Evaluating Transport Infrastructure Investments: The Dutch Experience with a Standardized Approach

Abstract

The Dutch government introduced a requirement in 2000 to evaluate proposed major infrastructure plans using a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) following published guidelines. Since then 13 new major infrastructure projects have been evaluated. The paper reviews the Dutch standardized CBA practice since 2000. The overall conclusion is that the use of standardized CBA has improved the quality of ex‐ante evaluations of large infrastructure projects in the Netherlands. However, the relatively young CBA practice has not yet fulfilled its full potential. About half of the CBAs analysed can be considered as being suitable for helping decision‐making. The other half has weaknesses with respect to methods and assumptions. Looking at the standardized CBA’s influence on policy‐making, the most important conclusion is that unfavourable CBA results have contributed to the postponement of decisions and to the downsizing of projects.

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Jacco Hakfoort (Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs) and Gusta Renes (Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research), as well as two anonymous reviewers, for useful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.