Economics and Appraisal

We have a common interest in understanding the economics of transport from a demand and supply side perspective; how this impacts on individual travel decisions; and assessing the overall business case for transport investment and wider interventions.

Our capabilities include:

• Transport demand modelling, covering both passenger and freight
• Non-market valuation of qualitative aspects of transport systems and services
• Economic appraisal of transport investments and policy interventions
• Wider economic benefits from transport investment
• Econometric modelling of transport costs and efficiency
• Regulation, pricing and incentives
• Impact of reforms on economic efficiency
• Infrastructure regulation, investment and resilience (including utilities)
• Links to health economics (efficiency; and appraisal).

Recent projects include:

• UK national value of time study, Department for Transport
• Crossrail evaluation, Transport for London
• Highways benchmarking, Highways Agency
• Rail demand forecasting, Department for Transport
• Gatwick Airport peer review, Airports Commission
• SUSTRAIL (the SUSTainble freight RAILway), European Commission
• Wider economic impacts of bus usage, Greener Journeys

We are part of the CQC (Cost, Quality, Customer) Efficiency Network initiative which is based in the Institute of Transport Studies and is a joint venture between the National Highways and Transport Network (NHT) and the University of Leeds. The CQC Efficiency Network offers local authorities throughout Britain the ability to quantify the scope for cost savings in the delivery of highway services and to identify better practises.

Contact us

If you would like to discuss an area of research in more detail please contact: Dr Manuel Ojeda Cabral or Daniel Johnson.