Traffic Management
- Publication no: AP-R298-07
- ISBN: 1 921139 86 2
- Published: 24 January 2007
- PDF (free) Download
This report comprises Task 3 of Austroads Project NS1017, ‘Improving Traffic Incident Management’. Task 3 is to contribute to the development of an evaluation framework to assess priorities for new alternatives in traffic incident management (TIM). It involves a literature review of relevant evaluation approaches followed by application to three case studies.
It was found that benefit costs analysis (BCA) provides for a comprehensive framework to include benefits, cost and impacts that can be monetised. It was also found that multi criteria analysis (MCA) is best regarded as an adjunct to BCA. It is a means of coping with a partial BCA—one that fails to provide a dollar value for significant impacts. MCA offers much in terms of information about the project, because the criteria used are easily seen and then open to criticism. It is recommended that the evaluation framework for TIM projects include both BCA as well as a modified MCA approach to take into account all the other impacts, including qualitative and non-monetisable impacts. Incorporation of the two evaluation methods enables the full extent of the benefits and costs of TIM projects to be presented.
The three case studies outlined, their spreadsheet models and the summary assessment tables combining BCA and MCA provide a starting point for practitioners seeking to apply a consistent and comprehensive evaluation framework for TIM. The models easily lend themselves to customisation for the evaluation of new alternatives to TIM.
- 1. INTRODUCTION
- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
- 2.1. Background
- 2.2. Evaluation criteria
- 2.3. Evaluation methods
- 2.4. Impacts
- 2.5. AusLink program evaluation
- 3. APPLICATION TO TRAFFIC INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
- 3.1. Traffic incident management
- 3.2. Identifying impacts of traffic incidents
- 3.3. Incident delay polygon
- 3.4. Microsimulation in TIM
- 4. RECOMMENDED EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
- 4.1. Modified MCA approach
- 4.2. Recommended evaluation framework
- 5. CASE STUDIES
- 5.1. Additional resources for an incident management team
- 5.2. New freeway incident detection and variable message signs
- 5.3. Upgrading of an emergency lane for improved incident management
- 6. CONCLUSION
- REFERENCES
- APPENDIX 1 NET PRESENT VALUE METHOD
- APPENDIX 2 TEMPLATE OF A STRATEGIC MERIT TEST AND RAPID BCA
- APPENDIX 3 EVALUATION FRAMEWORK - CASE STUDY 2