A procedure is presented that was developed to evaluate the social and economic effectiveness of proposed park-and-ride facilities in the Ile-de-France region of France. The effects of a park-and-ride project should be considered with reference to the travel situation without the scheme. All the variations expected and directly linked to the project must be analysed and given a financial value, to be integrated into the cost-benefit assessment. Four relevant investments are identified, and the possible benefits for new users of the park-and-ride facility and for car users are considered. Net present value, internal rate of return and immediate rate of return are proposed as evaluation criteria. The method is applied to the case study of an underground or covered park-and-ride facility, about 20km from the centre of Paris. Consumer studies suggest that the following types of customer would use the facility in about equal proportions: (1) those who previously made their whole journey by car; (2) those who transferred from a bus to the RER underground railway; and (3) those who already reached the RER station by car. Using various assumptions and values for time savings and other relevant factors, the facility's internal rate of return was calculated as just under 30%.
Abstract