Modelling Approaches of Life Cycle Cost–Benefit Analysis of Road Infrastructure: A Critical Review and Future Directions

Abstract

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is considered an effective evaluation method for fostering optimal decision making and ranking of road infrastructures over decades. This paper introduces a comprehensive systematic literature review focusing on CBA’s methodological perspective for identifying its current modelling approaches and scrutinizing their key features and encompassed tools. Fifty-six relevant studies were extracted from Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar from 2005 until 2020. Initially, the bibliometric analysis presents an overall illustration of the most significant CBA concepts. The descriptive statistics determined eight distinct modelling categories used for CBA implementation, each encompassing three different modelling approaches for capturing the data risk assessment (deterministic or probabilistic), CBA’s parameters interactive behavior (static or dynamic) and the considered economies (microeconomic or macroeconomic). In-depth content analysis led to the interpretation of the current status of extant models and the identification of three main knowledge gaps: the absence of the CBA’s inputs updating into a probabilistic environment, the deficiency of a dynamic interdependent framework and the necessity of homogenous cost datasets for road projects. Future research directions and a conceptual framework for modelling CBA into a microeconomic, probabilistic and dynamic environment are proposed providing decision-makers with new avenues for more reliable CBA modelling.