Case Study Assignment One
MPA 5810 Public-Private Partnerships
Students will individually prepare a typed response to the following questions about the case study Raju,
Sudhakar. (2008). “Project NPV, Positive Externalities, Social Cost-Benefit Analysis—The Kansas City
Light Rail Project.” Journal of Public Transportation. Students may use tables, appendices, calculations,
or references as needed. Students may not consult with one another or seek external help on this
assignment. You should rely on readings from the class as needed.
Please answer the following questions about the Kansas City Light Rail case:
1. What are the federal funding assumptions for the project? How does this assumption relate to other
transit projects?
2. Bent Flyvbjerg encourages a technique known as reference class forecasting to examine infrastructure
projects. Do you see evidence of this approach or similar approach being used in the study? Discuss
the author’s approach.
3. The author utilizes NPV and IRR to examine the cash flows for this project. Based on the Yescombe
reading, what concerns exist with using this approach for this particular project? How does the author
acknowledge these concerns? Do you agree?
4. From a behavioral perspective, do you believe the author’s purported benefits of lower auto travel as
a result of the light rail are realistic? What about the social benefit he conveys as a result of the light
rail?
