Appraising Small Schemes at a Local Level: A BCR Approach

This paper describes how benefit cost ratios (BCR) have long been an indicator of value for money (VfM) that are currently used in the resource allocation of funding for large scale transport projects across the European Union (EU). For example, in the United Kingdom (UK) transport investment projects costing greater than 5 million euros are required to undertake a full cost benefit analysis and produce a BCR. No formal methodology has been developed for ‘small’ schemes that do not fit into this category. This paper describes research that was funded by the Department for Transport in the UK as part of a project to improve the evidence base on the VfM of small transport improvement schemes. The ‘small’ schemes include road safety (e.g. 20 mph zones), accessibility (e.g. low floor buses), cycling, walking and traffic management schemes. The emphasis was on the feasibility of developing a methodology for monetizing the key benefits from these schemes and then applying this methodology to known case studies to determine the BCRs that would be achieved. This was more straightforward for certain types of schemes than others. For example, in the UK schemes that target road safety and have the common goal of reducing accidents, tend to have a good data set available and robust methodology for monetizing the key benefits based on the value of prevention of an accident. In contrast, the assessment of the VfM of schemes that have the key goal of increasing accessibility has been patchy and an innovative methodology focusing on calculating user benefits has been developed to realize the accessibility benefits. Key issues that arose in determining the BCR methodology for all scheme types are discussed including data availability, appropriate appraisal periods, maintenance schedules and how to account for any key benefits that could not be monetized. The paper presents the methodologies developed and applies this to a number of real case studies, which are now included on a website for local authorities to use. Finally, the paper assesses how fit for purpose this method is for capturing the VfM of small schemes.

• Record URL:
  https://aetransport.org/past-etc-papers/conference-papers-pre-2009/conference-papers-2010
• Corporate Authors:

  Association for European Transport (AET)

  1 Vernon Mews, Vernon Street, West Kensington
  London W14 0RL,    
• Authors:
  • Kelly, C
  • Nellthorp, J
  • Gogna, S
• Conference:
  • European Transport Conference, 2010
  • Location: Glasgow Scotland, United Kingdom
  • Date: 2010-10-11 to 2010-10-13
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Pagination: v.p.
• Monograph Title: European Transport Conference, 2010 Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Appraisals; Benefit cost analysis; Cyclists; Financial analysis; Highway safety; Highway traffic control; Low floor vehicles; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrian traffic
• Uncontrolled Terms: Value for money
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01352561
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 26 2011 7:58AM