Cost-benefit analyses for cycling projects

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment has investigated the possibility of applying the so-called OEI (Overzicht Effecten Infrastructuur) methodology to cycling measures.

This type of cost-benefit analyses have been for a long time part of normal procedure for large infrastructure projects. However for bicycle infrastructure this methodology has been applied little or not at all, partly because the investments are relatively small.

Fietsberaad (Dutch Center of expertise on bicycle policy) reports on the study on their website: "By way of a trial, a comparison was made between the social costs and benefits of travelling a kilometre by bicycle with costs and benefits of travelling a kilometre by car and by bus. It turns out that the switch from bus to bike yields a benefit of about 50 Euro cents per kilometre. The switch from car to bike in rural areas yields a benefit of 4 to 7 cents per kilometre and 11 to 41 cents within city limits."

"The conclusion of this exploratory study", says Fietsberaad "is that cost-benefit analyses of cycling infrastructure projects, as well as of other cycling measures, are a useful instrument to assist decision-making."

Read the full article on Fietsberaad