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Deciding What Transport is for: Connectivity and the Economy

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Abstract

The evaluation of transport projects rests on comparing the costs of investment with their benefits. How we describe these benefits therefore has a strong impact on whether investments are made. One approach is to use time savings, but this abstracts from trip generation and economic impacts, and leaves it hard to incorporate environmental constraints. This however is still a dominant methodology amongst transport analysts. This chapter will critically evaluate these methodologies and the impact they have had on the ability to consider transport projects, with particular reference to the UK.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In both stories, the efficiency and speed of communication are used as metaphors for power and commitment.

  2. 2.

    The story of containerisation is dramatically described in The Box, by Marc Levinson [1].

  3. 3.

    Internet Advertising Bureau, http://www.bancmedia.com/news-online-advertising-value-passes-4billion/

  4. 4.

    http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-041311

  5. 5.

    BCG [5].

  6. 6.

    Glaeser, p. 7.

  7. 7.

    This railway, involving a new tunnel under Central London, is now under construction. It is a large project costing in the region of £16bn and will add around 80–90,000 to London’s commuter capacity.

  8. 8.

    WEBTAG, Unit 3.5.4, Box 2 [8].

  9. 9.

    SACTRA Final Report, para 24, [9].

References

  1. Levinson M (2006) The box: how the shipping container made the world smaller and the world economy bigger. Princeton University Press, Princeton

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  2. OECD (2006) Infrastructure needs to 2030, OECD futures project

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  3. Crafts N, Leunig T (2005) The historical significance of transport for economic growth and productivity. Background paper for the Eddington report

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  4. Metz D (2008) The myth of travel time savings. Transp Rev 28(30):321–336

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  5. Boston Consulting Group (2010) The connected kingdom: how the internet is transforming the UK economy, Google

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  6. Glaeser E (2011) The triumph of the city

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  7. Institute for Transport Studies (2003) Values of travel time saving in the UK, Leeds University

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  8. WEBTAG Unit 3.5.6 (2011) http://www.dft.gov.uk/webtag/documents/expert/pdf/unit3.5.6_OnlinePDF.pdf

  9. Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (1991) Final Report, Department for Transport

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Volterra Consulting and Greater London Authority, 56-58 Putney High St, London, SW15 1SF, UK

    Bridget Rosewell

Authors
  1. Bridget Rosewell
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Correspondence to Bridget Rosewell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. George St 75, Oxford, OX1 2BQ, UK

    Oliver Inderwildi

  2. 75 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BQ, UK

    Sir David King

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rosewell, B. (2012). Deciding What Transport is for: Connectivity and the Economy. In: Inderwildi, O., King, S. (eds) Energy, Transport, & the Environment. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2717-8_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2717-8_35

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2716-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2717-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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