Valuation of Time Savings

Abstract

This note has been drawn from a number of texts including "The Value of Time In Economic Evaluation of Transport Projects" (Gwilliam, 1997), "Values of Travel Time Savings in the UK - Summary and Conclusions" (Mackie et al, 2003), and "The Value of Time in least Developed Countries" (IT Transport, 2002). The conceptual basis for valuing time is discussed in Section 1. Sections 2 and 3 discuss the theoretical basis for valuing work time savings and non-work time savings respectively, while Sections 4 and 5 discuss the value of time savings to buses, and to freight. The treatment of small time savings are presented in Sections 6 and 7. Section 8 sets out the manner that disparities between regions for values of time should be treated within the cost benefit analysis, and the use of standard values of time. Section 9 summarizes the practical methodologies that should be used for the estimation of travel time savings, while Section 10 summarizes the key recommendations of this note.