THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FREEWAY LIGHTING

THE RELATED MERITS AND DRAWBACKS IN JUSTIFICATION OF HIGHWAY LIGHTING INSTALLATIONS ARE EXPLORED USING ECONOMIC ANALYSIS PROCEDURES. ACCIDENT REDUCTION IS SHOWN TO BE THE ONLY MONETARY MEASURE THAT CAN BE EMPLOYED AS JUSTIFICATION. ON A MONETARY BASIS, A RELATIONSHIP COMPARING LIGHTING COSTS PER MILE OF FREEWAY TO TRAFFIC VOLUMES, ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE, AND UNIT ACCIDENT COSTS IS PRESENTED. LIGHTING COST FIGURES WERE DRAWN FROM RECENT STUDIES, AS WERE FIGURES ON ACCIDENT REDUCTIONS ATTRIBUTABLE TO LIGHTING, WITH FULL RECOGNITION BEING GIVEN TO THE EXTREME VARIABILITY OF BOTH COSTS AND ACCIDENT RATES. THE RELATIONSHIP TAKES THE FORM, IN EFFECT, OF A TRAFFIC VOLUME WARRANT FOR FREEWAY LIGHTING. NONMONETARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANALYSIS ARE DISCUSSED. A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLE SPACING AND FIXED OBJECT ACCIDENT PROBABILITIES REINFORCES THE CONCLUSION OF THE NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM REPORT NO. 20, THAT POLE SPACING SHOULD BE MAXIMIZED. STUDYING THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS HAS RESULTED IN THE THOUGHT THAT TRAFFIC VOLUME WARRANTS FOR FREEWAY LIGHTING MAY PROVIDE THE SOUNDEST BASIS FOR JUSTIFICATION STUDIES. IN EFFECT, WHETHER A LIGHTING SYSTEM JUSTIFIES ITS COST DEPENDS ON ITS ACCIDENT-REDUCING POTENTIAL COUPLED WITH THE TRAFFIC VOLUME TO BE SERVED.

Media Info

  • Pagination: p. 289-303
  • Serial:
    • Traffic Quarterly
    • Volume: 21
    • Issue Number: 2
    • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
    • ISSN: 0041-0713

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00219914
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jul 21 2001 12:00AM