Skip to main content
Till KTH:s startsida Till KTH:s startsida

AH2301 Transport Policy and Evaluation 7.5 credits

A transport planner should be able to identify and evaluate relevant policy measures and strategies of interest. This course is geared toward providing an overview of methods used by transport planners for project appraisal and evaluation. Project appraisal can be applied to narrow projects such as traffic signal plans, as well as broad strategies such as supporting public transport, traffic management measures, or encouraging sustainability. In this course you will focus on strategy formulation and methodology for project appraisal, with a special emphasis on cost benefit analysis, equity measures, non-market valuation, and sustainability issues.

Choose semester and course offering

Choose semester and course offering to see current information and more about the course, such as course syllabus, study period, and application information.

Application

For course offering

Spring 2025 Start 14 Jan 2025 programme students

Application code

60363

Headings with content from the Course syllabus AH2301 (Spring 2025–) are denoted with an asterisk ( )

Content and learning outcomes

Course contents

  • Policy identification and strategy formulation.
  • Frameworks for appraising transport policy impact – land use, accessibility, air pollution, noise, accidents, and sustainability.
  • Principles for evaluating benefits and costs.
  • Basic principles and methodology for market and non-market valuation, such as stated choice methods, hedonic price models, contingent valuation, and travel cost method.
  • Present value, interest rate and discount rates.
  • Taxes, charges and regulation.
  • Principles and methods to handle uncertainties in appraisal and evaluation.
  • Equity and distributional impacts.
  • Sustainability and intergenerational equity.
  • Implementation and barriers to implementation.

The content of the course is presented and exercised in tutorials. Further training is provided in laboratory exercises. In a project assignment, the student will assess different policies to address an urgent policy issue.

Intended learning outcomes

After the course you should be able to:

  • identify relevant policy measures and strategies to address transport oriented problems and discuss their effectiveness in relation to societal objectives
  • discuss the underlying principles for different appraisal frameworks
  • apply multi-criteria analysis to transport projects
  • explain and apply the principles of cost-benefit analysis to make economic appraisals of transport improvement projects
  • account for advantages and limitations of cost-benefit analysis
  • account for methods for non-market valuation, and discuss their strengths and limitations
  • use travel cost and basic stated choice methods for non-market valuation
  • apply relevant methods to account for uncertainties in project evaluation
  • use relevant equity measures to account for distributional impacts of different transport policies, and discuss their strengths and limitations
  • use and discuss equity measures applied in developing countries
  • identify important barriers to implementation of transport policies in different contexts, and discuss means to address such barriers.

Literature and preparations

Specific prerequisites

For admitted students to the Master of Science in Civil Engineering and Urban Management (CSAMH) or the Master of Science in Transport and Geoinformation Technology (TTGTM), there are no additional requirements.

For other students:

  • A completed bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, urban planning, geomatics, geography, engineering physics, computer science, statistics, economics, and/or mathematics, including at least 6 university credits (hp) in each of the following or their equivalents: Linear Algebra, Calculus in One Variable, and Probability & Statistics; and
  • English language proficiency equivalent to (the Swedish upper secondary school) English course B/6.

Recommended prerequisites

For single course students, i e students not enrolled in a regular KTH programme, the following is required:

  • Completed and documented upper secondary education including documented proficiency in English and
  • a completed Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Science, Economics or Planning including at least 60 credits in Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and/or Computer Science, as defined in the admission requirements for the Master’s programme in Transport Systems.

Equipment

No information inserted

Literature

No information inserted

Examination and completion

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

Grading scale

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Examination

  • PRO1 - Project, 3.5 credits, grading scale: P, F
  • TENA - Examination, 4.0 credits, grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Other requirements for final grade

Mandatory written examination 4 credits with grading scale A-F and one compulsory project work corresponding to 3.5 credits with a grade scale of A-F.

Opportunity to complete the requirements via supplementary examination

No information inserted

Opportunity to raise an approved grade via renewed examination

No information inserted

Examiner

Ethical approach

  • All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
  • In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
  • In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Further information

Course room in Canvas

Registered students find further information about the implementation of the course in the course room in Canvas. A link to the course room can be found under the tab Studies in the Personal menu at the start of the course.

Offered by

Main field of study

Built Environment

Education cycle

Second cycle

Add-on studies

Appropriate follow-up course: AH2303 Transport and sustainable development

Transitional regulations

The former module LABA can be replaced by module TENA