Comparative Evaluation of the Cost-Effectiveness of 58 Transportation Control Measures

Often when public agencies allocate funding for transportation programs, evaluation of a project’s performance becomes an afterthought, if a consideration at all. Relatively recently, evaluation of project performance has garnered attention as a means for both assessing how cost-effectively public funds help attain transportation and air quality objectives and guiding future public investment decisions. Nonetheless, these efforts suffer at times from a lack of coordination and would benefit from the application of a standardized method. Such a standardized method is applied to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of three categories of transportation control measure (TCM) projects: fixed-route transit, transportation demand management (TDM), and alternative fuel projects. The method provides a means for estimating and quantifying travel mode effects and converting them to net emissions benefits. Three sets of funding programs implemented in California were the subjects of evaluation efforts in which the standardized method was applied. The results of these evaluations are presented, and conclusions are suggested about project cost-effectiveness on the basis of project data and comparisons across categories of projects. On the basis of the evaluation of 58 projects, TDM projects other than telecommunications projects were cost-effective compared with alternative fuel and fixed-route transit projects. In light of the key evaluation findings, an approach and framework for future evaluations of TCM projects to ensure consistency and comparability are proposed. Some future uses of the evaluation data in the form of a centralized database are also suggested.