Transportation Benefit-Cost Analysis

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  • Benefit-Cost Analysis
    • When to Use Benefit-Cost Analysis
    • BCA vs. Economic Impact Analysis
  • Analysis Framework
    • Perspective and Scope
    • Defining Alternatives
    • Geographic Scope
    • Level of Effort
    • Project Description
    • Project Schedule
    • Analysis Purpose
    • Project Objectives and Impacts
    • Time Period of Analysis
  • Benefits
    • Travel Time
      • Categories
      • Issues to Consider
    • Vehicle Costs
      • Methodology
    • Safety
      • Valuing Accidents
      • Change in Accident Rates
      • Total Accident Value
    • Emissions
      • Methodology
      • Prioritizing Projects
    • Greenhouse Gases
    • Induced Travel
      • Estimating Induced Travel
      • Evaluating Benefits
      • Further Reading
    • Travel Time Reliability
      • Reliability and BCA
    • Noise
      • Measuring and Estimating Noise
      • Noise Abatement
      • Very Large Projects
    • Construction Disbenefits
    • Habitat and Water Quality
    • Economic Effects
    • Community Impacts
    • Parking Costs
    • Equity and Option Value Benefits
  • Costs
    • Initial Costs
    • Continuing Costs
    • Rehabilitation Costs
    • End of Project Costs
  • Types of Measures
    • Benefit-Cost Ratio
    • Net Present Value
    • Cost Effectiveness
    • Internal Rate of Return
    • Payback Period
    • Graphical Representation
  • Calculation Issues
    • Valuing Benefits
      • Contingent Valuation
      • Hedonic Pricing
    • Inflation
    • Discounting
    • Transfers and Double Counting
    • Joint and Sunk Costs
    • Uncertainty
    • Sensitivity Analysis
  • Presentation
  • Models
    • BCA.Net
    • Cal-B/C
    • HERS-ST
    • Israeli Nohal Prat
    • MicroBENCOST
    • STEAM
    • StratBENCOST
  • Case Studies
    • CVISN
    • Truck Bypass
    • Electronic Toll Collection
    • Monorail
    • Public Transport
    • Studded Tires
    • Airport Runway
  • Published Guidance and References
  • Other Websites
  • Acknowledgements
  • TRB Transportation Economics Committee
  • Sitemap

Calculation Issues

This page discusses some common issues related to calculating benefit-cost measures.  These include:

  • Valuing benefits
  • Dealing with inflation in future years
  • Discounting of future benefits and costs
  • Considering transfer payments and avoiding double counting
  • Accounting for joint and sunk costs
  • Dealing with uncertainty
  • Conducting sensitivity analysis

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