Measuring Regional Cohesion Effects of Large-scale Transport Infrastructure Investments: An Accessibility Approach

TLDR

Transport infrastructure is a key policy tool for cohesion, yet cohesion effects are rarely incorporated into assessments, and most studies focus on economic indicators; accessibility measures can broaden this by linking location advantage to regional welfare. This paper proposes using changes in the spatial distribution of accessibility as a proxy to assess regional cohesion effects of transport infrastructure investments. The authors compute multiple accessibility indicators and analyze them complementarily, applying the method to Spain’s 1992–2004 road and rail infrastructure investments. Results show that road investments improved cohesion while rail investments widened disparities, and the study identifies key drivers and demonstrates that the approach can be used in transport planning to complement current assessment methods.

Abstract

Abstract Transport infrastructure is considered one of the main policy instruments to achieve the cohesion goal, although the inclusion of cohesion effects in assessment methodologies is scarce and uneven. Although most cohesion studies are constrained to the analysis of regional disparities in economic indicators, this approach can be broadened to include other regional performance indicators. One of these indicators could be accessibility measures, from the point of view that accessibility, representing a competitive advantage of locations, constitutes a "desirable good" closely related to the welfare of each region. This paper suggests using changes in the spatial distribution of accessibility as a proxy to assess regional cohesion effects of transport infrastructure investments. However, as the conclusions taken depend heavily on the formulation of the accessibility measure, we recommend computing a set of accessibility indicators and analysing their results in a complementary way. The proposed methodology is tested by assessing regional cohesion effects of the large-scale road and rail transport infrastructure investments carried out in Spain in the period 1992–2004. The results obtained show that cohesion has improved for the road mode, while regional disparities have increased for the rail mode. This paper identifies the main factors driving this final cohesion effect and explores the strengths and weaknesses of the different accessibility indicators that were considered. The approach suggested in this paper has the potential to be applied in transport planning processes, and may eventually complement existing strategic assessment methodologies.