Identifying Costs and Benefits

One important aim of the AMS process is to assess the costs of implementing ICM strategies and to evaluate those costs against the potential benefits to be gained. In determining how to perform this type of cost/benefit analysis for the I-210 Pilot, the costs and benefits associated with the project must first be identified.

While there are excellent sources of information on how to conduct cost/benefit evaluations for transportation projects (for instance, http://bca.transportationeconomics.org/), these are more focused on traditional construction projects and not on ITS projects involving highly shared communication and software assets.  Having consulted with numerous practitioners, the Connected Corridors team found there is no single answer to what costs and benefits should be included in the cost/benefit analysis for the I-210 Pilot.  What should be included depends on the audience, the specific reason for performing the cost/benefit analysis, and whether time and/or instrumentation permit the measurement of changes in the corridor.

Addressing these issues therefore requires ongoing consultation with corridor stakeholders. To facilitate discussions with stakeholders on the most suitable way to approach and balance costs and benefits, the Connected Corridors team identified various cost and benefit categories and multiple strategies for including or excluding costs and benefits. For costs, strategies are principally based on whether a certain cost is or is not allocated to the corridor. For benefits, strategies are based on the ability to accurately measure the underlying corridor characteristics that are used to calculate the monetary benefits.

Click the links to see how the team outlined these issues for discussion.