Incorporating Reliability Measures Into the Freight Project Prioritization Decision Support System

2020PDFTech ReportLee, MingJin, XiaFlorida International UniversityFlorida. Department of Transportation. Freight and Multimodal OperationsUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway AdministrationFlorida. Department of TransportationFloridaUnited StatesBenefit cost analysisCase studiesConstruction projectsDecision support systemsEvaluation and assessmentFreight transportationImplementationMethodologyReliabilitySpreadsheetsEconomic benefitsProject prioritization29-977-42BDV29-977-42Final Report May 2018 - April 2020In this report, the detailed processes and methodologies required for implementation of the evaluation framework for the proposed Freight Project Prioritization Decision Support System are discussed. Research reports and guidelines at the federal level are referenced for the development of the methodologies. The evaluation framework produced a standard benefit-cost analysis (BCA) and metrics for the wider economic benefits (WEB) associated with travel time reliability, market accessibility, and intermodal connectivity. The BCA results of this framework were consistent with the guidance of USDOT for discretionary grant programs. The methodologies assessing the WEB were obtained from federally sponsored research programs. Case studies were then conducted to demonstrate how the methodologies for the freight project prioritization decision support system can be implemented with real-world data. Three transportation projects in the State of Florida expected to generate wider economic benefits were selected for the case studies. The projects were selected based on their potential impacts on different aspects of wider economic benefits in reliability, connectivity, and productivity. The data used as well as the sources of data are included in the report. With the data from the case studies, a spreadsheet tool was subsequently developed. The tool integrates standard Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) with analysis tools for Wider Economic Benefits, including reliability, market accessibility, and intermodal connectivity. A user guide is provided in this report to show users how to use the spreadsheet.104