Estimation And Evaluation Of Transport Costs

Cost data for the construction and operation of facilities are essential for the evaluation of infrastructure services supplied by private or public providers. What essential data do regulators need to ensure that transport serves the user best? Which methods can measure the efficiency of service provision and effectively benchmark providers? How do regulatory regimes impact on operators' and infrastructure service providers' cost levels? How can regulators counter the asymmetry of information as well as the incentives for data providers to selectively serve business rather than user interests? These were the main questions discussed by the Round Table. Background papers were provided by Antonio Estache (World Bank) and Lourdes Trujillo (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), Piet Rietveld et al. (Free University of Amsterdam), Carlos Barros (Portugal) as well as Marc Ivaldi and Philippe Gagnepain (Université de Toulouse).