Social benefits of punctuality; an analysis of the Dutch railway Punctuality is of great importance with respect to a transportation system. This is particularly relevant for a public transportation service, since the traveller gears different modalities to one another. If the punctuality decreases the traveller is faced with an increased travel time due to the delay and perhaps a missed transfer. Also anticipatory behaviour (take an early train to be sure) increases if punctuality decreases. The transport company is able to keep a more rigid schedule and increase the efficiency punctuality increases. Besides these benefits for traveller and transport company, the of the infrastructure can be increased. In the cost benefits analysis of the project 'Benutten en Bouwen' a first attempt is made to monetarise the presented social benefits of punctuality. This analysis showed that an increase of punctuality leads to substantial social benefits. These benefits can be weighed against the necessary investments to gain a clear insight into the social return of investments. (Author/publisher)
Abstract