4.4. SR 03-17-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Table 3 shows a side-by-side comparison of the dollar magnitudes of the costs and benefits in the Parsons-Brinckerhoff study of the Elk River line and the ALA and MnDOT studies of the Northstar Commuter Rail. While this table makes it clear how the benefit/cost rations were calculated, it is hard to trace the difference in the three studies because the dollar magnitudes are denominated in dollars of different years, and hence, are not easily comparable. Though it is also not obvious from the table, there is another incomparability in that the three studies used different discount rates. The discount rate assumptions will be discussed later. In order to make the line item comparisons understandable, Table 4 includes the quantities from all three studies converted to present values in 20075 using the appropriate current real discount rate, 2.5 % as recommended by the U. S. Office of Management and Budget in February, 2003. Table 4 Northstar Commuter Rail Benefits and Costs Comparison of Three Studies (Present values in million of 20075) Benefits Time savings to commuters Vehicle operating cost savings Vehicle Accident Cost Savings Pollution cost savings Parking cost savings Future value of depreciated capital stock Total Benefits Costs Capital Costs Operating and Maintenance Costs Total Costs PB MnDOT Anton, Lubov (in 20075) (in 20075) (in 20075) Elk River Northstar Northstar $ 10.5 $ 33.1 $ 43.9 $195.9 $ 4.4 $ 64.O $ 4.7 $33.4 $ 2.0 $ 24.3 $ 0.0 $134.4 $ 92.3 $ 195.9 $ 64.O $ 33.4 $ 58.9 $ 134.4 $ 65.4 $ 485.1 $ 578.9 $ 177.1 $ 277.9 $ 76.6 $ 199.5 $ 253.7 $ 477.4 $ 301.9 $ 199.5 $ 501.4 Source: Anton, Lubov calculations 7