INTRODUCTION

Transport economicsWe continue to lead the innovation and practical application of assessing the wider economic and social impacts of transport schemes. During 2010, we progressed the case for the DART Underground programme in Dublin where we were able to demonstrate significant wider economic benefits which we incorporated into our update of the scheme business case. Paul Buchanan is presently giving evidence at the Public Inquiry into the scheme. Also following on from last year, our development of the case and justification for seeking £300m in S106 contributions towards Crossrail from developers was accepted by the Planning Inspector following the evidence we presented at an Examination in Public. This led, earlier in the year, to the first contribution by developers towards Crossrail under the new policy. Moving around the capitals, John Siraut led a study in Edinburgh assessing the economic potential of further extensions to the present tram system which is under construction. Whilst in Cardiff, Kieran Arter is working on a study for the Welsh Assembly Government on the wider economic impacts of rail investment.

We have been very active in issues relating to High Speed 2 (HS2). This has included some high level economic advice for the RDAs as to prioritising options beyond Birmingham based on their wider economic impacts. For HS2 itself we have commenced work on assessing the socio-economic impacts of the London to Birmingham route, starting with the impact around the proposed HS2 stations and those locations on the ‘classic’ network which will see a material change in the frequency and speed of rail services available. For the Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester sections, similar socio-economic assessments are being undertaken which will inform route and station selection. This builds on our experience of undertaking similar work for Crossrail covering route selection and assisting in taking the scheme through Parliament via a Hybrid Bill. On behalf of BAA we provided evidence on the economic impact of HS2 serving Heathrow airport as part of the recent Mawhinney review.

This year we have also undertaken some more standard transport economic appraisals, but perhaps for less conventional projects, including the possible extension of London Underground’s Central Line to Harlow, new River Thames pedestrian and cycle crossings, and the case for the new Cable Car crossing between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.

Our work on valuing enhancements to the public realm and the economic appraisal of walking and cycling continues to break new ground. The year saw Chelsea Dosad evaluate the urban realm improvements of the high profile London Piccadilly Two Way Scheme. As 2010 drew to a close, Transport for London partnered with the Greater London Authority to launch a Valuing Urban Realm Toolkit; an online appraisal tool developed by us that allows practitioners from across the field to consistently quantify and value the impact of their schemes.

Richard Harris has been leading our work in Manchester on the procurement strategy for Manchester Metrolink’s Smart Card while at the same time managing our input into a major strategic multi-modal transport study “Access to Birmingham” for the Department for Transport. This reviewed and prioritised hundreds of options for improving transport in the Birmingham area which would help to promote economic growth in the region.

Our work on car parking - besides being covered by the BBC - ranged in size from a major strategic review for Stoke on Trent to advice on pricing and strategies for individual NHS Trusts. These are faced with the difficult task of balancing revenue generation with affordable access to inpatients’ visitors or outpatients who require on-going courses of treatment.

Colin Buchanan’s Economics team continues to provide innovative and cutting edge advice to its clients in both the private and public sectors. We are delighted to provide our latest review of the year which highlights a small sample of the variety of projects we work on.

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Economic developmentOur main area of work this year has been with London Councils, for whom we undertook research into business clusters concentrating on outer London. This identified existing clusters and the support, if any, they needed to facilitate further growth.

We also completed work in Crewe providing input into the long term economic vision for the town, and using our experience in valuing urban realm schemes, undertook an evaluation of a physical High Street regeneration project in Maidstone, Kent in terms of potential visitor expenditure and job creation.

As the public sector looks to reduce costs and maximise use of its capital assets, we assisted Northamptonshire County Council to review the socio-economic assessment of centralising its council services into a new build central Northampton development, thereby freeing up some 15 buildings and locations for other commercial uses.

We were also involved in producing the second edition of the key Homes and Communities Agency Employment Densities Guide for commercial development, which is widely used by economists, planners and regeneration advisers.

ResearchCB Economics draws upon a wide range of research skills that continue to be put to good use. This year saw the publication of work for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs into rural housing issues which involved considerable community and stakeholder consultation in villages across the country. This qualitative research was supported by hedonic pricing analysis which used detailed Valuation Office data on prices per room and location data from the Rural Services Data Series to determine the drivers of rural property prices.

We are presently working on a research project for the Mineral Industry Research Organisation to identify long run sources of aggregates that can be economically and sustainably exploited and moved to key areas of demand by rail.

We also continue to pioneer research into quantifying and valuing the impacts of urban realm schemes for Transport for London. Our latest work examines the health, social and community benefits of improving the urban environment.

The team remains active on the conference circuit and in the media with our work being covered in publications ranging from the Irish Times to the Malta Business Weekly; from the BBC to The Times, and The Economist as well as by the trade, technical and local press. Many of our reports have been published and can be accessed viawww.colinbuchanan.com/economics.

If you would like to know more about CB Economics and how we might be able to assist you in 2011 please do not hesitate to contact:

Paul Buchanan T 020 7053 1307

John Siraut T 020 7053 1503

E economics@cbuchanan.co.uk

Or click http://colinbuchanan.com/uploads/cms/files/d0fb103a-1a71-454d-8c4d-459265451ab2.pdf

You can also follow Colin Buchanan on twitter http://twitter.com/cbuchanancubed

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