scholarly journals Consumer’s Surplus: An Equity Measure of High Speed Rail Investments

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4537
Author(s):  
Francesca Pagliara
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Added Value ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Alternative Interventions ◽  
Principal Assessment ◽  
Direct And Indirect Benefits

An economic analysis identifies, measures, and compares the costs and benefits of alternative interventions, with the objective of supporting decisions concerning the best use of limited resources. The cost benefit analysis (CBA) has played a significant role within the entire decision-making process, and is the principal assessment methodology. In recent years, equity issues in relation to transportation planning have become a hot topic at an international level. In this paper, the objective was to integrate equity within the evaluation of transport projects, specifically high speed rail projects. Here, consumer surplus is conceived as a monetized measure of both direct and indirect benefits for all zones, and for all socioeconomic categories served and not served by HSR, respectively. The added value of this paper is in rethinking these two shares in the computation of the total net present value as equity measures of the project itself. Specifically, the distribution of the HSR benefits among the different groups or zones in a given study area can be computed, and a comparison of the values for each zone of the study area and for each category makes it possible to assess the effects of equity between zones/categories.

High Speed Rail for America’s Regional Transportation: A Study of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Wang ◽  
P. Bortner ◽  
W. Peterson ◽  
D. McCullough
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Rail Network ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Benefits And Costs

After 60 years and more than $1.9 trillion of investments, the United States has developed one of the world’s most advanced highway and aviation systems. However, these transportation systems are now at a gridlock. To reduce the congestion and increase efficiency of America’s regional transportation, rail transit should be considered as a promising, long-term solution. The recent stimulus package provides planners an opportunity to reconsider the potentials of regional passenger rail network, especially the high speed rail system. After examining the development history and current condition of America’s passenger rail network, the paper focuses on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) and proposes three different improvement plans that can increase travel speeds and attract more ridership: (1) return the corridor to a state of good repair; (2) construct a new dedicated High-Speed Rail track; and (3) develop a multimodal-shared and connected corridor. Each plan has its advantages and drawbacks, and measuring the extent of each plan’s benefits and costs is known to be challenging. To evaluate these plans, the paper utilizes a non-traditional cost-benefit analysis method which considers changes in ridership, life-cycle costs as well as each plan’s economic and environmental impacts (negative or positive). It is found that returning the existing corridor to a state of good repair is the most efficient improvement plan in near term.

A risk-adjusted decoupled-net-present-value model to determine the optimal concession period of BOT projects

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhat Nguyen ◽  
Khalid Almarri ◽  
Halim Boussabaine
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The Body ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Concession Period

PurposeThe net-present-value (NPV) method is well-known for its drawbacks. To overcome some of these NPV weaknesses this paper aims to provide a methodology to determine an optimal concession period that treats risk and time separately. The purpose of this paper is to apply the notion of risk-adjusted decoupled net present value (risk-adjusted DNPV) to determine a conception period taken into consideration synthetic insurance premiums as compensation for risks.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts theoretical and empirical analysis and provides an integrated model for deriving concession periods of any PPP projects. The model is able to capture several contractual issues such risks costing and other contractual scenarios. Methodologically, the paper addressees both the issues of risk-based cost–benefit analysis and cash flow analysis bearing an emphasis of risk-adjusted DNPV to compute an optimum concession period.FindingsThe results show that using DNPV will produce a shorter concession period comparatively to NPV. The consequence of this is that the public sector will gain financially from an earlier transfer of the concession.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper contributes to the PPP literature by combing DNPV and risk to determine the PPP concession period for the mutual benefits both the private and public sectors. The decoupling of risk from traditional NPV computation will allow for risk pricing and tradability through insurance and allocation.Originality/valueThe attempt to decouple time and risk in the computation of NPV is the added value to the body of knowledge.

scholarly journals Access to Secondary HSR Stations in the Urban Periphery: A Generalised Cost-Based Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12286
Author(s):  
Carlos Romero ◽  
Clara Zamorano ◽  
Emilio Ortega ◽  
Belén Martín
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Gis Methods ◽  
Generalised Cost

Investments in high-speed rail (HSR) development contribute to reducing regional disparities and improving territorial cohesion. When studying the efficacy of HSR investments, the travel time (and effort) spent on getting to and from the HSR station is crucial. In large urban areas there may be more than one station, and a peripheral station may complement the central stations and become a powerful vector for development. The rationale of this paper revolves around the possibility of applying a methodology based on generalised cost (GC) functions to study the advantages of new HSR-related projects in different locations. With this aim, we evaluate a real example in Seville (Spain) to determine whether the improvement in metropolitan accessibility to HSR services justifies the implementation of a new peripheral station, using a methodology to assess the territorial accessibility based on GC functions and modal travel times obtained with GIS methods, followed by an economic assessment based on a cost-benefit analysis. The paper ends with the main conclusions and a discussion of the methodology applied, the reductions in generalised costs resulting from the new station, the relevance of the case study, the limitations of the approach and further research stemming from this study.

scholarly journals The BCA of HSR: Should the Government Invest in High Speed Rail Infrastructure?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ginés De Rus
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Rail Network ◽  
Expected Benefits ◽  
The Government

This paper deals with public investment in High-Speed Rail (HSR) infrastructure and tries to understand the economic rationale for allocating public money to the construction of new HSR lines. The examination of data on costs and demand shows that the case for investing in HSR requires several conditions to be met: an ex ante high volume of traffic in the corridor where the new lines are built, significant time savings, high average willingness of potential users to pay, the release of capacity in the conventional rail network and airports. On the contrary, net environmental benefits seem to be insignificant in influencing the social desirability of HSR investment. This paper discusses, within a cost-benefit analysis framework, under which conditions the expected benefits could justify the investment in HSR projects.

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