Estimating the Benefits and Costs of Public Transit Projects: A Guidebook for Practitioners

and in general become problematic when one tries to apply them to specific situations and in detail. The realities of the type, extent, and reliability of the data for making these measurements compound the problem. The result is that rigorous evaluations of transit projects are not done, not done well, not done efficiently, or not understood by the ultimate audience of policymakers and the public. This guidebook takes a step toward addressing these problems. It summarizes the theory of how benefits and costs should be measured, but then focuses on what it takes for a regional or local transit agency to actually do the measurement and make the calculations for a real project. The guidebook is also included on a companion compact disk (CD), where all sections, subtopics, and tables and figures can be quickly referenced via an interactive table of contents. The CD also includes • Analytical tools (downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheets) to help analysts organize and calculate data to complete a benefit-cost analysis. These worksheets emulate the methods illustrated in the guidebook and can be easily customized for a wide range of applications. Each worksheet includes references to sections of the guidebook where more information can be found. • Presentation templates (downloadable, easily customized Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows) to help transit agencies effectively communicate their findings and conclusions to a wide range of audiences (e.g., elected officials, the media, and the general public). The slideshows are organized by the major topics in the guidebook and prompt the user for relevant findings for their particular project based on the analysis conducted (e.g., “Our project reduces auto vehicle miles traveled by X”). — A resources library to further clarify concepts in the guidebook, obtain data for an analysis, or develop maps for presentations. More specifically, the library includes — A glossary of terms to clarify and elaborate on topics in the guidebook, — A list of transportation organizations and website links where additional data may be found, and — A list of websites where electronic maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data can be obtained to create maps for analysis or presentations. The preparation of this guidebook was sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The prime contractor for the entire project is Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas. ECONorthwest prepared this guidebook as a subcontractor to Parsons Brinckerhoff. The following organizations and people contributed to the guidebook.