Phil authored the Department of Finance’s 1991 Handbook of Cost-Benefit Analysis. According to the Handbook, Cost-benefit analysis is a method for organising information to aid decisions about the allocation of resources. Its power as an analytical tool rests in two main features: costs and benefits are each as far as possible expressed in financial terms and hence are directly comparable with one another; and costs and benefits are valued in terms of the claims they make on and the gains they provide to the economy as a whole, so the perspective is a ‘global’ one rather than that of any particular individual, organisation or group.[1]

Cost-benefit analysis methodology evolves with new learnings, technologies, problems and opportunities, while the core principles remain unchanged. In the early 2010s, Phil led the consultancy to scope a refresh of the National Guidelines for Transport System Management, which have become today’s Australian Transport Assessment and Planning (ATAP) guidelines.

For the former National Faster Rail Agency, Phil and Anthony Ockwell undertook-an examination of opportunities to refine and enhance the project evaluation framework as it relates to ‘transformative’ transport infrastructure initiatives and notably faster passenger rail. These included adding distance-related values of travel time savings and a dependent development wider economic benefit to the appraisal toolkit, as well as updating, in a downward direction, the recommended project discount rate and aligning the appraisal period with a project’s asset cost-weighted length of life. The report was published on the agency’s website.

Phil’s research paper, ‘Estimating net benefits of high speed rail: How fit for purpose is Australia’s economic appraisal guidance?’ for the 2025 Australasian Transport Research Forum (see Publications) revisits and extends the ideas and recommendations in the earlier project in the context of high speed rail evaluation.

Consulting applications of cost-benefit analysis methods include: a CBA of the impact of a possible change to current export permit arrangements which favour domestic processing capacity for hazardous waste destined for recovery; evaluating a NSW regional city multi-level car park proposal; and, with Anthony and the Monash University Accident Research Centre, a CBA of the impact of the Australian New Car Assessment Program in reducing the road trauma burden.

[1] See here for a revised 2006 edition of the handbook which retains these sentences and most of the original content.

Externalities, the spillover costs that impact third parties without compensation and the spillover benefits for which recipients do not have to pay, are integral to transport economic analysis. Road trauma, the public health consequences of transport pollution and adverse transport-related climate change all involve negative externalities, the understanding and analysis of which is key to our policy-oriented service offer.

Phil and Anthony Ockwell analysed the economic cost of road trauma in Australia for the 2015 year, for the Australian Automobile Association and including, innovatively, the annual budget cost to government. See at link here.

Partnering with Pekol Traffic and Transport and the Monash University Accident Research Centre, Phil and Anthony estimated the emission and safety-related benefits of scenarios for a reduced age of Australia’s passenger vehicle fleet. See report at link here.

Also with Pekol Traffic and Transport, Phil Identified, modelled and costed 25 possible initiatives to reduce the carbon emissions profile of the Queensland transport sector, including electric vehicle incentives, area congestion charging, parking levies and active transport.

Policy and strategy documents play a role in developing new directions, in bringing together the needed specialist inputs and in informing both stakeholders and the wider public.

Phil developed a draft Australian Capital Territory freight strategy, addressing network, last mile access, data, regional linkage and other issues (see at link here)

Phil prepared an industry profile of dangerous goods road transport in New South Wales, including movements, imports and exports, key routes, risk profile, market trends by industry and regulatory framework feedback, for the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

Phil assessed opportunities to harmonise environmental regulation and transport of dangerous goods regulation at a national level, as these relate to hazardous waste, identifying gaps and overlaps.

Phil contributed financial, investment and institutional analysis for GHD’s development of a strategic plan for the Cook Islands Airport Authority.

Phil led GHD’s specialist advice on forecasting of aviation activity, adequacy of airport master and investment planning and governance of regional airports for the Western Australian Government’s state aviation strategy. See especially parts 7 to 12 at link here.

Phil led a feasibility study of options to rehabilitate and develop Munda Airport in the Solomons Islands, assessing economic, tourism and air freight, for NZAID. New Zealand government-funded construction of a new runway followed the study.

Phil co-led a PwC-GHD consultancy to develop Infrastructure Australia’s Northern Australia Audit, assessing critical infrastructure gaps in the transport, energy, water and communications sectors. See at link here.

Analysing and researching multi-modal complexity, in both passenger and freight transport, is a Grove Transport Economics specialty. Each transport mode is different, in infrastructure needs, operating speeds, the distances over which it is most viable, the mix of trip purposes it serves, the freight carriage for which it is best suited and in other respects. But modes also compete with one another, so the relevant market for any particular company, project or network is seldom if ever defined by estimates of existing or future demand in just one mode. Different modes compete with and overlap, as well as complement, one another.

An ACT draft freight strategy took account of air freight development through Canberra Airport and of longer term rail freight potential.

An industry profile of dangerous goods heavy vehicle transport in New South Wales was contextualised with information on dangerous goods transport by air, sea and pipeline.

Demand forecasts for a Devonport Airport master plan took account of the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ ferry service market between Devonport and Melbourne.

Phil’s series of peer reviewed papers presented at the annual Australasian Transport Research Forum from 2019 onwards has analysed Australia’s long distance passenger transport air, coach and rail services against the background of the private vehicle travel alternative (see Publications). These papers have also considered how adding improved, fast or high speed rail to the mode mix might address service gaps, help overcome some other transport problems, as well as open up wider ‘off network’ opportunities.