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Travel time savings, accessibility gains and equity effects in cost–benefit analysis

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  • Karel Martens
  • Floridea Di Ciommo

Abstract

The growing interest in the equity dimensions of transport planning has resulted in increasing criticism on the dominant assessment methodology of transport projects: cost–benefit analysis (CBA). In this paper, we focus on travel time savings, given their importance in the assessment of transport projects and the sometimes fierce equity-related citicism on their inclusion in project appraisal. We identify five equity effects related to the use of travel time savings in CBA. Each of these equity effects implies that transport projects serving the majority population are highly likely to perform better in CBA than comparable projects serving disadvantaged population groups. We subsequently explore whether the replacement of travel time savings by accessibility gains can address the identified equity effects. We observe that this only holds for two of the five equity effects, while a third effect can be mitigated through the introduction of the notion of diminishing marginal return in the valuation of accessibility gains. We conclude that the mere introduction of accessibility gains is in itself insufficient to address all equity effects related to the application of travel time savings within the CBA framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Karel Martens & Floridea Di Ciommo, 2017. "Travel time savings, accessibility gains and equity effects in cost–benefit analysis," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 152-169, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:transr:v:37:y:2017:i:2:p:152-169
    DOI: 10.1080/01441647.2016.1276642
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    1. Gerard De Jong & Andrew Daly & Marits Pieters & Toon Van der Hoorn, 2005. "The logsum as an evaluation measure - review of the literature and new results," ERSA conference papers ersa05p158, European Regional Science Association.
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    Cited by:

    1. Costa, Cayo & Ha, Jaehyun & Lee, Sugie, 2021. "Spatial disparity of income-weighted accessibility in Brazilian Cities: Application of a Google Maps API," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Linovski, Orly & Baker, Dwayne Marshall & Manaugh, Kevin, 2018. "Equity in practice? Evaluations of equity in planning for bus rapid transit," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 75-87.
    3. Flipo, Aurore & Ortar, Nathalie & Sallustio, Madeleine, 2023. "Can the transition to sustainable mobility be fair in rural areas? A stakeholder approach to mobility justice," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 136-143.
    4. Herszenhut, Daniel & Pereira, Rafael H.M. & Portugal, Licinio da Silva & Oliveira, Matheus Henrique de Sousa, 2022. "The impact of transit monetary costs on transport inequality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Edward Randal & Caroline Shaw & Alistair Woodward & Philippa Howden-Chapman & Alex Macmillan & Jamie Hosking & Ralph Chapman & Andrew M. Waa & Michael Keall, 2020. "Fairness in Transport Policy: A New Approach to Applying Distributive Justice Theories," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Anciaes, Paulo & Jones, Peter, 2020. "Transport policy for liveability – Valuing the impacts on movement, place, and society," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 157-173.
    7. Cao, Mengqiu & Hickman, Robin, 2019. "Understanding travel and differential capabilities and functionings in Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 46-56.
    8. Freiberg, Germán & Giannotti, Mariana & Bittencourt, Taina A., 2024. "Are mass transit projects and public transport planning overlooking uneven distributional effects? Empirical evidence from Sao Paulo, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    9. Ryan, Jean & Pereira, Rafael H.M. & Andersson, Magnus, 2023. "Accessibility and space-time differences in when and how different groups (choose to) travel," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    10. Carlos Romero & Clara Zamorano & Emilio Ortega & Belén Martín, 2021. "Access to Secondary HSR Stations in the Urban Periphery: A Generalised Cost-Based Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, November.
    11. Lachapelle, Ugo & Boisjoly, Geneviève, 2023. "Breaking down public transit travel time for more accurate transport equity policies: A trip component approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    12. Yongjun Shen & Qiong Bao & Elke Hermans, 2020. "Applying an Alternative Approach for Assessing Sustainable Road Transport: A Benchmarking Analysis on EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Floridea Di Ciommo & Yoram Shiftan, 2017. "Transport equity analysis," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 139-151, March.
    14. Wan, Zhengyue & Titheridge, Helena, 2024. "Socially sustainable transport in the context of different-sized cities in China:Conceptualisation and operationalisation of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. Binsuwadan, Jawaher & Wardman, Mark & de Jong, Gerard & Batley, Richard & Wheat, Phill, 2023. "The income elasticity of the value of travel time savings: A meta-analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 126-136.
    16. Martens, Karel, 2018. "Ageing, impairments and travel: Priority setting for an inclusive transport system," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 122-130.
    17. Luis A. Guzman & Daniel Oviedo & Rafael Cardona, 2018. "Accessibility Changes: Analysis of the Integrated Public Transport System of Bogotá," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, October.
    18. Sen, Suman & Charles, Michael B. & Harrison, Jennifer L., 2022. "Usage-based road pricing and potential equity issues: A study of commuters in South East Queensland, Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 33-43.
    19. Karner, Alex, 2021. "People-focused and Near-term Public Transit Performance Analysis," SocArXiv kd6bq, Center for Open Science.
    20. Ryan, Jean & Martens, Karel, 2023. "Defining and implementing a sufficient level of accessibility: What’s stopping us?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    21. Linovski, Orly & Manaugh, Kevin & Baker, Dwayne Marshall, 2022. "The route not taken: Equity and transparency in unfunded transit proposals," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 77-84.
    22. Toger, Marina & Türk, Umut & Östh, John & Kourtit, Karima & Nijkamp, Peter, 2023. "Inequality in leisure mobility: An analysis of activity space segregation spectra in the Stockholm conurbation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    23. Claire, Papaix & Dupont-Kieffer, Ariane & Palmier, Patrick, 2022. "Potential accessibility to the workplace by public transit and its social distribution in Lille, France: A scenario-based equity appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 256-266.
    24. Pereira, Rafael H. M. & Herszenhut, Daniel & Saraiva, Marcus & Farber, Steven, 2023. "Ride-hailing and transit accessibility considering the trade-off between time and money," OSF Preprints pesjk, Center for Open Science.
    25. Liu, Qiyang & Lucas, Karen & Marsden, Greg & Liu, Yang, 2019. "Egalitarianism and public perception of social inequities: A case study of Beijing congestion charge," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 47-62.

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