Evidence Common Practice Reader

Application Area

Appraisal and assessment

Tool Type

Guidance document / Manual

Target Audience

Small cities
Medium-sized cities
Large cities
Metropolitan regions

Summary

The EVIDENCE Common Practice Reader intends to convey a better understanding of:

the challenge in determining a project’s viability;
the role of project appraisal (most commonly cost-benefit analyses, also known as CBAs) in decision-making at urban level;
and the role Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) play in project prioritisation.

Although not the only method available, CBA is often used by policy makers to justify substantial transport project investment in cities. However, it is often only used for major infrastructure projects and even then, it is a process that does not always provide a complete picture of true benefits, providing the monetary but not always the social and environmental impact or benefits.

SUMPs provide the opportunity for an initial assessment of the potential cost and benefits in the measure selection process, and thereby provide an opportunity to test the performance of alternative measures at an early stage of decision making. SUMPs bundle together complementary and mutually reinforcing measures into an integrated package and thereby stimulate return on investment.

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