Appraisal Summary
Refined Package Detailed Appraisal
As highlighted in the previous section, the Refined Package was developed to maximise the level of potential benefits by combining the best performing options, whilst optimising investment within the corridor and delivering value for money.
The Refined Package performs well against the appraisal criteria and addresses the key problems and opportunities in the A96 corridor. The package of options targets investment at locations which are anticipated to maximise the benefits within the corridor, with the spread of options across all transport modes allowing an inclusive multimodal corridor approach to be considered.
The inclusion of Active Communities within the Refined Package at settlements throughout the A96 corridor would encourage modal shift for shorter everyday journeys, resulting in reduced emissions in each locality, and enhanced safety.
The Refined Package includes bypasses of Elgin and Keith, reducing traffic volumes and supporting modal shift within these towns. The bypasses would help to maximise the benefits associated with the Active Communities option at these locations, aiming to further reduce reliance on cars for trips within settlements through the provision of active travel infrastructure. The bypasses would also enhance journey time reliability for longer distance trips, removing conflicts with local movements within the towns, thus reducing real and perceived safety concerns.
The inclusion of Targeted Road Safety Improvements would help to reduce accidents at locations where the propensity for accidents to occur is greater, improving both real and perceived safety of the route. This would also improve the overall reliability of the route by reducing the level of disruption to road users and the local communities as a result of incidents. The types of measures associated with road safety improvements could also allow for additional overtaking opportunities, which should help contribute towards a reduction in driver frustration along the corridor.
Public Transport benefits would be realised through the inclusion of the rail linespeed and capacity improvements, which would be complemented by the inclusion of DRT and MaaS and improved passenger interchange facilities. These options would increase the attractiveness of the public transport within the corridor, which would in turn encourage a shift to more sustainable modes of travel, resulting in a reduction in transport related emissions. DRT and MaaS would also have benefits in their own right, improving accessibility within the corridor for those without access to a car, and vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. The inclusion of the A96 Electric Corridor would also facilitate decarbonisation of transport within the corridor and help reduce transport related emissions.
The Refined Package would provide a higher range of monetised benefits overall than the other packages that were developed, except Package 5 which has a slightly higher range of benefits in the ‘Without Policy’ scenario but at a higher cost. The majority of the TEE benefits for the Refined Package are derived from the rail improvements and the Elgin and Keith bypasses.
Overall the Refined Package performs well against all of the TPOs, STAG criteria and SIA criteria, whilst optimising investment within the corridor and delivering value for money.