CEG8413 Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Historical perspectives on transport appraisal in the UK

Dr Anil Namdeo
anil.namdeo@newcastle.ac.uk

Change in scope increasing over time

Environmental impacts affecting current and future generations

Which impacts are considered?

Financial impacts on developer

Who is affected by them?

Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Informal Cost Benefit Analysis

Ad hoc process of weighing up the pros and
cons of different courses of action 1772 - Benjamin Franklin wrote to Joseph Priestley advising him to balance the pros and cons of competing options, giving appropriate weight to each, cancelling out equivalent impacts on opposing sides until he could make his decision
http://www.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=1474

An aid to rational decision making, recognising

that it is difficult and mistakes can easily be made.
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Beginnings of formal evaluation

Pre-20th century financial appraisal / prestige Up to World war II cost-effectiveness /
adherence to physical standards 1936 Flood Control Act (USA) invoked public benefits to whomsoever they accrue 1940s Cost benefit analysis (CBA) used for flood control projects 1950s CBA applied to interstate freeway programme in the USA
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Introduction of CBA in the UK

First Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) studies in transport

Assessment of M1 in 1960 Victoria Line Study (London Underground) showed that social benefits needed to be estimated and valued to justify urban infrastructure investment

Introduction of COBA program by Ministry of Transport in early 70s trunk road investment CBA began to fall out of favour in late 70s
Roskill commission report on 3rd London Airport based on very elaborate CBA was turned down
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Widening the Scope of Appraisal

ACTRA (Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment) in 1977 Sir George Leitch
COBA ill-equipped to handle non-monetary effects Recommended the use of a framework for assessing environmental factors. Importance of non-economic components Scope of COBA widened Participation and approval of public as well as analysts and politicians
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

ACTRA becomes SACTRA

ACTRA was reformed regularly with new membership and occasional changes in remits An independent committee appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport to advise on issues related to the appraisal of trunk roads (and later, all forms of transport investment) The 1979 report fleshed out the1977 report's recommendations with Comprehensive Framework for Appraisal 6 reports to date focussing on different issues no plans to recall it at present
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/economics/sactra/
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Environmental Considerations
SACTRA report 1986 Urban Road Appraisal. Suggested Assessment Summary report to make information more manageable. EC Directive 85/337 (1988) requiring Environmental Impact Assessment for all major road developments SACTRA report 1991 Assessing the Environmental Impact of Road Schemes. How to assess environmental impacts monetising where possible.
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Appraisal gets more complex

SACTRA report 1994 Trunk Roads and Generation of Traffic. Road building can change trip matrix, previously assumed to be fixed. New Approach to Appraisal (NATA) 1998 introduced for road review. Five central objectives defined. COBA+Environmental+Social SACTRA report 1999 Transport and the Economy. No longer just roads. Tackled issues of wider economic impacts in appraisal. Recommended that Economic Impact Report (EIR) be produced.
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

Extending appraisal to multi-modal schemes

GOMMMS 2000 extends NATA to multi-modal studies carried out in the wake of road reviews. Same underlying objectives and methodology. Transport User Benefit Analysis (TUBA) program 2002 an extension of COBA for use in multimodal studies.
Allows variable trip matrices (SACTRA 1994) Deals with public transport as well as roads
http://www.dft.gov.uk/topics/appraisal-evaluation/tools/tuba/

Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities

The current situation

NATA Refresh consultation (2007-2008) Draft documents - Adopted April 2010 NATA still generally fit for purpose Stern and Eddington reports recommended improved appraisal methods for economic and environmental impacts Opportunity to align better the analytical information needs of decision makers and the public with the latest policy priorities for transport Providing more detailed information AST too concise Consolidating WebTAG, DMRB and other tools on EA Revamping of NATA (Refresh) being considered by the current Government
Economic and Environmental Appraisal of Transport Activities