Performance Measurement of Transportation Systems: Summary of the Fourth International Conference (2013)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

75 BREAKOUT SESSION 5-B Incorporating Economic Impact Yardsticks into Transportation Investment Decision Making and Performance Management Joseph Crossett, High Street Consulting Group (Moderator) Julie Lorenz, Burns and McDonnell Jeffrey Short, American Transportation Research Institute yardstiCks for transPortation investments and PerformanCe Julie Lorenz discussed the Kansas legislation for Trans- portation Works for Kansas (T-WORKS) and the devel- opment and use of a new project selection process at the Kansas Department of Transportation (DOT). She described the partnership and the development of its eco- nomic analysis tool. Lorenz’s presentation covered the following points: • The Kansas Legislature approved the T-WORKS bill in May 2010. T-WORKS is an $8.2 billion, 10-year multimodal transportation program funded by a 4/10- cent sales tax and additional bonding authority (Figure 10). Although no projects are included in the legislation, preservation is the top priority of the Kansas DOT. The department built support for T-WORKS by highlight- ing the relationship between transportation investment and economic priorities and by making project selection more flexible. • Past transportation investments were examined and the benefits were provided to policy makers and the public. One example was the K-96 bypass project in Wichita, Kansas, which cost $103 million, added 24,000 jobs, and added $1.6 billion in economic value. A second example was the Nall Avenue interchange in Overland Park, Kansas. This project cost $48 million, added 17,500 jobs, and added $4.1 billion in economic value. • The department also wanted to examine the future performance of transportation investments. Other objectives included operationalizing priorities; build- ing credibility with the public, policy makers, and other stakeholders; and creating and maintaining transparency. The Kansas DOT’s 2003 Partnership Project focused on changing the internal culture at the department. • The Kansas Long-Range Transportation Plan, developed between 2006 and 2008, focused on link- ing investments with stakeholder priorities. An eco- nomic impact working group was established in 2008 to develop an economic impact analysis for transportation projects. The group reviewed available models and tools and selected the Transportation Economic Development Impact System (TREDIS) model for use in the economic impact analysis. TREDIS is an input–output economic model that assesses congestion relief, travel time savings, market access expansion, safety impacts, and contingent development. The analysis used customizable data at the county level. Local governments provided feedback on inputs into the model. The results of the analysis were measured in jobs and gross regional product. • The Transportation-Leveraging Investments in Kansas (T-LINK) task force was appointed by the gov- ernor in 2008 and charged with developing the frame- work for a new project selection process. The task force also identified spending targets and helped operational- ize the new business models. Local consultation meet- ings were held to discuss project needs and the business model changes. A three-prong selection process, which is described below, was piloted with proposed projects ranked by the new process. On the basis of comments received at the meetings, the department was willing to add projects and revise scores.

76 performance measurement of transportation systems • The new project selection process developed by the T-LINK task force focuses on three project categories— preservation, modernization, and expansion—and three selection factors—engineering data, local consultation, and economic impact. The selection process for preser- vation projects is based solely on engineering data. The selection of modernization projects is based on two fac- tors: engineering data (80 percent) and local consulta- tion (20 percent). The section of expansion projects is based on all three factors: engineering data (50 percent), local consultation (25 percent), and economic impact (25 percent). truCk data and PerformanCe measurement Jeffrey Short discussed freight mobility and the economy. He described the importance of trucking and freight to the U.S. economy, the development and use of data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) freight performance measurement program, and freight perfor- mance measures. Short’s presentation covered the fol- lowing points: • The trucking industry is a key component of the U.S. economy. It moves 10 billion tons annually, which represents 68 percent of the total domestic freight ton- nage, and employs 7.3 million people. There are 3 mil- lion Class A trucks (i.e., 18-wheelers) in operation. • The freight performance measures program was initiated in 2002, and data were first collected in 2003. The program is sponsored by FHWA’s Office of Freight Management and Operations. The American Trans- portation Research Institute (ATRI) collects Global Positioning System data on truck movement, and these data are integrated into a centralized database. A geo- graphic information system and other software are used to graphically represent and illustrate various perfor- mance metrics. Examples of these measures include average truck speeds, reliability, and truck volumes. • ATRI provides FHWA with a monthly report on the performance of 25 Interstate freeways. The map Contingent Development New development encouraged by improvement Improve safety Reduce travel times Congestion Relief Reduce wait and idle time Expand access to new population markets K-10: South Lawrence Trafficway Annual Vehicle Trips: 262,278,270 US-69 from north of Arma to Fort Scott Annual Vehicle Trips: 3,258,394 US-54 from Liberal to US-160 (NE of Plains) Annual Vehicle Trips: 2,257,445 % of Traffic Congestion Before 0.029 0.20 0.02 After 0.021 0.00 0.00 Change in Annual Vehicles (%) 0.06% 0% 0% Change in Annual Miles Traveled (mi) 2,094,239 0 0 Change in Annual Hours of Travel –6,753,605 –36,205 –108,840 Change in Market Size (people) 10,000 0 0 Change in Fatalities (events per year) –0.55 –0.53 –0.60 Change in Personal Injury (events per year) –174 -5 0 Change in Property Damage (events per year) –435 -35 0 Contingent Development (total jobs) 1,347 21 150 These data are gathered, determined, or calculated by Kansas DOT. Safety Impacts Travel Time Savings Market Access Expansion FIGURE 10 T-WORKS: Transportation Works for Kansas (NE = northeast).

77incorporating economic impact yardsticks illustrating average truck speeds on the Interstate system is one of the well-known products from the data. The data can also be used to examine specific urban conges- tion problems. • The travel patterns of trucks beginning their trips in a specific metropolitan area or state can be tracked. Following are two examples: – One thousand trucks that were beginning their trips in Georgia were tracked over a 10-day period. Most of these trucks remained in the eastern portion of the United States, traveling along the East Coast to Florida. – Commercial vehicles stopping at truck stops were filtered out of the data to highlight trucks that were picking up or delivering goods. This analysis illustrated the high number of stops at Georgia cit- ies (Atlanta, the Port of Savannah, Augusta, and Macon) and locations along the I-75 corridor. The networks connecting these locations are key to effi- cient movement of goods and economic vitality. • Recent analyses have examined truck movements at a regional level and at a county level. An analysis in the Baltimore area highlighted the freeways with the highest levels of truck movements, including I-95. The destinations of trucks can also be identified. For exam- ple, 7 percent of the trucks in Laredo, Texas, are going to Ontario, Canada. • Truck speed on the Interstate system is an impor- tant consideration in the site selection process for a new manufacturing facility or other type of business. The trucking industry uses operational measures associated with fuel costs and driver wages. The freight data can be used to analyze the impacts of delays at bottlenecks on fuel costs and driver wages. Two hundred fifty bottle- neck locations are being monitored. This type of analysis was conducted for an interchange in Atlanta. The mean speed in the section was 25 mph, with segments at 10 mph. ATRI estimated that this slowdown cost the truck- ing industry approximately $21,000 a day, or $5.7 mil- lion annually, in lost productivity. • The data can be used to identify the need for new infrastructure as well as for resources to move freight efficiently. For example, the loss of an important con- nection, such as the reduction in the use of I-40 in Ten- nessee and North Carolina by a rockfall, has a significant impact on truck movements, the trucking industry, local businesses, and the economy. Understanding the inten- sity of truck movements between city pairs is also impor- tant for maintaining key routes.