Author

Antoine G. Hobeika
Virginia Tech
E-mail: hobeika@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-7407

Length

Approximately 4 hours.

Prerequisites

Engineering economy or similar course and a good understanding of ITS systems and functions as presented in the course.

Objectives

This course provides students with a comprehensive look at the scope and process of evaluation and the steps for accomplishing an evaluation. Also covered are some specific mathematical calculations involved in evaluation and tools used to evaluate ITS projects. The subjects of use impacts, ITS benefits, and evaluation boundaries are also discussed at some length.

The revised course objectives are as follows:

• Define evaluation and explain why it is done.
• Discuss the ITS measures of effectiveness.
• List and explain the JPO's Six-Step Evaluation Process.
• Describe the tools and techniques used in ITS evaluation.
• Calculate the vehicle operating costs for a transportation project.
• Calculate the capital, operating, and maintenance costs for a transportation project.
• Measure the user impacts of different transportation alternatives.
• Define the evaluation boundaries for the alternatives under consideration.
• Define the benefits of an ITS project and its components from current practices.
• Employ the IDAS software package that allows the user to estimate the benefits and costs of ITS projects and their components.
  

Course Outline

The revised course outline is as follows:
(numbers in parentheses refer to pages)

1. Evaluating ITS: What? Who? Why? (3-13)
   1. Objectives and Scope
   2. What Is Evaluation
   3. Who Should Perform the Evaluation?
   4. Why Evaluate ITS?
   5. The National ITS Program Plan
   6. National ITS Architecture’s Performance Measures
   7. ITS JPO: A Few Good Measures
      
2. ITS Evaluation Measures of Effectiveness (14-69)
   1. Objectives and Scope
   2. Overview of MOEs
   3. MOEs: Safety
      i. Measuring Safety
      ii. Safety Impacts
   4. The Value of Travel Time
   5. MOEs: Mobility
      i. Measuring Mobility (1. Travel Time Delay - 2. Travel Time Variability)
      ii. Travel Time Impacts
   6. MOEs: Efficiency
      i. Measure Efficiency (1. Effective Capacity - 2. Throughput)
   7. MOEs: Customer Satisfaction
      i. Quantitative vs Qualitative
      ii. Quantitative Research
      iii. Qualitative Research
   8. MOEs: Productivity
      i. Economic Evaluation Methods (11. Present Worth of Cost - 2. Net Present Value - 3. Internal Rate of Return - 4. Benefit/Cost Ratio (a. B/C Ratio Example Problem))
   9. MOEs: Energy & the Environment
      i. Measuring Energy & the Environment
      ii. Energy & the Environment (1. Energy Implications - 2. Fuel Consumption & Congestion - 3. State-of-the-Practice - 4. Noise Impacts - 5. Impacts on Water Quality - 6. Socio-Economic Impacts - 7. Other Impacts)
      iii. Environmental Impact Study
      iv. Role of the Public
      v. Social Cost of Motor Vehicle Use
      
3. ITS JPO’s Six-Step Evaluation Process (70-82)
   1. Step 1. Form the Evaluation Team
   2. Step 2. Develop the Evaluation Strategy
   3. Step 3. Develop the Evaluation Plan
   4. Step 4. Develop One or More Test Plans
   5. Step 5. Collect and Analyze Data and Information
   6. Step 6. Prepare (and Distribute) the Final Report
      
4. Tools & Techniques (83-97)
   1. State-of-the-Practice: TxDOT Example
   2. State-of-the-Art in ITS Evaluations
   3. Appropriateness of Evaluation Tools by ITS Impact Category
   4. Economic Analyses of ITS Impacts
   5. Description of IDAS
      
5. Capital, Operating & Maintenance Costs (98-113)
   1. Estimating Costs
   2. Major Categories of Capital Costs
      i. Typical Segments
      ii. Atypical Segments
      iii. System-Wide Elements
      iv. Add-On Items
   3. Examples
      i. Rail Capital Costs
      ii. Highway Capital Costs
      iii. Capital Costs of HOV Projects
   4. Transit Operating Costs
   5. HOV Maintenance and Operating Costs
   6. Implementation & Operating Costs Associated with TDM & Road Pricing
      
6. Impacts on Transportation System Users (114-134)
   1. Objectives and Scope
   2. User Costs and Benefits
   3. Estimating Vehicle Speeds
      i. Procedure for Estimating Highway Speeds
      ii. Overview of Speed Model Methodology
      iii. Freeway Speeds on an Average Weekday by Hour & AWDT/C Ratio
   4. Signalized Arterial
   5. Travel Time
      i. Impacts
      ii. Value of Travel Time
      iii. Definition and Measurement Issues
      iv. Travel Time in Relation to Wage Rates
      v. Measuring the Wage Rate
      vi. Proposed Values of Travel Times by US DOT
   6. Road User Vehicle Operating Costs
   7. The HDM-VOC Model
      
7. ITS Benefits (135-221)
   1. Objectives and Scope
   2. Impact Ratings for ITS Application Assessment
   3. Benefits of Intelligent ITS Infrastructure
   4. Intelligent Infrastructure Components
      i. Arterial Management Systems
      ii. Freeway Management Systems
      iii. Transit Management Systems
      iv. Incident Management Systems
      v. Emergency Management Systems
      vi. Electronic Payment Systems
      vii. Traveler Information Systems
      viii. Information Management Systems
      ix. Crash Prevention and Safety Systems
      x. Roadway Operations and Maintenance Systems
      xi. Road Weather Management Systems
      xii. Commercial Vehicle Operations
      xiii. Intermodal Freight
   5. Intelligent Vehicles
      i. Collision Warning Systems
      ii. Driver Assistance Systems
      iii. Collision Notification Systems
   6. Integrated Metropolitain ITS Deployment
      i. Traffic Management
      ii. Transit Management
      iii. Traveler Information
      iv. Emergency Response
      
8. Developing and Assessing ITS Alternatives (224-242)
   1. Objectives and Scope
   2. Basic Principles or Alternative Development
   3. Responding to Local Goals & Needs
   4. Range of Alternatives
   5. Process of Developing Alternatives
   6. Stages in Developing Alternatives
   7. Assessing Alternatives
   8. Evaluation Framework
   9. Evaluation Dimensions
      i. Effectiveness
      ii. Economic Efficiency
      iii. Distribution of Impacts
      
9. Course Conclusion (243-244)