Accessibility is gold, mobility is not: a proposal for the improvement of Dutch transport-related cost-benefit analysis

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2012

Authors

António Cunha Ferreira (Author) FEUP; Els Beukers (Author) Other; Marco Te Brömmelstroet (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design

Vol. 39

Pages: 683-697

ISSN: 0265-8135

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 16 Citations

Scopus - 25 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00N-9QK

DOI: 10.1068/b38073

Abstract (EN): Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) has become a key instrument for the evaluation of transport planning policies and projects in the Netherlands. Currently, this instrument is also used to evaluate integrated land-use and transport strategies. In Dutch transport-related CBA the conceptualisation of benefits is directly related to a narrow understanding of mobility. In this paper we argue that this understanding introduces an undesirable bias in transport planning that favours mobility-enhancing projects. We argue that the benefit to society of contemporary transport planning practice is no longer the improvement of mobility, but the improvement of accessibility. Therefore, Dutch CBA should acknowledge this in its calculations and shift from a mobility focus towards an accessibility orientation. We use a hypothetical illustration to show what the added value of an accessibility orientation can be. It facilitates a mindset where new and more sustainable directions for improving the competitiveness of regions are easier to find.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 15