THE APPLICATION AND LIMITATIONS OF COST-BENEFIT ASSESSMENT (CBA) FOR INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

This paper describes the theory and methodology by which socio-economic assessment, and CBA in particular, are carried out to provide an indication of social worth of ITS projects. Examples are given, and some limitations of CBA are identified. For instance, a good economic case may be insufficient to guarantee deployment. Finally, three applications of CBA are discussed; as a stand-alone quantitative technique, within a common framework of both qualitative and quantitative measures and as a criterion of a Multicriteria Analysis.