A multi-criteria analysis as a rational evaluation process for building a new highway in Italy

The low accessibility of transportation to the main Italian touristic places (during the summer period) produces road congestion that is often high and negative environmental impacts (externalities). This is the case of the coastal area between Cesena and Venice, which is particularly affected by this phenomenon because of a unique local road, the Romea: it allows car trips among all these touristic places. Beginning from these considerations, the realization of a new highway was proposed, to improve transport accessibility to this area. A Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) was identified as the rational evaluation process to verify the sustainability (economic, social and environmental) of this transportation project. The aim of this paper is to describe the MCA evaluation analyses applied to this case study, underlining the main results obtained. One of the main findings of the research was the applied evaluation methodology. A rational and participated weights definition criterion process was implemented, through a “Delphi method” within a Public Engagement process. The MCA results show that the best design alternative is the construction of a highway plus the realization of a “green-way”. Furthermore, we found that the estimated non-user's benefit incidence was about 80% of the total, underlining the appropriateness in using this evaluation method, useful to better quantify non-monetary externalities (versus the cost-benefit analysis). Finally, to verify the robustness of the results we also performed a sensitivity analysis, confirming the main results.