Archives

    Funding roads report cover

    ACE – Funding roads – Reducing inefficiency and securing investment in roads for future generations

    This report takes a macroeconomic approach to explore the potential inefficiency and loss of economic productivity as a result of the current condition of the road network.

    This report considers a number of inefficiencies as part of this loss, with a total annual inefficiency of £12.2bn across England’s entire road network.

    One of the concerns emphasised in this report is that this annual inefficiency adds up quickly over time, and given recent Government estimates that the number of hours each household will spend in traffic by 2040 will rise to 70 hours, with inefficiency on a path to reaching £27bn annually.

    The government should be aiming to reduce inefficiency in the network, not mitigate a rise. As such this paper suggests two models which move the government and policy making towards stable investment mechanisms to ensure that the road network receives the maintenance and investment it requires.

    These models are underpinned by the principle of a long term asset management approach to both the local and strategic network and they consider the risks that the private and public sector are able to bear under each scenario.

    Company website:
    http://www.acenet.co.uk/

    Share this
            

    ACE – Infrastructure: a case for funding 2010

    This report from ACE aims to review and analyse a range of material that is openly available (such as economic papers, cost benefit analysis and case study evidence) in an attempt to ascertain what effect infrastructure investment has on the economy. This paper will not however go into the mechanisms that would fund such projects but attempt to demonstrate the scale of potential the contributions the construction and infrastructure sector could make.

    The economic rationale behind investment decisions has not been as important as it is during this economic cycle given the recent recession, tightening credit conditions and proposed public sector cuts. Projects need to demonstrate that they will improve the future growth prospects of the UK.

    The return upon infrastructure investment was found to vary significantly not only between projects, but also across countries. Theory suggests that achieving a positive economic effect from investment relies on the current level of provision in respect to that of the optimal (equilibrium level), maintaining the long run competitiveness of the economy, investor certainty, access to capital, accounting for externalities and market failure, and creating a conducive regulatory environment.

    Company website:
    http://www.acenet.co.uk/

    Share this