Contrasting the recommendations of participatory value evaluation and cost-benefit analysis in the context of urban mobility investments

Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE) is a new method to assess the desirability of government projects. In a PVE, individuals select their preferred portfolio of government projects given a constrained public budget. Individuals’ preferences for (the impacts of) government projects can be determined based on these choices. The obtained...

The value of travel time, noise pollution, recreation and biodiversity: A social choice valuation perspective

Environmental effects of transport projects have a weak position in Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) which might be rooted in the valuation approach adopted in the dominant style of CBA. This conventional valuation approach has been criticized for not valuing positive and negative impacts of transport projects in relation to each other and for not...

The consumer-citizen duality: Ten reasons why citizens prefer safety and drivers desire speed

Cost-benefit analyses for transportation projects usually value impacts on safety and travel time through experiments in which consumers of mobility (‘drivers’) choose between routes which differ in safety and travel time. This approach has been criticized for failing to consider that private choices may not fully reflect citizens’...

A critical assessment of discounting policies for transport cost-benefit analysis in five European practices

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) has a long tradition as a broadly-used instrument for assessing transport infrastructure investments. In a CBA, the discount rate often determines whether a project passes the benefit-cost test. One concern is that literature on the subject offers widely differing recommendations regarding which discount rate...

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...