Assessing the sustainability of alternative transport infrastructures

This paper addresses the problem of sustainability assessment of territorial transformation through the use of the ANP. The case of a new transport infrastructure in a city located in Italy is considered in the study. The project discussed involves further development of the existing ring road in the city which will lead to a radically new multifunctional design of the urban area. In the case study, four alternatives have been identified and compared in order to select the most sustainable option. The model takes into consideration in more detail the different aspects of the decision-making process economic, environmental, social, transport and urban planning aspects) that have been organized according to the Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks (BOCR) categories. In the present study a focus group was organized with actors from Public Authorities in order to discuss the general aspects of the problem. Also, several experts were questioned in order to elicit the priorities of the aspects under consideration. The application of the ANP technique, which was performed using the Super Decisions software, allowed the most relevant aspects of the decision-making process to be highlighted.