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Cost-benefit analysis

In a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) the costs per (saved) casualty or per crash are used for a monetary valuation of the road safety effects of policy measures. CBAs offer support in, for example, determining policy plans and budgets or in prioritizing and phasing of investment options.

 

The number of CBAs of road safety measures is still rather limited in the Netherlands. More specifically, some studies have been made of the costs and benefits of measures targeted at lorries and transport companies. In a European connection several CBAs have been carried out of road safety measures, for example of extra police enforcement of speed, alcohol and seatbelts, measures against the use of alcohol, and of an eye test at the time of license renewal. The method for cost-benefit analyses that has been described in the fact sheet Cost-benefit analysis of road crash measures is used in, for example, the Road Safety explorer for the Region (VVR-GIS), an instrument that can be used to calculate the effects, costs and benefits of local and regional road safety measures. This instrument will be used for carrying out regional CBAs.

 

Before long a supplement to the OEI guideline is expected, which describes how safety must be incorporated in a cost-benefit analysis of infrastructural projects. The supplement will make recommendations about the valuation of road safety effects on the basis of data on road crash costs.

 

For more details:

Fact sheet Cost-benefit analysis of road safety measures (pdf)

Fact sheet Road crash costs (pdf)