Development of a Freight Benefit/Cost Methodology for Project Planning

Future reauthorizations of the federal transportation bill will require a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the freight benefits of proposed freight system projects. To prioritize public investments in freight systems and to insure consideration of the contribution of freight to the overall system performance, states and regions need an improved method to analyze freight benefits associated with proposed highway and truck intermodal improvements that would lead to enhanced trade and sustainable economic growth, improved safety and environmental quality, and goods delivery in Washington State. This project develops a process to address this need by building on previous and ongoing research by some project team members with the goal of developing an agency-friendly, data-supported framework to prioritize public investments for freight systems in Washington and Oregon. The project integrates two ongoing Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) funded efforts: one to create methods to calculate the value of truck and truck-intermodal infrastructure projects and the other to collect truck probe data from commercial global positioning system (GPS) devices to create a statewide Freight Performance Measures (FPM) program. This integration informs the development of a framework that allows public agencies to quantify freight investment benefits in specific areas such as major freight corridors and across borders.

[1]  Chen-Fu Liao.  Using Archived Truck GPS Data for Freight Performance Analysis on I-94/I-90 from the Twin Cities to Chicago , 2009 .

[2]  Mike Schofield,et al.  Developing Appropriate Freight Performance Measures for Emerging Users , 2007 .

[3]  David Levinson,et al.  A Moment of Time: Reliability in Route Choice Using Stated Preference , 2010, J. Intell. Transp. Syst..

[4]  Marco Kouwenhoven,et al.  New SP-values of time and reliability for freight transport in the Netherlands , 2014 .

[5]  Aura Reggiani,et al.  Freight Transport and the Value of Travel Time Savings: A Meta‐analysis of Empirical Studies , 2007 .

[6]  Farideh Ramjerdi,et al.  Value of reduced transport time variability in freight transport , 2011 .

[7]  J A Lindley,et al.  URBAN FREEWAY CONGESTION: QUANTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM AND EFFECTIVENESS OF POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS , 1987 .

[8]  Michael J Fischer,et al.  Guidebook for Freight Policy, Planning, and Programming in Small- and Medium-Sized Metropolitan Areas , 2007 .

[9]  William P. Anderson,et al.  Transportation Infrastructure, Freight Services Sector and Economic Growth , 2002 .

[10]  G. Weisbrod.  Models to predict the economic development impact of transportation projects: historical experience and new applications , 2008 .

[11]  Lisa Loftus-Otway,et al.  Freight Performance Measures Guide , 2006 .

[12]  Robert L. Bertini,et al.  Using Travel Time Reliability Measures to Improve Regional Transportation Planning and Operations , 2008 .

[13]  Anders Karlström,et al.  The value of reliability , 2007 .

[14]  Walid Abdelwahab,et al.  Elasticities of mode choice probabilities and market elasticities of demand: Evidence from a simultaneous mode choice/shipment-size freight transport model , 1998 .

[15]  G. Giuliano.  INCIDENT CHARACTERISTICS, FREQUENCY, AND DURATION ON A HIGH VOLUME URBAN FREEWAY , 1989 .

[16]  Wenjing Pu.  Analytic Relationships between Travel Time Reliability Measures , 2011 .

[17]  Gerard de Jong,et al.  NEW VALUES OF TIME AND RELIABILITY IN FREIGHT TRANSPORT IN THE NETHERLANDS , 2007 .

[18]  C. Phillip Baumel,et al.  Expanding the Set of Efficiency Gains of a Highway Investment: Conceptual, Methodological and Practical Issues , 1994 .

[19]  W. Dullaert,et al.  Monetary values of freight transport quality attributes: A sample of Tanzanian firms , 2011 .

[20]  Alicia Haydock Munnell,et al.  How Does Public Infrastructure Affect Regional Economic Performance , 1990 .

[21]  Amiy Varma,et al.  Measurement Sources for Freight Performance Measures and Indicators , 2008 .

[22]  Farideh Ramjerdi,et al.  Valuation of Freight Transport Time and Reliability , 2010 .

[23]  Edward McCormack,et al.  Using Truck Probe GPS Data to Identify and Rank Roadway Bottlenecks , 2013 .

[24]  Herbert S Levinson,et al.  QUANTIFYING CONGESTION. VOLUME 2: USER'S GUIDE , 1997 .

[25]  Joseph Berechman,et al.  Economic Competitiveness: Performance Measures for Transportation , 2008 .

[26]  M. Ishaq Nadiri,et al.  Contribution of highway capital to output and productivity growth in the US economy and industries , 1998 .

[27]  David L Schrank,et al.  Estimates of urban roadway congestion - 1990 , 1993 .

[28]  K. Small,et al.  The economics of urban transportation , 2007 .

[29]  Frank Southworth,et al.  ON THE MEASUREMENT AND VALUATION OF TRAVEL TIME VARIABILITY DUE TO INCIDENTS ON FREEWAYS , 1999 .

[30]  R. Spady,et al.  A Derived Demand Function for Freight Transportation , 1980 .

[31]  Michael Fischer,et al.  Guide to Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Federal Investments in Large-Scale Freight Transportation Projects , 2006 .

[32]  Theofanis P. Mamuneas,et al.  CONTRIBUTION OF HIGHWAY CAPITAL TO INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH , 1996 .

[33]  Crystal Jones,et al.  Improving the reliability of freight travel , 2006 .

[34]  W Reilly.  HIGHWAY CAPACITY MANUAL 2000 , 1997 .

[35]  Glen Weisbrod,et al.  Major Corridor Investment-Benefit Analysis System , 2000 .

[36]  T. R. Lakshmanan,et al.  The broader economic consequences of transport infrastructure investments , 2011 .

[37]  Joanne Sedor,et al.  Freight Transportation Improvements and the Economy , 2004 .

[38]  Pravin Varaiya,et al.  Travel-Time Reliability as a Measure of Service , 2003 .

[39]  Daniela Bremmer,et al.  Measuring Congestion: Learning from Operational Data , 2004 .

[40]  D. Holland,et al.  Comparing the Economic Impact of an Export Shock in Two Modeling Frameworks , 2011 .

[41]  Michael W. Babcock,et al.  Methodology for Measuring Output, Value Added, and Employment Impacts of State Highway and Bridge Construction Projects , 2012 .

[42]  G. Weisbrod,et al.  Generalized Approach for Assessing Direct User Impacts of Multimodal Transport Projects , 2008 .

[43]  Edward McCormack,et al.  Evaluating the Accuracy of Spot Speed Data from Global Positioning Systems for Estimating Truck Travel Speed , 2011 .

[44]  M. Figliozzi.  Analysis of Travel Time Reliability for Freight Corridors Connecting the Pacific Northwest , 2012 .