Towards a Fair and More Transparent Rule-Based Valuation of Travel Time Savings

Kingsley Adjenughwure and Basil Papadopoulos
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Kingsley Adjenughwure: Department of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Basil Papadopoulos: Department of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: The value of travel time savings (VOTTS) is one of the most important variables for calculating the benefits of transportation projects. However, the way it is currently calculated (usually via discrete choice models) is complex, tedious and subject to a reasonable level of uncertainty. Furthermore, the method is not easily understood by government officials who use the VOTTS for appraisal and the citizens are not fully aware how such values are calculated. This lack of understanding and transparency in methodology may lead to misuse of the VOTTS during transport project appraisals which in turn can result in unfair transport decisions for citizens, government and the environment. To solve these problems, a fuzzy logic rule-based approach is proposed. With this approach, the rules can be made based on economic and behavioral theories by experts, government officials and citizens (via surveys). This approach makes it understandable to everyone how values are calculated. To test the applicability of the approach, a simple numerical example is presented by estimating the VOTTS of various countries using their gross domestic product-purchasing power parity (GDP-PPP) and the traffic congestion level. Results are then compared to values obtained from a recent metanalysis on VOTTS in Europe and some official VOTTS.

Keywords: value of travel time savings; fuzzy logic; rule-based systems; transport project evaluation; cost benefit analysis; traffic congestion; transport planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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