Political decisions on road investments: Interviews with the members of the Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Transport and Communications

We interviewed the representatives of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications in the Norwegian Parliament (1989-1993) about the decision process concerning national road investments. The Committee had close contact with local politicians and interest groups before they reached their decisions. The representatives from the governing party also discussed the investment plan with the Minister before the Government presented its recommendations. Politicians in the Committee did not see cost-benefit-analyses as providing an absolute answer, but rather as one of several tools to pick projects requiring political attention. The representatives on the left-wing were more sceptical to the cost-benefit-analyses than the conservative politicians