Valuing transport investments based on travel time saving: Inconsistency with United Kingdom policy objectives

A recent UK study to establish improved values for travel time savings and reliability using Stated Preference methodology has served to draw attention to the problematic nature of this approach to valuing transport investments. There are inconsistencies in the findings of the Stated Preference research. Only a tenuous relationship exists between time savings, which are short-run, and the long-run benefits of investment that are seen as changes in land use and value. Moreover, benefits estimated based on time savings lack any indication of spatial distribution. Lack of adequate consideration of changes in land use and spatial distribution can result in investment decisions whose outcomes are inconsistent with policy objectives.