Network effects and total economic impact in transport appraisal

It is claimed that transport infrastructure projects have network effects which are not taken into account in the appraisal of these projects. This paper reviews the concept of network effects, relates this to transport appraisal practice, and links to the concept of ‘total economic impact’. The limitations of transport modelling and appraisal in estimating total economic impact are reviewed. Good quality appraisals should be capable of picking up relevant network effects in the transport market, but the state of the art remains limited on the linkages between transport and the wider economy

Valuing transport noise impacts in public urban spaces in the UK: Gaps, opportunities and challenges

Transport noise is the dominant noise source in urban areas. Its impacts on people at their residential locations are included in economic appraisal in the UK and many other countries, and guidance and analysis tools were developed for the valuation of the impacts. However, for transport noise impacts on people in public urban spaces, e.g., urban streets, squares and parks, there is still a lack of national methodologies. This paper will discuss the gaps, opportunities and challenges in developing a national methodology for these places in the UK. Currently, evidence is lacking on pathways of transport noise impact on people and dose–response relationships at non-residential locations, and the values people place on sound environment quality at these locations. However, opportunities are emerging, with increasing attention to the urban realm in UK transport policy, and recent progress and transitions in urban sound environment research, including association between public health and urban soundscape, standardisation in soundscape research and practice, and crowdsourcing sound environment evaluations. The associated challenges, as compared to methodology for residential locations, may include calculating noise from non-free-flow traffic, defining and adding diverse receptor types, estimating dynamic affected population, accounting for diversity in level and source of background sound, and obtaining large and consistent data for dose–response or willingness-to-pay analyses

Social Assessment of Section 3 of the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road: Brynmawr to Tredegar

The aim of this report is to provide a social assessment of the impacts of Section 3 of the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road: Brynmawr to Tredegar, using a mixed methods approach which adapts and builds on the UK WebTAG appraisal guidance units 4.1 and 4.2. We define social assessment in this document as a study of the social and distributional impacts which estimate the impacts of the implemented scheme at the point of opening rather than a detailed ex-ante appraisal. In the absence of detailed ex-ante appraisal, this report sets a baseline from which future evaluation may be conducted. This is the first application of a new mixed methods approach to social assessment of the impacts of transport infrastructure investment in the UK. It was commissioned by the Welsh Government in specific recognition of the need for improved guidance in this area of project delivery. The results reported here, along with its accompanying annexes, also contribute to greater understanding of social and distributional impacts, which builds upon and extends the current quantitative approach in WelTAG / WebTAG. This will hopefully lead to better understanding of the wider social effects of transport projects in order to inform future considerations as to how new transport schemes affect wellbeing

Introducing willingness-to-pay for noise changes into transport appraisal: an application of benefit transfer.

Numerous research studies have elicited willingness-to-pay values for transport-related noise, however, in many industrialised countries including the UK, noise costs and benefits are still not incorporated into appraisals for most transport projects and policy changes (Odgaard et al, 2005; Grant-Muller et al, 2001). This paper describes the actions recently taken in the UK to address this issue, comprising: primary research based on the city of Birmingham; an international review of willingness-to-pay evidence; development of values using benefit transfers over time and locations; and integration with appraisal methods. Amongst the main findings are: that the willingness-to-pay estimates derived for the UK are broadly comparable with those used in appraisal elsewhere in Europe; that there is a case for a lower threshold at 1 45dB(A)Leq,18hr1 rather than the more conventional 55dB(A); and that values per dB(A) increase with the noise level above this threshold. There are significant issues over the valuation of rail versus road noise, the neglect of non-residential noise and the valuation of high noise levels in different countries. Conclusions are drawn regarding the feasibility of noise valuation based on benefit transfers in the UK and elsewhere, and future research needs in this field are discussed

Transport Accessibility and Land Value – A Commercial property price model for Northern England

The central aim of this study was to use newly-developed models to develop the evidence base on the relationship between transport accessibility and commercial property prices. Understanding commercial property impacts help understand the benefits following transport interventions and potential revenues from land value capture. In developing a set of hedonic models of commercial property value for the TfN area, we allowed for a detailed analysis of the role of accessibility, by multiple modes. Our models include business-to-business (B2B) accessibility, as well as business-to-labour (B2L) accessibility, to take into account important linkages between businesses as well as access to labour/customers. Our modelling results found significant impacts for floorspace, nearby tram stops, local area employment density, income and deprivation measures. For accessibility, the picture is more nuanced with different accessibility measures emerging as important for different property types

Ten questions concerning soundscape valuation

The past two decades have seen an ongoing paradigm shift from noise control to soundscaping, and soundscape approaches have been applied in noise management projects. However, cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which is widely used for economic appraisal of projects that would impact on the sound environment, remains noise-based and residential-location-focused. As a result, benefits of wanted sounds are omitted from appraisal. While there is a wealth of literature seeking to place a value/cost on changes in noise exposure, little research has been done on soundscape valuation. Consequently, there is little evidence on the monetary value of soundscape, which is essential for developing soundscape-based CBA. This paper initiates a systematic discussion on this emerging topic, by addressing ten questions covering the definition and scope for soundscape valuation, potential valuation methods for primary soundscape valuation research and required data, special concerns on private and public contexts, non-monetary valuation and soundscapes of cultural and/or historical significance, and the eventual application of soundscape values in CBA and beyond. Answers are based on reflection of existing literature on environmental valuation and soundscape, and visionary opinions by the authors from research, practice and policy sectors, and can help establish a framework to support future research in soundscape valuation and relevant areas

From the costs of noise to the value of soundscape?

The past two decades have seen an ongoing paradigm shift from noise control to soundscaping, and soundscape approaches have been applied in noise management projects. However, cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which is widely used for economic appraisals of projects that would impact on the sound environment, is still noise-based and residential-location-focused. As a result, benefits of wanted sounds are omitted, and only very limited receiver types and contexts are covered. While there is a wealth of literature on valuing the costs of noise and the benefits of noise reduction little research has been done on soundscape valuation, and consequently there is little evidence on the monetary value of soundscape, which is essential for developing soundscape-based CBA. Starting from the costs of noise this paper will discuss the motivation of soundscape valuation, methodology for primary soundscape valuation research, and the use of soundscape values, to contribute to the development of holistic soundscape CBA

Opening out and closing down: The treatment of uncertainty in transport planning’s forecasting paradigm

© 2019, The Author(s). Since the 1960s, development of the transport system has been framed by the notion of forecasting future demand. Yet the past decade or more appears to signal some significant changes to the role of travel in society which are having a material impact on how much people travel (and may travel in the future). Coupled with the potential for major technological changes and a range of climate adaptation scenarios, the future of mobility presents today’s decision making on transport strategy and investment with a broader set of uncertainties than has previously been considered. This paper examines current mainstream practice for incorporating uncertainty into decision-making, through an illustrative case study of the highly codified approaches of the Department for Transport in England. It deconstructs the issue by first focussing on different ways in which there is an opening out or acceptance of new uncertainties and how this creates a (wider) set of potential futures. It then turns to consider how this set of futures is used, or not, in decision-making, i.e. the process of closing down uncertainty to arrive at or at least inform a decision. We demonstrate that, because the range of uncertainties has broadened in scope and scale, the traditional technocratic approach of closing down decisions through sensitivity testing is at odds with the greater breadth now being called for at the opening out stage. We conclude that transport decision-making would benefit from a rebalancing of technical depth with analytical breadth. The paper outlines a plausible new approach to opening out and closing down that is starting to be applied in practice. This approach must be accompanied by an opening up of the processes by which technical advice for decisions are reached and how uncertainties are understood and negotiated