Attitude changes, modelling travel behaviour, and ex ante project evaluations

The literature has increasingly recognized that people's attitudes can change for many reasons. This paper argues that attitude changes can have important implications for modelling travel behaviour and ex ante evaluations of candidate policy options. Limiting ourselves to the transport system and the built environment, we discuss why attitudes...

Recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life multi-junction III-V/silicon solar cells: A criticality assessment of gallium, indium and silicon for large scale production of multi-junction III-V/silicon solar cells and an assessment of the environmental impacts and economic feasibility of recycling end-of-life multi-junction III-V/silicon solar panels

This thesis studies the criticality of gallium, indium and silicon for a 1GWp production of III-V/silicon solar cells and assesses the environmental impacts and economic costs \& benefits of a recycling process for these solar cells. III-V/silicon is an emerging solar cell technology, that is expected to enter the market in between 2025 and...

Cars are more than just the fuel they burn. Life Cycle Analysis with Cost Benefit Analysis of greener personal transport policies: Integrating a Life Cycle Analysis into a Cost and benefit analysis of policies that aim to increase the adaption of the electrical vehicles. Using the Dutch Climate Agreement personal transport policies and the Dutch electrical vehicle market as casus

After the Dutch government committed itself to the Paris Climate Agreement, there has been some development in policies that are introduced to limit the emissions of greenhouse gasses. These policies are introduced in the Dutch Climate Agreement. Some of these policies aim to stimulate the adoption rate of the battery electric vehicle into the...

Assessing policy efficiency to reduce peak demand in trains

Since the trains are getting more crowded during the morning peak hour in The Netherlands, multiple problems arise for both railway travelers and railway operators. Therefore, new solutions are needed to be found, to reduce the peak hour demand in trains during the morning peak in The Netherlands. A possible solution appeared to be changing the...

Cost and Benefit Analysis of BIM Implementation in Construction Projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) constitutes an innovative way of creating and managing data among multiple disciplines and it is recently introduced in Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. The adoption rate of BIM is considered low due to a lack of awareness regarding these methodologies and their outcomes. Although...

The Cargoloop: An economic feasibility study on a cargo application of the hyperloop in Europe

It is expected that the express delivery market will grow strongly in the coming years. This growth, however, is restricted by the shortage of express transportation capacity and is increasingly causing congestion. The transport sector is not only subject to this growing demand from a business perspective but also faces environmental challenges....

Dutch politicians’ use of cost–benefit analysis

28 Dutch politicians and 10 top-level civil servants were interviewed about the way Dutch politicians use cost–benefit analysis (CBA). Various types of use were identified. Politicians use CBA: (1) When forming their opinion about the desirability of transport projects; (2) As political ammunition (opportunistic use); (3) To make themselves...

It’s all about morality: A cost benefit analysis of solar energy for the Dutch society

In order to meet EU climate commitments, the Netherlands need to accelerate the growth of renewable energy production. The energy market in the Netherlands is a partly regulated market, transport and generation of electricity are regulated. Therefore, governmental policies have an effect on the emergence of renewable energy technologies in the...

Including indirect environmental impacts of large infrastructure projects in Cost Benefit Analysis

So far, current appraisals like Cost Benefit Analyses (CBA) for new road and railway infrastructure normally address direct and social environmental impacts (for example the benefit of reduced congestion or improved accessibility that leads to more users and vehicles and cause more environmental damage). Clearly, these impacts are caused during...

Using value of statistical life for the ex ante evaluation of transport policy options: A discussion based on ethical theory

This paper aims to discuss a number of questions that are highly important for the ex ante evaluation of the safety impacts of transport policy options, from the perspective of ethical theory: (1) Is it morally OK to express prevention on acceptance of fatalities or risks in monetary terms? (2) How useful is the concept of the value of a...

Adaptive Policies: A way to improve the cost-benefit performance of megaprojects?

Megaprojects are built as a result of a policy that tries to cope with an expected demand in the future. To assess the financial viability of a megaproject, a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is performed, which is very much dependent on the accuracy of predictive models that are used to forecast future demand. The outcomes of these models are very...