) are outdated in the new globalized world. Although planners understand the importance of conventional techniques of forecasting, appraisal, cost funding, and so forth to ensure that a project attains desired levels of operational efficiency, they are less familiar with the impact such projects have on places and communities in the name of enhancing competitiveness. In the context of Hong Kong and South China, this paper examines whether TMP experts are in the process of duplicating past errors of urban transport planners, but on a massively larger scale, by introducing new TMPs in a manner that restructures whole regions to meet the “operations efficiency” of networks above all else and, in so doing, benefits global (corporate) interests more than local, even though their patrons often have local and national governments meeting the lion's share of financial, social, and environmental costs (as well as risks).

Transportation Megaprojects, Globalization, and Place-Making in Hong Kong and South China

This paper draws on an argument presented at the 2005 TRB Annual Meeting by one of its authors claiming that traditional methods of evaluating transportation megaprojects (TMPs) are outdated in the new globalized world. Although planners understand the importance of conventional techniques of forecasting, appraisal, cost funding, and so forth to ensure that a project attains desired levels of operational efficiency, they are less familiar with the impact such projects have on places and communities in the name of enhancing competitiveness. In the context of Hong Kong and South China, this paper examines whether TMP experts are in the process of duplicating past errors of urban transport planners, but on a massively larger scale, by introducing new TMPs in a manner that restructures whole regions to meet the operations efficiency of networks above all else and, in so doing, benefits global (corporate) interests more than local, even though their patrons often have local and national governments meeting the lion's share of financial, social, and environmental costs (as well as risks).

TRANSPORTATION AT THE MILLENNIUM: In Search of a Megaproject Lens

ABSTRACTPenetrating the complexity of publicly funded megaprojects‐ those costing in excess of $1 billion—is no small task, but it can be a rewarding one. Five tiers of rich descriptors emerge from the literature: history and purpose; context; project structure; funding; and performance measures. The five‐tier approach is used to analyze one megaproject: Boston's $14‐billion‐plus Central Artery/Tunnel Project. With time and attention, this preliminary framework could be helpful in profiling and learning from public works megaprojects generally, and transportation megaprojects particularly.