Budaiya and Janabiya Highways business case

THE CHALLENGE

Bahrain government’s Vision 2030 envisages the creation of sustainable housing which is well planned and environmentally friendly. One of the major housing projects of the vision is Al Madina Al Shamaliya (AMAS) which is being developed on reclaimed land in the North-West region of the Kingdom. The provision of adequate road connectivity is vital for the success of the Vision and the AMAS Access Improvement Programme (AAIP) has identified a package of road network improvement schemes which includes the Budaiya and Janabiya Highways. A number of options had been developed by another consultant which included widening and upgrading of the Budaiya Highway and the Janabiya Highway, and associated junctions and grade separations. Bahrain government required analysis of the costs and benefits of each option to inform the decision of which to implement.

SYSTRA’S ROLE

Another consultant approached SYSTRA to provide support with the cost benefit analysis of the highway improvements. SYSTRA extracted and assured relevant outputs from the Bahrain national highway assignment model (VISUM software) as inputs to its appraisals. SYSTRA undertook full Cost Benefit Analysis including evaluating direct user benefits for freight and passengers, road traffic accident reductions, and socio-economic development benefits (agglomeration benefits, output changes, labour market outputs). We undertook a spatial assessment of direct, indirect and induced benefits. We also undertook sensitivity analysis to understand the robustness of the scheme appraisal. Our analysis drew on UK Department for Transport best practice guidance adjusted to reflect conditions and parameters relevant to Bahrain. Our outputs was a full economic case report.