3.3 - Scope of analysis

Introduction

Section 2 of volume 1 provides advice on the scope of analysis. Choosing the right scope of analysis is particularly important for TDM proposals and can affect both the value and acceptability of the proposal under consideration.

NZTS/LTMA principles and objectives

The contributions that the proposal makes to the New Zealand Transport Strategy principles and objectives (purpose and objective of the Land Transport Management Act) need to be identified when evaluating transport service proposals. These contributions are typically described in a qualitative manner but some can be, at least partially, quantified. They are taken into account in Land Transport NZ's allocation process.

Some advice on these factors relevant to TDM proposals is given below.

Double counting

Evaluators should be aware that there is some overlap between the NZTS/LTMA principles and objectives and the impacts included in the economic efficiency calculations. This is taken into account in the allocation process.

Economic development

Impacts to be considered and described under this heading should relate to enhancement of the economic wellbeing of New Zealanders - both the level of wellbeing and economic growth including the potential for future growth. Impacts could include:

• wider economic impacts, eg facilitating transport
• impacts on land use
• travel time between economic centres
• congestion
• travel time reliability
• effect on freight
• energy efficiency.

In certain circumstances, improved transport provision may have benefits to the economy over and above those included in the economic efficiency calculation. Such benefits might result from:

• increased competition in imperfect markets, either for final products or for factors of production (particularly labour and land)
• economies of scale in production leading to reductions to production costs.

The main economic development impacts of public transport improvements are likely to be on the markets for labour and land.

See also business benefits.

Safety and personal security

Road safety programmes, some modifications to the road network and programmes that reduce vehicle travel can contribute significantly to improvement in road safety. Passenger transport, cycling and walking improvements should specifically address safety and personal security issues as well as effects on vulnerable users.

Accessibility and mobility

Accessibility for personal activities refers to the ability to access desired goods, services and activities. For goods movement, it can be defined as the ability to reach suppliers or buyers of products.

Mobility refers to the ease of travel that provides access. Mobility benefits result from additional travel that would not otherwise occur, particularly by people who are transport disadvantaged. However, mobility is not the only means of improving accessibility.

TDM programmes can significantly improve access and mobility by increasing availability of transport options and coordinating travel alternatives, eg improved transport interchange.

Key determinants of accessibility include:

• the performance of the transport system - for a given land use pattern, quicker, more reliable, and/or lower cost transport alternatives provide greater accessibility
• land use patterns including the density and mix of development - for a given level of transport performance, a more dense arrangement of land uses means greater accessibility, because more activities can be reached within a given distance/time (the mix of land uses also influences accessibility).

Various measures of accessibility can be used such as:

• the number of jobs (or other opportunities accessible with X minutes of the average person in a region
• number of residents accessible within X minutes of a typical employment site.

Accessibility can also be distinguished by mode of travel, income, or other factors. The benefits and impacts of accessibility changes include:

• As an end goal in itself. Providing accessibility can be viewed as a fundamental objective for the transportation system, as it allows people to access desired activities.
• Economic activity. Businesses benefit from easier access to suppliers, a larger labour pool, and expanded consumer markets. These factors can reduce transport costs both for business-related passenger travel and for the movement of goods. Access to larger numbers of workers, consumers, and suppliers also provides greater choice and allows greater specialisation, thus increasing business efficiencies.
• Land use patterns. Feedback between accessibility and land use means that the relationship between transport improvements and accessibility gains is complicated. An example is the construction of a new highway. The immediate accessibility improvements may lead to significant land development in the vicinity of the highway. Eventually, however, the traffic generated by new development can cause significant congestion, reducing some of the original accessibility benefits provided by the highway.

Road tolling and some other price-based TDM strategies, while making the transport system more efficient, will usually have a negative impact on mobility.

Public health

Improvements to public health can occur through increased physical activity and fitness and through reduction in exposure to pollutants or injury causing activities.

Walking and cycling can have significant health benefits through the increased level of exercise. However, this could be offset by an increased exposure to pollutants if the activity involves sharing road space.

Sustainability

There are two aspects to this:

• environmental sustainability
• sustainability of the performance of the proposal.

Environmental sustainability can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Projects and programmes that contribute directly to environmental sustainability are those that reduce noise and other pollutants,
eg measures that improve vehicle standards or reduce vehicle use. Evaluation of environmental effects is described in appendix A8 of volume 1.

Sustainability of project performance relates to whether the benefits of a TDM project are maintained over time. The effects of TDM programmes and strategies tend to change over time. Some TDM programmes have immediate impacts while others may take years to have significant effects. In general, programmes that incorporate financial incentives, improve transport choice or involve land use management tend to become more effective over time as consumers incorporate them into long-term decisions. On the other hand, the effects of programmes that attempt to change travel behaviour by appealing to people's good intentions tend to decline over time as promoters and participants lose interest.

Integration

Proposals should endeavour to improve the arrangement of land use, walking and cycling networks, public transport and local and strategic roads.

Responsiveness

Proposals should clearly be responsive to both immediate needs as well as longer-term needs, including the needs of stakeholders and affected communities.

Impacts considered in economic efficiency evaluation

Evaluation of TDM proposals considers not only direct impacts but also additional costs and benefits to participants and society that may influence transport choice. All impacts should be considered, regardless of where they occur. Impacts within a particular area or analysis period may be highlighted, but costs and benefits that occur outside the jurisdiction should not be ignored. For example, a community's TDM programme may alleviate traffic congestion and parking demand in adjacent areas. These additional benefits should be mentioned even if they are not the primary consideration in decision making, since such benefits may justify support from other levels of government.

Impacts included in the economic efficiency evaluation of TDM are:

Travel time delays, and disruption during construction are considered as negative benefits.

Business benefits

Benefits to businesses are economic transfers rather than national economic benefits and are therefore not included in the economic efficiency calculation. However, they can be an important factor in 'selling' a TDM programme and obtaining funding for workplace based programme and they should, therefore, be quantified where appropriate and reported as part of the overall evaluation (separately from the economic efficiency calculation).

Potential benefits to employers from workplace TDM programmes include:

• Reduced overhead costs. Increased competition and need to build shareholder value place more pressure on businesses to lower their cost of doing business as well as increase revenues and/or margins. Strategies such as telecommuting and parking management can make a difference. Telecommuting can reduce office space requirements. Parking management can eliminate the need to build additional parking.
• Enhanced employee recruitment and retention. A shrinking labour force has increased competition for qualified applicants. Similarly, the cost of replacing an employee in productivity and direct costs can be very expensive.
• Expanded employee benefits at low/no cost. Employers can take advantage of changes in the tax treatment of commute-to-work fringe benefits to benefit employees and reduce costs. Employers can provide employees with a tax-free benefit and/or offer to subtract the cost of transit, vanpool, or parking as a pre-tax payroll deduction option.
• Enhanced corporate image. Implementation of trip reduction strategies can enhance an employer's environmental image and their neighbourhood relations.
• Reduced localized transportation problems. Employers are well-aware of the value of banding together to address common problems. Overseas, employers are joining transport management associations (TMA) to address access and mobility problems in their immediate area.
• Expanded service hours. Work hour schedules such as flexitime, staggered work hours, compressed work weeks enable organizations to provide additional coverage with the same total number of employers.
• Lower absenteeism and tardiness. Employees may make better time commitments to their carpool partner or to meet the bus. Telework may allow work to be accomplished when travel to the office isn't possible.
• Increased employment opportunities for the disabled and others unable to use traditional transport. Telework provides an alternative to having to use physical transport.
• Reduced employee stress. Employee health is significantly related to the distance and duration of the trip. People who are exposed to high levels of traffic congestion arrive at work with higher blood pressure than people who are not exposed. The more sensitive long distance commuters are to the effects of commuting on family life, the greater the inclination to try alternatives to solo driving.
• Enhanced employee productivity. One of the oft-cited benefits of telework is productivity increase.

Equity impacts

Equity refers to how the impacts of transport projects are distributed across population groups. There are four types of equity related to transport:

• Egalitarianism, treating everybody the same, regardless of who they are.
• Horizontal equity, whether costs, benefits and disbenefits, (including externalities) are applied equally to people and groups in comparable condition.
• Vertical equity with respect to income, whether lower-income people bear an excessive portion of the impacts.
• Vertical equity with regard to mobility needs and abilities, whether transport systems adequately serve people who are transport disadvantaged.

A TDM programme can have a wide range of equity impacts, depending on programme design and the conditions in which it is implemented.

The LTMA requires that the needs of persons that are transport disadvantaged be considered in preparing land transport programmes. Some TDM programmes increase vertical equity by improving mobility options for such persons.

Some TDM programmes also benefit lower-income people by providing financial savings to non-drivers (such as parking cash out and public transport fare discounts).

Methods to disaggregate impacts among socio-economic groups or geographical areas include:

• Spatially based analysis that uses spatial units such as traffic analysis zones or census tracts that can be classified by characteristic (income, predominate minority, etc).
• Spatial disaggregation, where a GIS raster module is used to disaggregate socio-economic data and impact data to grid cells.
• Microsimulation that uses a set of actual or synthetic individuals or households that represent the population.

Equity impacts of TDM proposals should be quantified where appropriate and reported as part of the overall evaluation (separately from the economic efficiency calculation).