Research and analysis

Uprating the freight value of travel time

Reviews evidence and appraisal approaches for how road freight travel time values should grow over time.

• From: Department for Transport
• Published: 30 July 2026

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Uprating the freight value of travel time

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Details

This report evaluates options for uprating the road freight values of travel time (VTT) and values of travel time reliability (VTTR) by reviewing:

• economic theory
• historical freight cost trends
• international appraisal practices
• empirical evidence

The report identifies and compares 3 alternatives:

• the current transport analysis guidance (TAG) method
• a component-based freight cost index approach
• a GDP-per-capita approach

The analysis finds that both the current TAG method and a GDP-per-capita-based approach can be justified. However, the authors express a slight preference for using GDP per capita growth with an elasticity of approximately 0.82, because of:

• greater simplicity
• consistency with passenger travel time appraisal
• evidence from international studies and meta-analysis

Significance and ARUP completed this research on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Published 30 July 2026