Contract award · 12 May 2025

T0653 TLAB3009 Freight Wider Economic Impacts Study

National Highways awarded “Freight Wider Economic Impacts Study” to Arup for £189k on 12 May 2025.

Research & developmentWest Midlands

Value £189k
WinnerArup

Competition with a shortlist

Competitive procedure with a selection stage: suppliers were shortlisted before being invited to bid.

Key facts

Buyer
National Highways · Body governed by public law
Supplier
Arup
Value
£189,310.51
Procedure
Call-off from a framework agreement
Sector
Research & development · Development consultancy services (CPV 73220000)
Timeline
  1. Contract date12 May 2025
  2. Published14 May 2025Published 2 days after the contract date

Description

Transport infrastructure investments are appraised using the Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) framework, primarily capturing welfare impacts through user benefits derived from transport modelling. While these benefits typically reflect the welfare effects of transport investments, market distortions can result in additional Wider Economic Impacts (WEIs). Currently, TAG assumes a fixed freight demand for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in future years, with cost estimations focused on journey time, fuel, and other charges. Road Freight-related WEIs (FWEI), including Employment, Induced Investment, and Productivity (Agglomeration), are incorporated under TAG but often rely on generalized assumptions, such as a 13.4% uplift in freight benefits to represent induced investment. There is growing interest in exploring areas where TAG could further develop its approach to capturing FWEI going forward, such as: 1) Considering dynamic effects, like the reorganisation of distribution centres to ser…

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