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Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference

Overview

This Desk Reference is intended to meet the needs of a wide range of practitioners looking to conduct benefit/cost analysis of operations strategies. The guidance provided in the Desk Reference includes basic background information on benefit/cost analysis, including basic terminology and concepts, intended to support the needs of practitioners just getting started with B/C analysis, who may be unfamiliar with the general process. Building off this primer base, the Desk Reference also describes some of the more complex analytical concepts and latest research in order to support more advanced analysts in conducting their analysis. Some of the more advanced topics include capturing the impacts of travel time reliability; assessing the synergistic effects of combining different strategies; and capturing the benefits and costs of supporting infrastructure, such as traffic surveillance and communications. This Desk Reference is supported by an Operations B/C decision support tool, called the Tool for Operations Benefit/Cost (TOPS-BC). This spreadsheet-based tool is designed to assist practitioners in conducting benefit/cost analysis.

Source Organization Location

Washington
,
DC

Operations Area of Practice

    ITS System architecture
    Strategic Planning
    Cost / Benefit Analysis

Organizational Capability Element

    Programming/Budget/Funding

Content Type

Informational Product

Role in Organization

Senior Engineer
Researcher/Academic
Principal Engineer
Manager / First Line Supervisor
Engineer
Senior Manager
Associate Engineer

Publishing Organization

FHWA

Document Downloads

Prime Contractor
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Author
Doug Sallman,
Erin Flanigan,
Krista Jeannotte,
Chris Heddon, and
Dorothy Morallos
Issue Date
Publication Number
HOP-12-028