Luminus combines more than 15 years of experience with an approach tailored to the decision at hand. Established methods provide a foundation, but when conventional analysis leaves something important out, the approach should adapt.
Luminus Consulting helps clients understand the value, trade-offs, and implications of complex investments. Good analysis brings the evidence together in a way that makes those choices and their consequences clear.
Established methods provide an important foundation, but complex decisions do not always fit neatly within standard models. When something important is missing, the analytical approach should adapt to capture it, bringing the relevant evidence and its implications more clearly into view.
Phil is an urban planner and transportation economist with more than 15 years of experience in economic appraisal, business cases, transportation planning, analytical methodology, and decision support.
Before founding Luminus, Phil built his career at Metrolinx, providing technical leadership in economic and financial assessment before going on to lead the team responsible for this work. His experience spans major transit and rail investments, rapid assessments, business-case development, ridership estimation, economic and financial forecasting, lifecycle costing, risk analysis, and the development of analytical guidance and tools.
His work has been used to support senior executive, Board, and government decision-making, and he has presented on transportation economics and business-case analysis at professional forums including APTA TRANSform.
Economic appraisal and business-case work supporting major transportation investments including the Ontario Line, GO Expansion, GO Grade Separation Program, Eglinton West LRT, Scarborough Subway Extension, Finch West LRT, Yonge North Subway Extension, and Dundas BRT.
Development and refinement of business-case guidance and appraisal methods covering areas such as value of time, equity-adjusted values of time, optimism bias, sensitivity analysis, risk, wider economic benefits, construction impacts, safety, and auto operating costs.
Development of economic evaluation models, rapid assessment approaches, operating cost and annualization tools, direct demand methods, train speed analysis, and other purpose-built analytical tools.
Strong analysis is not just about getting the mathematics right. It also has to be useful, explainable, and proportionate to the decision.
Use established practice where it fits, and adapt or develop methods where it does not.
Bring an understanding of what makes analysis defensible, practical, and useful in real-world decision-making.
Find the signal in complicated analysis, test what matters, and communicate the result clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
Tell us what you're working on and let's see how Luminus can help.