The environmental impact statement for the omni and brickell legs of the miami metromover required a cost-effectiveness analysis. Asthe analysis was undertaken, it became evident that the cost-effectiveness procedures usually used to analyze major regional transit improvements were not appropriate for circulation-distribution systems. One of the primary functions of circulation-distribution systems is to change trip-making patterns usually resulting in longer trips and sometimes in increased travel times. No provision in current cost-effectiveness procedures measures this travel impact. The methodology also fails to consider farebox revenue and local subsidies as offsets to either local or federal "costs." These issues, encountered during the cost-effectiveness analysis phase of the study, are described and suggestions made for modifying the procedures, so that the results of circulation-distribution system analyses are meaningful. Acoparison of the values computed using different procedures for the analysis of the omni and brickell legs is also presented. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1262, Planning, management and economic analysis 1990.
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