Distributional effects of transport projects and equity : how can we better integrate them in the evaluation?

Overview & Synopsis

This thesis aims to investigate the extent to which current mobility policy appraisal methods, in particular cost-benefit analysis, can already address the equity dimension, and how its consideration in studies could be improved. We rely on statistical analyses, inequality indicator-based analyses, transport poverty indicator, and weighted cost benefit analysis for assessing the distributional impacts. By applying these methods to the urban toll and the low traffic neighborhood in the Paris region- simulated via MATSim – we explain how to better represent impacts distribution and the losers to whom compensation should be addressed. Our objective is to solve structural problems in transport policy and project planning to guide equitable policy decisions. These methods could be used to complement appraisal methods to clearly identify actions that can either benefit or harm individuals, and to analyze how these benefits and harms are distributed between the different groups considered.