Review of the Swedish Transport Administration’s Cost-Control Efforts — Interim Report

Rising costs in transport infrastructure planning are a well-documented and complex problem, as noted in Transport Analysis’s first interim report from its commission to review the Swedish Transport Administration’s efforts to better control costs. Weakly coordinated information-management systems and systems that are not being fully utilized are limiting the available means to track changes in costs and their underlying causes.
The work done in connection with Transport Analysis’s commission confirms the picture presented in other reports—which the Swedish Transport Administration itself clearly describes in the current national transport infrastructure plan and proposed direction framework for the upcoming revision of the plan. Moreover, the work done so far indicates that these problems are not unique to Sweden.
“It is possible to improve cost control, but there is no single simple solution. Progress is needed in many areas and is important if we are to get as much value for money as possible, particularly in light of the major need for infrastructure maintenance,” says Transport Analysis Project Manager Patrik Tornberg.
Cost-related data are currently managed by the Swedish Transport Administration in a number of different systems, all of which were created for different purposes and have not been developed into a coordinated entity. Numerous earlier reports—including those from the Swedish National Audit Office and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)—point to difficulties in obtaining information about the contents and costs of the measures undertaken; the review by Transport Analysis paints a similar picture.
A need for greater transparency
Cost trends within the organization are highly opaque to outside reviewers, and it is difficult to understand how maintenance activities are being planned and carried out. With respect to investment activities, there is no coherent description of long-term cost trends for individual objects, and there are limited means available to research the ways in which costs have changed.
A need for better calculation methods
Because the problems associated with cost increases are both well-documented and systematic, there seem to be problems with the calculation methods being used and with how those methods are used in the planning process. Thus, our assessment indicates that the Swedish Transport Administration has a pervasive need to develop its ability to make cost forecasts and assess the future risks of cost changes.
Significant developmental work is underway within the Swedish Transport Administration, particularly regarding its calculation methods, but also in a number of other areas identified by Transport Analysis in the review. For example, new information-management systems and routines have recently been introduced, and others are about to be introduced.
Continued review
Transport Analysis is continuing to review the Swedish Transport Administration’s cost-control efforts within the framework of its commission, which extends to 2028. The emphasis in the Review of the Swedish Transport Administration's Cost Control Efforts—Interim Report, the first report associated with the commission, is on describing the set of problems.