5.2 - Method of evaluation
- 5.1- Evaluation of transport services
- 5.2 - Method of evaluation
- 5.3 - Scope of analysis
- 5.4 - Stages in analysis
- 5.5 - Do minimum
- 5.6 - Benefits and costs
- 5.7 - Period of analysis
- 5.8 - Cost benefit evaluation
- 5.9 - Alternatives and options
- 5.10 - Sensitivity analysis
- 5.11- Additional information required if simplified procedures are
5.2 - Method of evaluation
Consumer surplus basis
Consumer surplus methodology - refer to section 3.2 in chapter 3 - is used to monetise the transport service user benefits of changes in price as well as non-price impacts (such as journey time, reliability, frequency, and comfort or vehicle design) of a transport service.
For improved frequency of services/reduced waiting time and elimination of interchanges, transport service user time savings are based on the standard values of vehicle occupant time (VOT) given in appendix A4 of volume 1. For this purpose, waiting time is valued at two times the value of VOT. The values in appendix A4 applicable to most transport service users are those for non-work travel purposes (including commuting to and from work). These standard values are derived willingness-to-pay values, ie they are based on consumer surplus methodology.
For other types of non-price transport service impacts (such as improvements to trip quality or comfort) transport service user benefits are based on an equivalent change in fare that would be required to produce the same user response to that produced by the change in service quality. This consumer surplus based benefit, which assumes the demand curves are linear, is the same as that which would be derived if the full demand curves for a transport service were available.
Packages involving transport services
If transport services are part of a wider package, then a composite evaluation is necessary. This may involve evaluating road infrastructure components using the procedures in volume 1 and the passenger transport components using relevant procedures in this volume 2, and aggregating the results. The procedure for evaluating the timing of package components in section 3 of volume 1 should be used.
