1. Briefing on Comprehensive Value Analysis Framework for Transit Investments HDR|Decision Economics National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board June 6, 2008

2. Comprehensive value analysis Recognizes all benefits of transit:  Mobility  Congestion Management  Economic Development

3. Mobility  Time savings to transit users  Cash savings to low income households for allocation to housing, nutrition, child care …  Cross-sector benefits: reduced financial burden on social services

4. Congestion Management  Reduced delay  Improved reliability, predictability and productivity  Reduced environmental emissions  Lower vehicle operating costs  Safety (lives, injuries, property)

5. Economic Development Location Efficiency  High density economic activity (retail, commercial …)  Agglomeration economies  Less demand for motorized trips  Reduced auto-ownership requirements, dependence  Higher density life-style Measurement  Development benefits manifest and measured as increased economic land value Double Counting?  Capitalization of time savings? Only partially

6. CASE: Light Rail (Austin, Texas) Category of Benefits Green LineOrange Line Total Benefits (Million U.S. dollars) Congestion Management Mobility Community Economic Development $1,369.9 $ 852.5 $ 224.0 $ 293.5 $233.6 $106.5 $ 32.5 $ 94.6 Transit investment generates value in all three categories

7. CASE: Transit v. Highway Investment (Cincinnati, Ohio) Bus Improvement, Region-wide Light Rail Region-wide New Highway Capacity Total Cost$522$6,218$1,209.1 Total Benefits$1,141$10,784$1,365.2 Net Benefits$619$4,566$156.1 Internal Rate of Return 27.1%8.7%4.9% Transit investment can outperform highway alternatives

8. CASE: Streetcar Investment (Cincinnati, Ohio) Millions of Constant Dollars (Present Value) Congestion Management $16.4 Mobility $35.2 Economic Development $378.9 Total Costs $115.8 Focus on ridership benefits alone can lead to the mistaken conclusion that a project is not economically worthwhile

9. Considerations of Regional Transportation Planners Transit Options Highway Transportation Options

10. Conclusions Comprehensive Value Analysis:  Is feasible and proven  Enables quantitative understanding of significance of transit investment for economic well-being  Facilitates understanding of development-based financing capacity of transit investment  Allows comparative ROI ranking of alternative transit scenarios for the region  Allows comparative ROI ranking of alternative transportation scenarios to find the best-value