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Cost-benefit analyses (CBA) are used to assess economic efficiency, comparing costs and benefits in monetary terms. CBA are employed to assess environmental, social, regulatory, health, and transport-related costs. Within UBD, different frameworks have relevance. Social CBA focuses on social impacts and welfare changes, including equity and distributional aspects that can be based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses (such as multi-criteria decision analysis) to assess outcomes. Regulatory CBA is primarily used by government agencies to evaluate the costs and benefits of policies on consumers, businesses, and other stakeholders. Health-focused CBA assesses the health outcomes of interventions, often using measures like Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) or Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).

Transport CBA evaluates changes in transport infrastructure, considering parameters such as time savings, climate change, or air pollution. The workshop initiates discussions at the intersection of the various CBA methodologies. Transport CBA approaches currently seem to cover the greatest number of parameters, even though there are persistent uncertainties regarding unit costs (traffic fatalities and injuries; travel time value) as well as indirect outcomes of transport system change that remain insufficiently understood and incorporated. More far-reaching is the question of whether CBA is still a timely approach to evaluation, as there is limited evidence that it is used in comprehensive ways and that political decisions rarely consider “inconvenient” outcomes.

The workshop seeks to discuss the complexities, and to make recommendations for comprehensive, transdisciplinary CBA – or alternatives – that can guide policymakers. It also seeks to make suggestions for the standardization of approaches to increase comparability and streamline result integration into planning and decision-making at the city level.

The event is public. It is an online event. Please connect through this link.

Please find all the details and agenda here.

DATE: 9th of April 2024 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (CET).
VENUE: Online