A Combinatorial Assessment Methodology for Complex Transport Policy Analysis

Abstract

This paper proposes an integrated evaluation methodology which serves to alleviate the limitations of a single evaluation approach by offering a synthesis framework combining different assessment and policy analysis methods. It is demonstrated that, in a multicriteria context, a so-called combinatorial framework can cope with the serious limitations of the above mentioned approach, in particular the potential redundancy in the information table and the subjectivity of the ‘expert’ in the weight choice procedure. We illustrate our point by using rough set analysis as a tool for classifying and identifying the most critical decision attributes, while next a multi-criteria approach is deployed in combination with other methods.We apply this new combinatorial assessment methodology to an illustrative case study on transportation planning, where the core assessment methodology is formed by a combined qualitative/quantitative Regime analysis, extended with complementary approaches. The results of the analysis indicate that the combinatorial method indeed has the flexibility and capacity to assess complex multidimensional policy issues.