Abstract
The evaluation of transport projects rests on comparing the costs of investment with their benefits. How we describe these benefits therefore has a strong impact on whether investments are made. One approach is to use time savings, but this abstracts from trip generation and economic impacts, and leaves it hard to incorporate environmental constraints. This however is still a dominant methodology amongst transport analysts. This chapter will critically evaluate these methodologies and the impact they have had on the ability to consider transport projects, with particular reference to the UK.
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- 1.
In both stories, the efficiency and speed of communication are used as metaphors for power and commitment.
- 2.
The story of containerisation is dramatically described in The Box, by Marc Levinson [1].
- 3.
Internet Advertising Bureau, http://www.bancmedia.com/news-online-advertising-value-passes-4billion/
- 4.
- 5.
BCG [5].
- 6.
Glaeser, p. 7.
- 7.
This railway, involving a new tunnel under Central London, is now under construction. It is a large project costing in the region of £16bn and will add around 80–90,000 to London’s commuter capacity.
- 8.
WEBTAG, Unit 3.5.4, Box 2 [8].
- 9.
SACTRA Final Report, para 24, [9].
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Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (1991) Final Report, Department for Transport
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Rosewell, B. (2012). Deciding What Transport is for: Connectivity and the Economy. In: Inderwildi, O., King, S. (eds) Energy, Transport, & the Environment. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2717-8_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2717-8_35
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