A number of different methodologies are currently used in the UK to appraise transport projects which are wholly or partly financed by central government. This report investigates the extent of consistency between existing methodologies. It makes some broad proposals about the design of a common methodology of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which can then be located in a wider framework of appraisal of the kind currently favoured by the Government. It examines the different areas in which the existing methodologies do not agree. Using the COBA procedure for highway appraisals as a template, but adapting this in the light of the various issues of consistency which are discussed, the report outlines a cost-benefit methodology which can be used for the appraisal of multi-modal transport projects. Finally, the report makes suggestions about how this methodology might be incorporated into the ‘new approach to appraisal’.
UK Approach to Transport Infrastructure Appraisal: Multi-Modal Appraisal