Planning, Evaluation and Financing of Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking the Basics

摘要

This paper revises some of the common views on transport infrastructurerninvestment and proposes alternative ways to achieve a more efficient planning,rnevaluation and financing of transport infrastructures in a world wherernplanners may pursue their own interests, there exist different levels of government,rnand budget constraints are pervasive. We focus on the need for public planningrnand independent economic evaluation, and the importance of deciding thernpricing scheme in the planning phase. We also discuss the institutional designrnand its effect on investment decisions, particularly, the financing of projectsrnunder different levels of government and its perverse consequences on infrastructurerncapacity choices. We use as an example the development of the HSR to servernmedium-distance trips in corridors where air transport is a very close substitute.