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The purpose of the Highway Safety Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) Guide is to assist transportation agencies in making consistent and sound investment decisions. The target audience includes transportation professionals such as traffic engineers, highway safety engineers, and planners conducting highway safety BCA for projects and programs. This Guide will help these users to quantify the costs, and direct and indirect safety-related benefits of project alternatives. Direct safety benefits include the expected change in crash frequency and severity. Indirect benefits include the operational and environmental benefits that result from a reduction in crashes (e.g., reduced delay, fuel use, and emissions). Readers will understand the methods, data requirements, and considerations associated with BCA. Examples demonstrate the application of the methods in various scenarios, including both site-specific and systemic projects with single or multiple countermeasures. Conducting consistent and reliable BCA will support decision making, optimize the return on investments, and increase the effectiveness of projects and programs.
The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) lists four different methods for determining the change in crash frequency in order of reliability. Currently, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) uses the fourth reliable method. The goal of this research was to develop a tool that the most reliable method mentioned in the HSM could be used to perform life-cycle benefit-cost analyses. A spreadsheet program was built that performs the HSM’s Part C Predictive Method for 11 different roadway segment types mentioned in HSM using Excel macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming. Intersections were not included in this spreadsheet program as they were not included in the Utah Crash Prediction Model (UCPM) or the Utah Crash Severity Model (UCSM) at the time of this research. The methodology for analysis was set up to become part of the use of the models in selecting countermeasures. The concept and spreadsheet layout are discussed using the rural two-lane two-way (TLTW) highway spreadsheet as an example. Three examples are presented in this thesis, which are a case of rural TLTW highway, a case of five-lane urban arterial with a two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL), and a case of a freeway segment, each with two selected countermeasures to compare their benefit-cost ratios (BCRs). One important aspect associated with life-cycle benefit-cost analysis of safety related improvements is the cost of countermeasures. The spreadsheets developed in this research can predict the benefits associated with a countermeasure following the methods found in the HSM; however, it does not include a module to estimate costs associated with a countermeasure to be selected because costs of countermeasures are dependent on the way such improvements are included in construction contracts. The engineer should seek guidance from the cost estimate expert within the agency or outside consultants when determining the project costs.
This document updates and expands the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) User Benefit Analysis for Highways, also known as the Red Book. This AASHTO publication helps state and local transportation planning authorities evaluate the economic benefits of highway improvements. This update incorporates improvements in user-benefit calculation methods and, for the first time, provides guidance for evaluating important non-user impacts of highways. Previous editions of the Red Book provided guidance regarding user benefit measurement only. This update provides a framework for project evaluations that accurately account for both user and non-user benefits. The manual and accompanying CD-ROM provide a valuable resource for people who analyze the benefits and costs of highway projects.
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 672: Roundabouts: An Informational Guide - Second Edition explores the planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of roundabouts. The report also addresses issues that may be useful in helping to explain the trade-offs associated with roundabouts. This report updates the U.S. Federal Highway Administration's Roundabouts: An Informational Guide, based on experience gained in the United States since that guide was published in 2000.