Maximizing the value for money of PPP arrangements through flexibility: An application to airports

The economic crisis in most developed countries is fostering the search for new models for infrastructure planning and management. There is great uncertainty surrounding these investments and, therefore, it is necessary to capture the latent value from infrastructure projects. The principle is that the project should have the necessary flexibility to adapt to future changes, i.e., at the design stage it is necessary to incorporate flexible options that would allow the infrastructure and/or the service to be adapted to changes.This paper focuses on contextualizing this concept as well as characterizing real options and identifying different areas of application to showcase the broad range of the different fields that make use of this tool. Moreover, the case study which regards a large infrastructure – an airport – will allow quantifying the economic value of some options supported in real options theory.     

Tourism and economic development: analysis of geographic features and infrastructure provision

The idea of committing to tourism as a tool for economic development – a decision supported by a large number of countries and international organizations – is becoming widespread, since the potential of tourism has been advocated, without a doubt, to improve the socio-economic conditions of host countries. However, in recent years, a critical school of thought has emerged that questions the universal validity of tourism as a development tool, and therefore calls into question the solution implemented by these countries and institutions. In this context, this research study, after analysing the validity of each one of these two schools of thought, advocates for an intermediate situation based on the premise that there is no automatic relationship between the two dimensions, but instead a country must meet certain characteristics in order for this link to occur. In this sense, since the scientific literature has shown the importance of geography and infrastructure provision in improving the living conditions of the population, the aim of this work is to identify what are the determining factors that help or hinder the transformation of tourism growth into economic development.     

Rail track charges in Great Britain—the issue of charging for capacity

Separation of infrastructure from operations in rail transport raises the issue of what should be the structure and level of charges for infrastructure use. This paper outlines the solution adopted in Britain, and how it has developed. It concludes that the principle defect in the current system is the lack of any charge to reflect scarce capacity. A way of measuring the capacity requirements of different types of train and of identifying their opportunity cost is put forward, but it is recognised that reflecting this in the charges would be complex.     

Quo vadis,international long-distance railway services? Evidence from Central Europe

International railway passenger services have seen considerable changes in Europe over the past few decades. Using international railway connections within and reaching outside the V4 countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) in 1990–2019 as a sample, our paper explores trends and patterns in that matter in Central Europe. We have found that the characteristic focus on relatively very frequent short or medium-distance connections using the best equipped railway corridors – paralleled by a considerable reduction of the remaining services – has also been clearly in evidence in this part of the world. However, trends and patterns in Central Europe are not necessarily a mirror image of what has occurred in Western Europe. For instance, although a considerable shortening of travel times has indeed been observed, it has been achieved – characteristically – thanks to the improved permeability of state borders after the enlargement of the EU in 2004, with only moderate improvements to infrastructure being made. Central Europe therefore seems to be the prime example of an area in which contextual, political and geopolitical factors are the keys to understanding the dynamics of changes in transport systems. On the other hand, evidence from this region may give rise to some reflections on the possible roles for the European long-distance rail transport in the future. To begin with, our results show 800 km to be the threshold beyond which the competitive position of rail becomes significantly lower. Secondly, competitive pressure from innovative newcomers (Regiojet, LeoExpress, Arriva) clearly makes national incumbents more flexible and pro-active. Thirdly, the noticeable spatial re-orientation of international railway connections from the V4 countries towards Vienna and Munich (at the expense of Berlin) that we have observed is partly related to the appeal of these cities as multimodal gates with excellent locations within European transport networks. It would therefore seem that the railways in this part of Europe have been attempting to become an integral part of the international multi-modal long-distance transport system.     

Should we keep on renaming a +35-year-old baby?

Over the last +35 years at least five concepts – multimodal, intermodal, combined, co-modal and synchromodal – relating to freight transport chains have been put forward. I pinpoint the main properties of each concept and trace a plausible evolutionary path. The original concept is multimodal transport; the newest one is synchromodal transport. Every new concept borrows certain elements from the previous concepts and introduces new ones.This profusion of concepts is not in itself a hindrance. However, the concepts do exhibit substantial areas of overlap and ambiguity. This status quo facilitates misinterpretation of research efforts and hampers the coherent development of theory, regulations and policies.In this viewpoint, I argue that such an orderly situation can only be attained if there is a unified, or at least consensual, ontology. With an ontology in place, we would (re-)specify the existent concepts following the same principles. The outcome would be unambiguous meanings and clear limits. And herein lies, in my view, the main limitation we face: we still have to agree on the respective domains of specification and on the nature of each concept.I identify a total of four domains, which are: technological domain, organisational and managerial domains, production domain and externalities domain.     

Asset management: remedy for addressing the fiscal challenges facing highway infrastructure

In recent years, increasing claims have been advanced for asset management as a promising new approach to infrastructure management. If these claims are seen in the light of past management fads, such as zero-based-budgeting (ZBB), management-by-objectives (MBO), total quality management (TQM), and business process reengineering (BPR), asset management may be considered the latest in a long line of management fads being marketed by consultants to transportation agency managers. However, asset management can be an effective response to the fiscal challenges confronting the United States' highway infrastructure.This paper explores asset management in light of recent developments in the funding, condition, documentation, and management of the US highway infrastructure. The paper begins with a discussion of capital biases associated with traditional US federal highway funding programs. It then describes the advent of innovative financing approaches that have evolved in response to the inability of the Federal Highway Trust Fund to meet burgeoning highway renewal and replacement needs, caused in part by widespread deferred maintenance of the highway system. The paper suggests that public sources of funding for the highway system will not be adequate to renovate or replace current highways and build new capacity. Closing the expected shortfall in public highway funding will require sustained infusions of private sector funding. However, the financing of highways through public–private partnerships will require state and local transportation agencies to radically change the ways in which the highway infrastructure is managed.Within the context of gradual changes in highway management and financing, the paper suggests a critical role for asset management – in demonstrating prudent stewardship of highway infrastructure and facilitating private sector confidence in highway investments. The paper examines the implications for innovative highway financing resulting from recent developments in asset management:

• •further devolution of highway program and funding responsibilities to state and local levels of government;
• •developments in asset management processes and practices; and
• •the infrastructure reporting requirements recently developed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

The infrastructure reporting requirements of GASB's Statement No. 34 are intended to increase accountability for publicly owned infrastructure and promote improved management of long-lasting capital assets. GASB 34 also provides a basis for enabling public agencies to finance implementation of asset management techniques and renewal of infrastructure assets through securitization. Covenants associated with securitized highway bonds would provide the fiscal discipline needed to ensure that responsible agencies abide by the terms of the bond agreements – thereby assuring preventive asset maintenance and freeing up resources for debt service payments. Shadow tolling provides a useful mechanism for generating a positive revenue stream to support securitized highway bonds.The paper concludes that asset management is a proven and essential process for helping the US rebuild and expand its highway infrastructure.     

Geography,transport and Africa’s proximity gap

Geography causes African countries to experience a ‘proximity gap’. To overcome this gap requires regional cooperation in four main areas: transport infrastructure, trade facilitation, decentralization and local economic development, and migration – each with implications for transport. Because incentives for regional cooperation in these aspects may not be symmetrical, commitments made may not be credible. Therefore, transport infrastructure at least should be bound in World Trade Organisation rules on trade facilitation to provide third party enforcement. Incentives for cooperation could also be improved with transport corridor design and collective peer pressure by landlocked countries. Regional cooperation could be supported by the international community with aid, the assurance of full implementation and adherence to international law on the rights of landlocked countries to transport to the sea, the extension of appropriate trade preferences to African regions and ensuring consistency of international agreements and trade preferences with current regional integration initiatives.     

Evaluating the equity implications of ridehailing through a multi-modal accessibility framework

In rapidly-growing metropolitan regions, it is crucial that transportation-related policies and infrastructure are designed to ensure that everyone can participate equitably in economic, social, and civil opportunities. Ridehailing services are touted to improve mobility options, but there is scant research that incorporates this mode within an accessibility framework. This paper employs a generalized cost measure in a multi-modal accessibility framework, namely Access Profile Analysis, to assess the role of ridehailing in providing job access to historically under-resourced parts of Toronto, Canada, referred to by the city as Neighborhood Improvement Areas (NIAs). Ridehailing is analyzed both as a mode of commute and as a feeder to the transit network (a first-mile solution). The results indicate that there are two main determinants of the extent to which ridehailing provides additional accessibility over transit: the transit level of service at the origin zone and the zone's proximity to employment opportunities. The ridehailing mode is shown to increase accessibility especially to closer destinations (jobs), with the highest improvement seen in the city's inner suburbs. On the other hand, integrating ridehailing with public transit does little to improve access to jobs. Compared to the rest of the city, NIAs experience a higher accessibility improvement from ridehailing alone, but not from its integration with transit. Nonetheless, job accessibility remains lower in NIAs than in other areas – even after the introduction of ridehailing.     

Effects of upgrading to cycle highways - An analysis of demand induction,use patterns and satisfaction before and after

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of improvements made to two large, interconnected bicycle infrastructure in the western suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark, on bicycle volumes and mode share, and cyclists' behaviour, perceptions, and experiences.MethodsEffects are assessed by analysing data from automatic counting stations during 35 months to measure the changes in bicycle volumes on the investigated routes. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey repeated three times – before, and one and two years after opening the improved routes - is used. Findings are supported by a control survey at a nearby facility, which was not influenced by the infrastructure improvements.ResultsThe investments related to the two investigated cases of infrastructure improvements resulted in a significant increase in the volume of bicyclist two years after the improvements. On one of the routes, the “Albertslund Route”, on weekdays during the rush hour in daylight, an increase from 126 to 203 bicyclists/h was recorded, whereas an increase from 24 to 32 bicyclists/h was recorded at “Vestvolden” for the same period. Most of the increase could be attributed to relocation of bicyclists from other routes. Induced cycling trips – trips that were not previously made by bicycle - were estimated to account for only 4–5% of the bicyclists two years after improvements. Bicyclists using the improved route express an increase in satisfaction with the quality of the facilities, which is significantly higher than at the control site.ConclusionData from the counting stations provides useful information if measured over a long period. This is necessary to correct for factors such as climate effects and temporal variation. Investments in cycle infrastructure in the investigated case led to a higher number of bicyclists who were mainly relocated from other routes. A minor increase in the modal share of cyclists was observed two years after the infrastructure improvements. Furthermore, the investments resulted in a higher degree of satisfaction among active bicyclists. If measured over a longer period, this could lead to a higher modal share due to a potential social advertising effect.     

Rail operation–infrastructure separation: the case of Kobe rapid transit railway

Vertical separation in the rail industry is common in Europe, but evaluation of the policy has been insufficient. The main purpose of this paper is to explain one method of operation–infrastructure separation as practiced in the case of Kobe Kosoku, a unique rail infrastructure owning company in Japan, as well as to discuss practical coordination problems related to structuring separation. Our overall conclusion is that vertically separated systems do not have significant advantages over vertically integrated systems in terms of the maintenance costs of infrastructure. In fact, the results of our analysis of infrastructure maintenance costs indicate that vertically separated systems might not be significantly different from vertically integrated ones.     

Towards a decision-support tool for airport slot allocation: Application to Guarulhos (Sao Paulo,Brazil)

In the vast majority of airports where demand exceeds capacity, landing and take-off slots are allocated according to the process established by the Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG). An optimization-based decision-support tool is introduced in this paper to assist slot coordinators in the initial slot allocation – the most important stage of that process. The WSG comprises both primary and additional criteria to be taken into account by slot coordinators at this stage. Considering all additional criteria specified in the WSG, this tool generates, in an acceptable amount of time, alternative efficient slot allocations against which the coordinators can evaluate the solutions obtained through the heuristic methods they apply. The decision-support tool also offers solution analysis features, such as visualization, ranking, comparison of multiple optimal solutions, and comparison of solutions regarding important characteristics not reflected in the WSG additional criteria. The tool is being tested at one of the largest airports worldwide – Guarulhos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) – with results that clearly illustrate its usefulness in practice.     

Demand forecast,congestion charge and economic benefit of an automated highway network for the paris agglomeration

This article is based on the main results of a pre-doctoral dissertation (DEA) on transport done at the ENPC. The research is about an economic evaluation of an automated highway network in the Paris urban agglomeration in the Ile de France Region.To this end, an automatic highway network incorporated into the road network in Ile de France has been modelled by means of the AEL-Davis software. Moreover, a congestion charging system has been introduced in the modelling. The targeted date of this study is 2020 so projections of a demand for alternative car commuting were made for that period. In addition the phenomena of total generation were taken into account in the evaluation. In fact the stages of total generation distribution and assignment have been recalculated to cater for generated traffic.As a result, a marked improvement in the relation between supply and demand has emerged. Moreover, a slowdown in urban sprawl and an increase in the density of activities in smaller and greater suburban areas have been noted. The economic benefits of such an undertaking would approach 73,000 h saved per evening rush hour.The automatic highway network would lengthen commuting distances by 3.5% while reducing commuting time by 2.6%. Thanks to the highway alone covering 2% of the entire infrastructure it would comprise 4.3% of total commuting distance in only 1% of commuting time. It would moreover increase the average commuting speed by 6.3%.     

Tourism and transformation: negotiating metaphors,experiencing change

The article introduces this special issue on tourism and transformation. After offering a brief review of the place and significance of ‘transformation’ in social sciences studies of tourism – from ‘impact studies’ to ethnographies of tourists and, more recently, ‘tourist media studies’ – we propose to take one step further and focus our attention on the performativity and reflexivity of ‘transformation’. Our main argument is that much may be gained analytically by considering how notions and experiences of transformation are addressed, negotiated and purposefully deployed in tourism contexts. We conclude with an outline of each of the contributions to this special issue, stressing that the collection re-opens the issue of transformation in tourism and provides new insights into how experiences-turned-metaphors and metaphors-turned-experiences influence both the travel experience and the development of theory.     

European railway infrastructure: towards a convergence of infrastructure charging?

Thirteen years ago, the European Directive 91/440 was implemented with the aim of increasing the efficiency of railway organisations throughout Europe. The main requirement of the Directive was to split transport operating from infrastructure management (at least in accounting terms). It also started the process of opening access for new operators; this is steadily being extended. Consequently, the issue of infrastructure charges is becoming more and more important. The paper underlines the fact that despite national differences, there are some signs of ways of convergence of infrastructure charges, due to the fact that the same key issue remains about infrastructure management: how to finance the renewal and development of infrastructure? So, among a wide range of objectives, some of them are becoming more and more crucial leading the principles of infrastructure charging to converge.     

Public infrastructure and regional growth: Lessons from meta-analysis

The aim of this study is to synthesize the current literature on infrastructure and growth by determining sources of variation in empirical results by means of a meta-analysis. We use an ordered probit model for investigating changes in the probability of finding negative, positive, and insignificant impacts. The total data base consists of 912 observations from 42 studies conducted between 1995 and 2014. The meta-analytical results show that study characteristics do matter for the magnitude and sign of the variables concerned. We find that studies which employ data from the US are more likely to register a negative impact of public infrastructure on regional growth. We also find that type of infrastructure, research methodology, time span, type of infrastructure measure, and geographical scale affect the outcomes of the primary studies. Studies that take into account interregional, interstate and interprovincial relations have a higher chance of finding negative effects, which gives an idea about the spillover effects of these investments. In contrast, some characteristics like output measure and selection of a particular sector appear to have no effect on obtaining positive, negative or insignificant outcomes. The findings of this study offer new insights to policy makers on the variation in empirical results regarding the relationship between public investment infrastructure and regional growth.     

Vertical relationships for the European railway industry

A key question in the reform process of Europe's railway industry is the decision whether to opt for a market structure that vertically integrates infrastructure and operations, or for one that separates them. In making this decision, knowledge of the relationship between operating costs and the infrastructure is fundamental. For this purpose a translogarithmic cost function is estimated, including the multi-product nature of railway companies and a measurement of the value of the infrastructure. The results show that costs deriving from freight transport and from the infrastructure are complementary, while those deriving from passenger transport and from the infrastructure are substitutes. In any case, the paper shows that if important decisions regarding infrastructure are going to be made, rail operating costs will be notably affected, and these effects must be appropriately evaluated.     

Spatio-temporal evolution of cities and regional economic development in Nepal: Does transport infrastructure matter?

The literature on the New Economic Geography (NEG) suggests that transport cost is a major driving factor for the emergence of core–periphery patterns within a country. However, very few studies have tested this theoretical explanation in the context of transport infrastructure networks in developing countries. This paper takes a closer look at Nepal and tests four expectations that are drawn from the NEG, which highlight different aspects of the formation of core–periphery dynamic as determined by infrastructure quality. The expectations are tested by relating spatial-temporal patterns of road development to the growth and distribution of cities and examining the transport infrastructure contribution to shaping the patterns of regional economic development. We used intercity travel time estimates, based on the design speed of roads, length of sections and pavement type (from 1961 onwards in 10-year segments) as an indicator for the quality of infrastructure (transportation cost). Next, we computed hubness and accessibility indices of cities, defined by means of a gravity model and as a function of transportation cost, to undertake a cross-city comparison. We applied GIS mapping, multiple regression and mediation analysis techniques to relate these transport and accessibility characteristics to spatio-temporal patterns in city size and GDP per capita. Our study broadly confirms the core expectation derived from the NEG that transport improvements facilitate urbanization and that higher urbanization leads to higher regional GDP per capita. Two independent effects were identified in qualification of these overall patterns – the impact of market potential on city primacy and the impact of highly localized, immobile resources on GDP.     

Short term adjustments in rail activity: the limited role of infrastructure charges

In many countries and especially in Europe, railway reforms have fragmented the rail industries into one infrastructure manager and several rail operators, and raised new interest in railway short term adjustment, a procedure hitherto run inside the integrated historical operator. Often implicitly, it is assumed that this problem can be solved through the same tool as in road transport, namely through infrastructure charging. The argument presented here is that, due to the differences between road and rail markets, pricing cannot be a proper way to achieve an optimal allocation of rail resources. The right means for that objective should be centralized programming, taking into account various externalities, if information were perfect. Information asymmetry on private values of the services for rail operators can be dealt with through auctions, the results of which are used as input in an optimization procedure led by the regulator. These considerations lead to assess the right role of infrastructure charges in rail, and to draw some conclusions about research fields to explore and means to improve the present practices.     

铁路运输网络特征的分析与探讨

网络产业的生产可以分为基础设施和生产运营两个层面。基础设施的网络特征决定了网络的连通性和网络上的运输量对运输经营的收益和回报有直接影响。铁路运输应通过增加基础设施的数量和运输量、加强基础设施的互联互通、改善运网关系,以获得较大发展。     

Attracting travellers to the high-speed train: a methodology for comparing potential demand between stations

The High-Speed Railways (HSR) which are currently operative in 12 countries throughout the world include a wide range of stations with a highly varied capacity to attract travellers. Although there are various reasons for these differences, we have focused on the ones that can be quantified for further comparison. The main purpose of this study was twofold. First of all, we sought to identify stations with a low capacity to attract travellers and to explain the reasons for their concentration in certain countries rather than others. Secondly, we looked for a simple, but widely acceptable, method with which to calculate the capacity to attract users to HSR stations. This would help to establish a better way of allocating financial resources for public investment. This approach enabled us to identify those stations that had little or no potential at all and which had been established for essentially political reasons in countries where the concept of territorial cohesion had been applied in an inappropriate way. This led us to a number of observations relating to the railway policies undertaken in the countries studied and to underline the need for greater international coordination in areas like Europe and for better justified HSR policies. The calculations presented in this article use data relating to the urban populations which live in the vicinity of the world’s HSR stations, the distance from each of these stations to the nearest urban centres and the level of the corresponding regional GDP. All of this information has been used to build a GIS to facilitate analysis and pave the way towards a general comparative approach in which stations would be classified according to their capacity to attract travellers. Such an approach could also be used in areas in which lines are currently under construction and/or where future projects – such as the TEN-T in Europe – have already been approved but not yet executed. Our approach will make it easier to obtain data to show the potential success of, and need for, a HSR connexion as a preliminary step within the decision making process. This constitutes a significant contribution to the debate about the need to assess political decisions concerning HSR investments. It also highlights the need to encourage improved intermodality around railway stations and particularly around those located in non-metropolitan areas.