Benefits of performance based standards for heavy vehicles

摘要

The benefits and costs to different stakeholders of the introduction of Performance Based Standards (PBS) inroad freight transport were estimated from a number of case studies. The case studies were derived from industry surveys and each involved changes to vehicles and/or operations similar to those likely to occur as a result of change from prescriptive regulation to PBS. Spreadsheet models of the case studies enabled quantification of the costs and benefits to operators, other road users, road agencies and the community of the introduction of PBS. The expansion of these results enabled estimation of national-level impacts. For a level of industry take-up of PBS operations building to a total of 10% over ten years, the net present value of total benefits minus costs, at the national level, was estimated to be of the order of $500 million, realised over the same ten-year period. In addition, it was found that: 1. The benefits flow principally from productivity improvements in the industry. The costs are for vehicle changes and compliance requirements. 2. The estimates are coarse and should be taken as 'order of magnitude' only. 3. The cost and benefit estimates are directly proportional to the level of take-up of PBS-approved operations by road freight companies. A level of total take-up different from the 10% assumed in the analysis would therefore change the estimated net benefits proportionally.