TECHNIQUES FOR MANUALLY ESTIMATING ROAD USER COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Road user cost (RUC) is defined as the estimated daily cost to the traveling public resulting from the construction work being performed. That cost primarily refers to lost time caused by any number of conditions including: detours and rerouting that add to travel time; reduced roadway capacity that slows travel speed and increases travel time; and delay in the opening of a new or improved facility that prevents users from gaining travel time benefits. RUC in Texas has been applied predominantly on high-profile urban freeway reconstruction projects, which are ideal candidates for RUC application because of the potential for very high motorist delay costs. The July 1998 guidelines provided by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) suggest that all projects that add capacity should be considered for RUC. The objectives of this research study were: (1) to develop a manual technique for determining RUC for typical added-capacity and highway rehabilitation projects; (2) to develop implementation guidelines that define the appropriate technique, given the project type, for calculating RUC and determining the ultimate value to be used for contracting purposes; (3) to review and evaluate the value of time used by TxDOT in determining delay savings and recommend appropriate values to use in RUC calculations; and (4) to review and evaluate the practice of discounting of RUC values to 25%. To address these objectives, this research report is presented in two stand-alone parts. Part I, Developing a Simplified Manual Technique for Estimating Road User Costs, addresses objectives 1 and 2. Part II, An Assessment of Value of Time Calculations Used in Texas, addresses objectives 3 and 4.