Using activity-based models and the capability approach to evaluate equity considerations in transportation projects
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Using activity‑based models and the capability approach to evaluate equity considerations in transportation projects Bat‑hen Nahmias‑Biran1,2 · Yoram Shiftan2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The capability approach (CA) is a theoretical framework that emphasizes the moral significance of individuals’ capability to achieve outcomes that they value and have reason to value. It focuses on the actual opportunities that people have given their personal and social circumstances. This approach is grounded in the attempt to address fundamental deficiencies of the utilitarian approaches to welfare economics and to raise equity issues. In this work, we explore CA in the context of the transportation field. We develop a new measure, “Value of Capability gains” (VOC), designed to account for both efficiency and equity considerations as the key benefits taken into account in a Cost Benefit Analysis. We utilize activity-based models to assess travelers’ capabilities under different transportation improvement scenarios. By using the activity-based accessibility measure to reflect individuals’ abilities to reach alternatives that are potentially achievable, in accordance with the CA approach, the principle of diminishing marginal utility can be activated and applied to accessibility as a quantity of good or service—so that the more alternatives available to the traveler, the smaller the marginal benefit from an additional alternative. We use the VOC measure to examine different transportation scenarios in a simple synthetic case study, demonstrating that this new measure better accounts for equity. Keywords Equity · Evaluation · Accessibility · Activity-based models · Capability approach · Cost-benefit analysis
Introduction The capability approach (CA) emphasizes the importance of the opportunity to do things that people have reason to value (Sen 1985). It is largely based on Sen’s critiques of traditional utilitarian approaches and opulence-focused approaches to welfare economics. * Bat‑hen Nahmias‑Biran [email protected]; [email protected] Yoram Shiftan [email protected] 1
Department of Civil Engineering, Ariel University, 40700 Ariel, Israel
2
Department of Transportation and Geo‑Information Engineering, Technion City, 32000 Haifa, Israel
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Transportation
Nevertheless, some scholars have viewed it as a generalization of the traditional approach to welfare economics (Anand et al. 2009). This approach has been recognized as a leading framework for considering and conceptualizing questions regarding social welfare, inequality, poverty, economic theory, and philosophy (Anand et al. 2011). However, the adaptation of CA for equity assessments and empirical applications in transportation has rarely been discussed. Unlike traditional utility theories, CA focuses on capabilities—or capability sets—representing individuals’ opportunities to achieve activities that a person can undertake. Based on our former study, which suggests that the CA is more
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