Chris Behr

“I view each economics analysis that I undertake as a new opportunity to develop methods and seek data that can reveal the full value of a project or policy. Knowing how esoteric economics can be to some, I enjoy helping clients understand the key drivers of a project’s value and effectively convey its implications to colleagues and the public.”

With a background in economics, environmental engineering and finance, Chris is an expert in evaluating infrastructure from multiple angles, including economic value, financial returns, environmental outcomes and equity. His innovative work has informed decisions on projects related to transportation, water, energy, waste management and buildings. In addition, Chris co-created our Sustainable Value Assessment process, which helps clients measure and communicate the triple bottom line value of a project.

His grasp of both technical and economic variables has made him a leader in our decision economics practice. He has published over a dozen papers and articles and presented at numerous industry and academic conferences.  

Chris has produced economic frameworks and analysis tools for many public infrastructure agencies, including Caltrans, where he revised a benefit-cost analysis tool to estimate the benefits of active transportation infrastructure projects and their education and promotional programs.

In 2022, Chris was selected as an HDR Fellow to establish economic methods to account for equity in project evaluations and better enable agencies to understand the value of outcomes to different groups of people affected by projects.