Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Prefabricated Bridge Elements
and Systems
Work Zone User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Federal Highway Administration
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Roadway User Costs
Agenda
Topics
1.Analysis Basics
2.User Costs Components
3.Conceptual Framework
4.Example
5.Conclusion
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Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs
Premise
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Prefabricating bridge elements and systems
(PBES) offers major :
•time savings,
•cost savings,
•safety advantages,
and convenience for travelers.
~from EDC-PBES Website
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Roadway User Costs
The PBES Decision
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
1.Qualify?
Monetize
Benefits
2.Quantify.
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Roadway User Costs
Strategy – Compare Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Value and compare WZ
Roadway User Costs for
traditional approach and
use of PBES to
determine if the
construction premium
justifies additional
investment.
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Roadway User Costs
Strategy – Compare costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Work Zone Impacts from Traditional Construction
V.S.
Work Zone Impacts from PBES
Traditional Construction costs V.S. PBES Construction Costs
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs Components
Definition
Costs to highway users over the life of a Highway Project
Components
•Delay Costs – Costs associated with an increase
(or decrease) in the amount of time it takes for a
user to travel from point A to B. (In our case,
navigating through or around a work zone)
•Vehicle Operating Costs – Costs attributable to
the operation or maintenance of a vehicle(brake
wear, idling, fuel consumption, tire ware, etc.)
•Crash costs-Cost resulting from property damage,
injuries, or loss of life
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs - Roadway User Time Value
• Business travel is valued at wage plus
benefits
• Personal travel is valued at what travelers
are willing to pay to reduce travel time
•Usually a percentage of wage
• People do value their time
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs
• Vehicle Operating costs are a function of additional
wear and tear on the vehicle caused by the work
zone.
• Costs include:
• Fuel Consumption
• Engine Oil Consumption
• Tire Wear
• Repair & Maintenance
• Mileage related depreciation
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs
• Depreciation costs are a function of aging
and usage over time.
• Sources of data includes American
Automobile Association(AAA), American
Transportation Research Institute(ATRI)
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs
• Crash costs are a function of the change in
crash rates caused by work zones.
• Crash costs are a function of:
• Crash rate/frequency
• Crash Severity
• Unit Cost of crashes
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Comparing Work Zones Strategies
• Each construction/WZ strategy involves
tradeoffs
•Agency vs. user costs
•Initial vs. long-term costs
• An analysis of roadway user costs
permits comparison of cost tradeoffs
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Benefits from Transportation investments
Typical Life-Cycle Profile:
A Project Level Perspective
Benefits
Initial Capital
Costs
Cost
Dollars
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Example Direct Benefits
•Life-Cycle Cost Savings
•Reduced Accident Costs
•Reductions in Delay Costs
•Reduced noise or emissions
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10
11
12
Year
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
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Example Indirect Benefits
•Land use impacts
•Employment
•Non-user benefits
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
WZ Impacts
Work Zone
1. Existing Costs on construction Route(Pre-WZ)
2. Additional Costs from WZ
1. Existing cost on detour route(Pre-WZ)
2. Additional Costs of detoured traffic on Detour Route
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Conceptual Work-Zone impact on travel speed
Free Flow
70 Speed
Free-Flow
Speed
60
50
40
Discharge
Work-Zone
30
20
10
0
Beginning
of Queue
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End of
Work-Zone
Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
What is the present value of future sums?
Initial
Activity
$
Major Activity
Activities
Costs
 1
NPV   
t
t 0  (1  r )
N
$

( Benefitt  Costt )

Time
Benefits
Time
What ROI do taxpayers(our investors) want?
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Roadway User Costs
Example
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Traditional Concrete Girder Construction
vs. Precast Beams with slab sections,
 2 -24 hour closure vs. 3 months of
nighttime work zones
 25,000 vehicles Average Daily Traffic, rising to
60,000 ADT in 35 years
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Example (Continued)
• Precast Section is estimated to cost
20% more than traditional approach
but last 20% longer
• Nighttime work zones increase agency
cost by 10%
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Roadway User Costs
Example (Continued)
4% real discount rate
35 year analysis period
24 hr WZ
Night Work
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Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Roadway User Costs
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Example Results
Costs Over 35 Years in $1000
Agency
User
Trad. - 24 Hr WZ
Present Value
$2,605
$4,969
PBES - 24 Hr WZ
Present Value
$2,721
$3,715
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Agency
User
Trad. - Night Only
$2,865
$1,226
PBES - Night Only
$2,987
$1,055
Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Example Results (Continued)
Least cost option for the agency
(Traditional/24 hours) is highest cost for
travelers
Using PBES reduces traveler cost due to
shorter initial construction time and
fewer rehabilitations
Nighttime work zones eliminate most of
delay for Traditional and PBES at little
additional cost to the agency
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Roadway User Costs
Quantifying Benefits of PBES
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Need simple way of
quantifying, “time
savings, cost savings,
safety advantages, and
convenience.”
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Roadway User Costs
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Work-Zone Costs - Find the Number
Interstate
Daytime 10-hour Closure (7:00 to 17:00 hours)
$24,000,000
$22,000,000
$20,000,000
Daily RUC per mile in 2010 $
$18,000,000
$16,000,000
$14,000,000
$12,000,000
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$6,000,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$0
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
275
300
Two-way AADT (in thousands)
2 Normal Lanes - 1 Lane Open
3 Normal Lanes - 2 Lanes Open
3 Normal Lanes - 1 Lane Open
4 Normal Lanes - 2 Lanes Open
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4 Normal Lanes - 1 Lane Open
4 Normal Lanes - 3 Lanes Open
Roadway User Costs
Conclusion
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
1. Analysis for deciding to implement PBES is a
function of:
• Direct User impacts(capacity analysis of
monetized costs to Users)
• Life-cycle cost savings?
2. Resources exist(Complex to simple)
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Roadway User Costs
FHWA Resources
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
• FHWA Work-Zone Road User Costs
•Process
•Values
•References
•One-Stop Shop on good practice
calculating Work-zone user costs
•
•
•
•
Bridge Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Workshop
FHWA Rule of Thumb Charts(Draft Final)
FHWA BLCCA Tool(Under Development)
FHWA RealCost LCCA Software(free excel spreadsheet)
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Roadway User Costs
MAP-21 Goal Areas
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
SAFETY- Reduce fatalities & serious injuries on all public roads.
INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITION- maintain state of good repair.
CONGESTION REDUCTION- reduce in congestion on the NHS
SYSTEM RELIABILITY- Improve the efficiency
FREIGHT MOVEMENT & ECONOMIC VITALITY- To improve the
national freight networks and access
• ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY-protect the environment.
• REDUCED PROJECT DELIVERY DELAYS- To reduce project
costs, promote jobs and the economy, and expedite the
movement of people and goods by accelerating project
completion through eliminating delays in the project
development and delivery process, including reducing regulatory
burdens and improving agencies' work practices.
•
•
•
•
•
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Roadway User Costs
Thank You
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Nathaniel D. Coley Jr.
Federal Highway Adm.
Washington, DC
NColey@dot.gov
202-366-2171
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt/economic.cfm
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