Professor Peter Mackie

Profile

Education

• BA Economics University of Nottingham First Class

Employment History

• Emeritus Professor 2014 -
• Research Professor, part-time 2008-2013
• Dean of Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds 2002-8
• Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Professor of Transport Studies, University of Leeds
• UK Ministry of Transport, London, 1968-70

Capability statement

• Peter is a leading UK academic figure in transport policy and economics and has specialised in issues relating to transport appraisal and to regulation and deregulation. He has a record of leadership in research grants and contracts as well as teaching in microeconomics and transport economics for undergraduates, graduate students and post-experience professionals, has supervised twenty successful graduate students to PhD level and has been Director of ITS and Dean of Faculty.
• On regulatory policy, Peter worked on the regulation of road haulage at both national and EU level at the time trucking was a regulated industry. With colleagues Gwilliam, Nash and Preston he conducted studies and wrote papers on the deregulation of the local bus industry both in prospect (Transport Reviews 1985) and in retrospect (Transport Reviews 1995). Recently he contributed to a large ITS study for DfT on the economics of concessionary travel in the UK and the reimbursement to operators for social obligations.
• Within the field of appraisal of transport projects, Peter has helped to develop the framework of cost-benefit analysis in transport, has addressed particular issues such as the valuation of travel time savings and has engaged in research on the economic impacts of infrastructure projects, the logistics benefits of road investments and the so-called wider economy impacts of transport projects. He has led ITS's work on disseminating transport appraisal methods to the user community through the World Bank Toolkit, several projects for the European Union, work for the UN Economic Commission for Europe and for the national Governments of the UK and Ireland. He has worked for the OECD and the International Transport Forum and has participated in many ITF Round Tables including in Paris, Boston and Queretaro, Mexico.
• Peter has contributed particularly to the development of transport appraisal in the UK through his work for the UK Government. This includes membership of the SACTRA committee which produced three influential reports on Environmental Appraisal, the Roads Generate Traffic issue and Transport and the Economy. This last report from 1999 stimulated the upswing of technical interest in how to assess the wider economy impacts of infrastructure investment. He was also a member of the academic review panel of the Eddington review into the transport sector and chaired the peer review panel of the Department for Transport's review of the New Approach to Appraisal, the NATA Refresh. He was a member of the Academic Challenge Panel set up to assist the appraisal of the High Speed 2 rail project currently being planned between London, the Midlands and the North of England. In April 2013 he was appointed to the panel of experts assisting the Airports Commission. He has been the manager of a call-off contract between ITS and the DfT under which around fifty pieces of work have been commissioned over fifteen years.

Selected Recent Projects

Buses and Economic Growth ( Greener Journeys 2012) This study examined the contribution of bus transport to economic activity through its contribution to commuting, travel to education and shopping and leisure. An internet based survey generated data on the role of the bus in facilitating the working of local labour markets, matching people to jobs and promoting skills development.

Concessionary Travel (Department for Transport 2008-10)A major study of the demand for bus travel by elderly and disabled passengers, of the supply response by operators and of the basis for reimbursement to operators for social concessions to support the policy requirement that the payments regime should be financially neutral to operators.

Review of Methodologies to Assess Transport's Impacts on the size of the Economy (Northern Way, 2010)This reviewed the contribution of recent empirical work on estimating GVA impacts of transport schemes and how this relates to traditional cost benefit analysis methods. The review focused on the interface between CBA and GVA measures and recent empirical evidence on transport's contribution to productivity.

National Secondary Road network needs study (National Road Administration, Ireland 2009-2011)
This very large study reviewed the whole 2,600km of national secondary roads with the objective of identifying a future national secondary road network with an outline programme for its delivery. ITS was responsible for the development of the appraisal methodology.

HEATCO: Developing Harmonised European Approaches for Transport Costing and Project Assessment (European Commission, Sixth Framework Research Project, 2004-6)
HEATCO's primary objective is the development of harmonised guidelines for project assessment and transport costing on EU level. The basis of the guidelines was a state-of-the art review of economic appraisal across Europe. Peter was the director of ITS's contribution to this project which included a meta-analysis across European studies of values of travel time.

Toolkit for the Economic Evaluation of World Bank Transport Projects (World Bank,2002-3)
Peter directed this study for ITS in conjunction with IT Transport Ltd, a consultant specialising in developing countries work. The toolkit was developed for the World Bank for the evaluation of their projects. The toolkit comprises of a framework document and 20 specialised notes detailing the specific treatment of attributes within the appraisal some of which are developing world specific. These specialist notes include the treatment of public private partnerships, wider economic impacts (including social benefits such as improved health care and education), treatment of Non-Motorised Transport, cost effectiveness analysis as an alternative to cost benefit analysis and issues associated with poverty, forced resettlement and environmental impacts.

Evaluation of the Multi-Modal Studies (Department for Transport 2002-3)
The Government commissioned thirty or so multi-modal studies of particular problem corridors and areas on the inter-urban network and in cities. Following their completion, the Department commissioned ITS with AEAT and John Bates to carry out a review and draw lessons for the future.

Revising the Values of Work and Non-Working Time Used for Transport Modelling and Appraisal (Department for Transport 2000-2)
The Department had commissioned a study to update the national values of travel time savings in 1994-6.This study broke new ground but left the Department with a number of challenging issues relating to practical implementation. Peter led the ITS study (with an external consultant John Bates) which undertook further analysis and made recommendations for implementation which formed the basis of the Department's revised appraisal guidance.

IASON: Integrated Appraisal of Spatial, Economic and Network Effects of Transport Investment and Policies (EU Fifth Framework Research Project 2001-2)
This study brought together a number of leading European research groups using various research methodologies and perspectives including Computable General Equilibrium models to try to create a more holistic approach to transport appraisal. Partners included TNO (Tavasszy), Groningen (Oosterhaven), Dortmund (Wegener) and Kiel (Brocker) with all of whom we have maintained links.

Peter makes occasional contributions, for example to the Transport Investment Appraisal short course which ITS runs from time to time.

Research groups and institutes

• Economics and Appraisal