Engineering Economic Analysis Practices for Highway Investment (2012) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 73-88
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74 chapter four ImplementatIon Value of engIneerIng economIc analysIs EEA has been successfully applied to highway investment decisions throughout the project and program life cycle, as summarized in Tables 3 through 6 and developed in the chapter three case examples. Viewed collectively, these examples demonstrate that when properly applied economic analyses yield several advantages: 1.
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75 economic merit, has implications regarding transportation investment decisions and accountability: • Among the set of technical performance measures used for a project, one or more could be able to be related analytically to costs (or costs avoided) that are incurred by the agency or highway users.
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76 day Versus night construction WSDOT recently completed a pavement type selection for a state route widening project from 2 lanes to 4 lanes plus improved traffic channelization. Two pavement alternatives of equivalent design were considered: hot-mix asphalt (HMA)
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77 lessons from the examples WSDOT pavement managers regard their LCCA-based typeselection process as comprising "investment scenarios." Engineering considerations of options, coupled with the use of LCCA as a tool, lead to the best scenario from a technical and an economic perspective. By organizing costs and benefits (i.e., avoided costs)
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78 • Tables 3 through 6 represent a number of stages in the project/program life cycle, varying in their respective scope of activity and level of effort across agency units. The levels of effort to conduct economic analyses at each of these stages have not been widely researched (the Value Analysis studies by Caltrans are an exception)
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79 reports include satisfaction of lowest life-cycle cost objectives, which are driven by state law. – For agencies exhibiting (or seeking)
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80 legislation in RCW 47.05.) The following is based on the author's experience, with additional information provided in an FHWA case study ("Comprehensive Transportation Asset Management .
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81 economic methods. NCHRP reports and economics papers in TRB's Transportation Research Record are also good current sources.
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82 literature. The discussion is usually framed in terms of the measures produced by each practice; for example, benefit– cost ratio or net present value as economic measures of infrastructure investment alternatives, and technical condition and performance measures reflecting different engineering aspects of the infrastructure system that would result from investment alternatives.
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83 produces positive results. Source: A Performance Management Framework .
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84 a defined baseline, it does not yield information on the cost-effectiveness of investment options that do so. Economic analyses are still needed for this purpose (Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
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85 of a project, its bounds, and relevant questions that need answering. – Measure the outcomes of a project.
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86 example illustrated the use of data from a completed project to build a method for use on future projects. As more general guidance, it is recommended that agency staff validate the data used in performance management analyses, which would apply to economic analyses as well (A Performance Management Framework .
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87 lanes, and emissions reductions. For simplicity, these classifications of projects are referred to here as "categories." As a schematic, Figure 4 illustrates ten categories of project investment, A through J
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88 the following program categories: ITS, other operations (one of three urban mobility categories, the others being urban capacity and ITS) , and economic impacts.
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89 are ongoing, as demonstrated by an international forum on travel-time reliability and CBA held in 2009 ("Value of Travel Time Reliability .
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