United Kingdom /England: Transport for London uses HEAT to enhance benefit–cost ratios of cycling infrastructure
Transport for London (TfL) is the transport authority responsible for planning and delivering transport schemes across London, United Kingdom. TfL now routinely uses HEAT in all its business cases for new transport developments across the city.
TfL’s use of WHO/Europe’s health economic assessment tool (HEAT) is based on a 2014 transport action plan entitled “Improving the health of Londoners”. The Plan commits to:
- quantifying and, where possible, monetizing the health impacts of projects and policies;
- using HEAT in the business case development processes; and
- supporting partner agencies in using HEAT to assess proposals and evaluate activities.
TfL’s use of HEAT was largely driven by a public health specialist, seconded to TfL, who saw HEAT’s untapped potential particularly for the TfL’s business cases.
Project managers developing a plan for investment in the city’s transport infrastructure must draft a business case. This should include detailed proposals for the new work as well as an economic analysis with a benefit–cost ratio (BCR). The BCR is the critical figure that decision-makers always scrutinize.
HEAT helps to increase BCRs in schemes that primarily take space away from automobiles. Previously, assessments of such proposals led to low BCRs. TfL’s transport planners were surprised when they used HEAT by how much the results were enhanced by the inclusion of health benefits in the BCR. Even when using conservative estimates in their calculations, they found that health made up around two thirds of the benefits. The resultant BCRs were much higher.
TfL provides HEAT training across the organization and has even published a HEAT guidance manual specific to London. The manual uses basic information from the HEAT user manual and tailors it to London. It includes appropriate photographs and specific approaches to using HEAT in business cases. It also gives specific guidance on data sources, including example data tables.
