A choice experiment approachin evaluating publictransportation projects

Abstract

The necessity of applying cost benefit analysis in evaluating the validity of a public transportation project is well recognized by policy makers in recent days. Originating in this fact, we implement CBA in a new project called Osaka Monorail Saito Line Extension by applying a choice experiment approach. It is estimated that the benefit-cost ratio is 1.87 under a basic scenario. In addition, with a consideration on different kinds of uncertainty in the future, a number of sensitivity analyses are implemented. The results of sensitivity analyses indicate that the possibility of generating net benefit is extremely high for the project studied in this article.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to appreciate the financial support from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Grand-in-Aid for Scientific Research A(2) 16203020). All the views expressed in this article and any errors are the sole responsibility of the author.

Notes

¹ More detailed discussions on the advantages and disadvantages between RP and SP approaches can be found in Louviere et al. (2000) and Shen (2006).

² For more detailed issues on the survey, see Shen et al. (2007).

³ Saito is a new metropolis being developed, thus, considerable population increases both for residents and work commuters are expected. In addition, we assume that there are no changes for Onohara residents and OUFS commuters comparing to current situation.