MULTI-CRITERIA SYSTEMS-BASED BENEFITS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR TRANSPORT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Benefits assessment of investments in research projects is increasingly becoming important to funding agencies and stakeholders in order to demonstrate the effectiveness and benefits of funded projects and to provide guidance for future project appraisal and selection. This paper describes the development of a multi-criteria benefits assessment framework that is based on systems approach and developed using empirical data from rural road improvement projects funded by the UKAid. The framework is a scoring system where the outputs are presented as a report card or scorecard with scores and ratings assigned to the various subsystems. The scores represent the levels of benefits derived from conducting the research and implementation of products generated thereof. The framework is flexible enough to estimate the benefits for each subsystem independent of the other subsystems. The system can also be used as a decision support tool, providing quantitative information to validate funding and management decisions.