TRANSPORT NETWORK PLANNING: THEORETICAL NOTIONS

2.30

CHAPTER TWO

due regard to a discount rate and a time horizon. It is not intended to go into the technical
details here of a costbenefit analysis, but we will describe in brief what effects will have
to be taken into account and how these effects can be calculated.
The costbenefit analysis can be performed for a separate (newly designed) network, and
it is also possible to compare certain network variants with each other.
Load on the Network. To carry out a costbenefit analysis one needs to know the load on
the links and intersections from which the network is built up. For this purpose an origin
destination (OD) matrix will have to be assigned to the network using a static or dynamic
equilibrium assignment. The dynamic model is preferred because use of this model allows
the congestion losses in the network to be more correctly calculated. And because the effects
are also calculated for a future situation, it is better in principle to use OD matrices for the
longer term. If this approach becomes too complicated, an average growth percentage of the
load on the network links will suffice.
For a more extensive explanation of traffic assignment models and traffic congestion, refer
to chapters 7 and 12 of this Handbook.
Calculating Effects
Environment and Livability. Effects that come under this heading are:

Emissions of harmful substances (harmful to man, fauna, and flora)

Noise nuisance
Fragmenting the landscape
Traffic emits a number of harmful substances, such as CO, CO2, CxHy, NOx, Pb, and
particulate matter. The size of these emissions depends on various factors, such as fuel usage,
type of fuel, speed, driving cycle, and gradient. If we want to take account of all of these
factors, this implies a highly complex method of calculation. This level of detail is undesirable at this stage in the design process and largely not feasible given the absence of required
data. A global approach consists of a calculation of the emissions based on the kilometers
covered per road type. The fuel (energy) consumption per km can be determined per road
type (see Smokers et al. 1997):
Freeway: 2.64 MJ / km
Highway: 2.29 MJ / km
Making certain assumptions concerning the composition of the vehicle fleet, the speed of
driving, and any acceleration and deceleration that may occur will allow these calculations
to be refined.
To quantify noise nuisance one needs the following data:

Load per stretch of road

Composition of the traffic
Speed of the traffic
Distance of road axis from building facades
Building density (number of premises / residents along the side of the road)

These data help determine the equivalent noise level which can be compared with the norm
(e.g., 55 dB (A) threshold value). Subsequently the effect can be quantified by multiplying
transgression of the norm per affected person by the cost (e.g., $21 per dB (A)) (ECMT
1998).

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