Improving the problem analysis in cost-benefit analysis for transport projects: An explorative study

Improving the problem analysis in cost-benefit analysis for transport projects: An explorative study

Annema, J.A.
Mouter, N.

Technology, Policy and Management

Infrastructures, Systems and Services

2013-05-30

Key actors (consultants, scientists and policy makers) in the Netherlands transport policy cost-benefit analysis (CBA) practice consider ‘problem analysis’ to be one of the important CBA substantive problems. Their idea is that a good-quality problem analysis can help to identify proper solutions, among others. However, the Netherlands key actors state that in the Netherlands CBA practice good-quality problem analyses often lack. International literature and the Dutch CBA guide mentions some pitfalls related to problem analysis such as ‘the analyst commits himself to a single point of view’, ‘he thinks too quickly in terms of possible solutions’ and ‘a general problem statement is shifted to a too narrow defined technical statement’. Based on seven Dutch CBAs, this paper shows that in the Dutch CBA practice these kinds of pitfalls are indeed not avoided. Criteria for good-quality problem analysis are formulated. The core is that in CBA the problem or the perception of the problem (e.g., region ‘Y’ has poor accessibility, ‘X’ is an high barrier for public transport usage) should be analyzed with a very critical attitude.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5368a8e8-36c9-4f3d-bd45-eb9679f3ed68

BIVEC-GIBET

Proceedings of the BIVEC-GIBET Transport Research Days, Walferdange, Luxemburg, 30-31 May 2013

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2013 The Author(s)