This paper has as its objective the presentation of some reasons why it is time to rethink the operations and project evaluation techniques that are now in use by many professionals in transport. it is time to take steps beyond the benefit-cost procedures of the 60's and 70's, to improve the sensitivities of the techniques used in real world situations and to make them more closely reflect our desired goals and objectives. The limits to the application of benefit - cost analysis are generally due to the fact that it is a single criterion method, and this initiated the use of methods involving several criteria. Multiple criteria analysis is of recent origin and now in the process of development. It does not yet seem possible to distinguish the main lines of strength of multiple criteria analysis. Worth mentioning is the work conducted recently at the University of New Brunswick which provided a critical review of the available multiple criteria evaluation techniques and developed a new methodology based on fuzzy sets theory. Finally it is the authors' opinion that in our transport sector it should be clearly recognized that the expenditures are predominately Canadian. A dollar spent in Canada on Canadian transport goods or services will have a far greater national benefit than a dollar spent abroad for competing commodities. (A)
Abstract