The problem

High-quality transport projects play a vital role in economic growth but may have a huge impact on the environment. Multimillion-euro initiatives are being devised at the EU level and affect large sections of the continent’s transport infrastructure. However, no clear guidelines – agreed upon by Member States – exist to evaluate the costs and benefits of transport investments or related polices. National evaluation frameworks are available but these cannot be used to assess specific European-level issues.

Overview:

HEATCO aims to develop a set of harmonised guidelines for assessing transport projects and their associated costs at the European level. It will:

• Review and analyse existing project assessment practices in Member States
• Examine such issues as time and congestion; accident risk reduction; health impact of pollution; and infrastructure costs
• Carry out a number of ‘stated preference’ surveys to fill gaps in monetary valuation of external effects
• Conduct case studies on a number of Trans-European Network infrastructure projects to test the guidelines

Contribution to policy development:

HEATCO will:

• Help to integrate various policy areas, such as technology assessment, transport, and regional and environmental economics
• Provide policy-makers and shapers with coherent evaluation guidelines
• Will bridge the gap between evaluation practice and theory, with the aim of improving the transfer of expertise from the research base to policy practitioners

Project deliverables

• Assessment of current European project appraisal practices – September 2004
• Results of the stated preference surveys, which are likely to have taken place in Germany, Spain, Hungary, Norway and the UK – September 2005
• Proposal for a harmonised set of guidelines – November 2005
• Trans-European Network case study results – March 2006
• Final report – June 2006

Dissemination

• National authorities involved in developing the harmonised guidelines will act as ‘multipliers’, disseminating HEATCO’s findings throughout Europe

Technical information

Project acronym: HEATCO
Project’s official full title: Developing Harmonised European Approaches for Transport Costing and Project Assessment
Research priority: Area 3.2 / Task 3: Harmonised European approaches for transport pricing and project assessment
Specific webpage: Not available
Proposal/contract no: 502481
Start date: 29/02/2004
Kick off meeting: 15/03/2004
Completion date: 30/05/2006
European Commission scientific officer:   Catharina Sikow-Magny (catharina.sikow@ec.europa.eu)

Coordinator:
Name: University of Stuttgart – Institute of Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy
Abbreviated Name: USTUTT/IER
Address: Hessbruehlstr. 49a, D-70565 Stuttgart
Country: Germany
Tel: +49 711 78061-12
Fax: +49 711 7803953

Partners

Name: Budapest University of Technology and Economics – Department of Transport Economics
Abbreviated Name: BUTE
Country: Hungary 

Name: COWI AS
Abbreviated Name: COWI
Country: Denmark

Name: E-CO Tech AS
Abbreviated Name: E-CO
Country: Norway

Name: Ecoplan
Abbreviated Name: ECOPLAN
Country: Switzerland 

Name: University of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria – Department of Applied Economics
Abbreviated Name: EIT
Country: Spain

Name: HERRY Consult GmbH
Abbreviated Name: HERRY
Country: Austria

Name: Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems
Abbreviated Name: ISIS
Country: Italy

Name: University of Leeds – Institute for Transport Studies
Abbreviated Name: UNIVLEEDS
Country: United Kingdom

Name: National Technical University of Athens – Dept 2, School of Chemical Engineering
Abbreviated Name: NTUA
Country: Greece

Name: SUDOP PRAHA a.s
Abbreviated Name: SUDOP
Country: Czech Republic

Name: TNO Inro
Abbreviated Name: TNO
Country: The Netherlands

Name: University of Bath – Dept of Economics and International Development
Abbreviated Name: U.Bath.Econ
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute
Abbreviated Name: VTI
Country: Sweden