THE EVALUATION OF AMENITY IN RELATION TO TRANSPORT COSTS AND BENEFITS

In choosing between alternative transport projects, transport cost-benefit analysis has had regard to the costs and benefits that were accrued to the providers and users of the transportation system itself, but although it has been appreciated that such systems give rise to costs and benefits to other members of the community these have not been brought into the transport evaluation. This Paper explores the means of bringing into such analysis certain of the other costs and benefits coming under the general heading of amenity. First review is made of the treatment of amenity in transport cost-benefit analysis and then of the need to widen such analysis beyond the items of amenity to the wider ranging repercussions of transportation on the communities. Indeed this would still not be wide enough since transportation should be viewed as part of urban and regional planning, and so should its evaluation. The main obstacle to the appropriate treatment of amenity in transport cost-benefit analysis has been the difficulties of measurement. The problems surrounding such measurement are explored and so is the need making the measurement in money terms. An account is given of the research advances being made in the measurement of the transport impact on amenities. Rather than complete the Paper with this review an instance is introduced of research study into the measurement of one such disamenity: that of planning blight.