Information System for Risks, Costs, and Benefits of Infrastructure Improvement Projects

Abstract

Several approaches to performance assessment for selecting projects for highway infrastructure improvement are synthesized. In a planning cycle, highway agency divisions face many diverse candidates for maintenance and improvements, originating from public demand, accident data, engineering judgment, and local officials. Resources are limited, and selection factors to consider include crash risk reduction, travel time savings, economic development, environmental protection, aesthetics, and capital and maintenance costs. This article describes the adoption of quantitative metrics for some factors, their estimation with varying precision for about 30 actual projects, graphical project comparison, and a related application of multiple factors to interchange design. Identified needs include to (a) select appropriate metrics for diverse projects; (b) coordinate information systems; (c) avoid preassigned factor weighting, enabling juxtaposition of quantitative and qualitative factors and invitation of newfactors in a deliberation; (d) interpret public agency planning for citizens and government officials; (e) appreciate any tort liability of generating risk-related data; and (f) address the impacts on saturated, urban networks.