Rethinking appraisal and prioritisation of transport infrastructure investment, London

To consider and discuss the challenges associated with Transport Infrastructure Investment and Appraisal, ICE will be hosting an event to discuss how approaches are being or need to be adapted for business and investment planning and prioritisation in the current environment.

Our transport networks and services are vital to the way we lead our lives and the success of our economy, which in the UK, have been developed over many years to successfully connect people and places.

The transport appraisal process is used for the complete spectrum of schemes, from smaller-scale sustainable travel initiatives and minor urban transport improvements through to large national scale infrastructure projects. It is used to identify problems and opportunities and to select the best investment option, providing the necessary analysis at each stage in the decision-making process.

The UK, through HM Treasury’s Green Book, is widely viewed as having among the most mature frameworks for assessing, appraising and prioritising infrastructure investment. However, concerns over unequal investment levels throughout the country resulted in the Treasury announcing a review of the Green Book at Budget in March 2020. The Review’s findings and recommendations were published in November 2020 alongside the updated Green Book. While the Review did not find any evidence that appraisal methodologies were themselves distorting decisions, it recognised that the appraisal process “risks undermining the government’s ambition to “level up” poorer regions and to achieve other strategic objectives.

So, with £600 billion earmarked for spend on infrastructure by the end of the decade, how can and is the infrastructure sector best positioning itself to leverage investment to create additional social and environmental value and help rebuild local economies affected by Covid-19