A Tool to Aid the Comparison of Highway Improvements

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In Phase I of this effort, from December 1996 to October 1997, the team developed an instrument to aid VDOT personnel and the public in the comparison of prospective roadway improvements.

In Phase II (March 1998-February 1999) the team will apply the instrument developed in Phase I. This application will consist of the following:

applying the instrument on a pilot basis for a VDOT district to be selected by the VTRC and the VDOT Traffic Engineering Division, demonstrating to VDOT personnel how to apply the instrument, teaching VDOT personnel the fundamental theory that is the foundation of the instrument (specifically the notions of risk-based and multi-objective decision making), and explaining to VDOT how to convey these notions of risk to the general public.

1. Apply the instrument to a selected list of projects identified by the staff of the selected VDOT District. In this pilot application of the instrument, the University will make use of data that are available from existing databases, such as the Highway Traffic Records Information System (HTRIS), the VDOT Traffic Count programs, and other readily available VDOT sources of data. The instrument will be used to prioritize a set of current projects under consideration with respect to cost, throughput, and risk. It is anticipated that the instrument will consist of computerized spreadsheets, although computer programming or other automated options would be acceptable.

2. Document data deficiencies and the anticipated effects of any such data deficiencies on the instrument. Following the completion of this Task, the University will meet with the Sponsor to discuss the progress to date.

3. Prepare a presentation of the first two tasks for presentation to representatives of the selected VDOT District.

4. Identify other applications of the instrument and fully develop one such application if feasible. After identifying these applications, but before fully developing the single application, the University will submit the list of possible applications to the Sponsor for feedback.

5. Write and submit a final report that meets the criteria of the VTRC Media Center, as further described in the body of this Agreement, and in the Media Center guidelines (Attachment B). Following completion of this task, the University will meet with the Sponsor to discuss the progress to date.

6. Specify analyses, algorithms, and spreadsheets that will provide for the automation of the instrument as appropriate for VDOT districts and residencies. The deliverable from this task will be technical documentation to be submitted to the appropriate Information Systems Division (ISD) representative from the VDOT district specified by the Sponsor. VDOT’s intranet is one potential vehicle for communication of this information, as software products may easily be distributed using this medium.

7. Repeat the workshop, originally conducted in Task 3, for another pilot district. The workshop will be supplemented with information from Tasks 4, 5, and 6, and will include less information from Task 1 as it reflects a different geographical area. The purpose of this workshop will be to prepare VDOT employees to apply the instrument.

Deliverables: As explained in the seven tasks, the key deliverables for this project are: two workshops (Tasks 3 and 7),

(a) a final report (Task 5),

(b) the specifications described in Task 6, and

(c) one page list of possible applications (Task 4).