HIGHWAY PROGRAMMING, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, EVALUATION METHODS

This paper provides a review of the issues related to highway program administration with emphasis on safety. For an effective management of highway improvement and maintenance activities, attention must be given to a workable information gathering system. Monitoring of accident occurrences along with the project data would allow periodic updating of the relevant information for future project selection and priority setting. Although much information exists on the safety relationships of various traffic control and roadway elements, in general, no systematic procedure is used to evaluate highway projects in terms of safety effectiveness. It is necessary to identify the appropriate engineering elements associated with various highway activity categories and determine the aggregated safety impacts of these project types. This information, along with the appropriate cost data, can then be used to evaluate alternative actions. Two basic methods exist for the evaluation process: benefit/cost and cost-effectiveness approaches. The benefit/cost approach requires a monetary definition of all costs and benefits, with safety benefits including accident cost savings. The cost-effectiveness approach, on the other hand, considers the expected number of accidents reduced as the measure of safety effectiveness. While both techniques are valid and can be used to determine rank orders of various candidate projects in a priority-setting process, the cost-effectiveness technique is recommended, because the problem of establishing accident costs can be difficult. The results based on dollar values of accident costs may be misleading. (Author)

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in TRB Unpublished Report No. 25, Enhancing Highway Safety Through Engineering Management in an Age of Limited Resources, March 1982.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Sinha, K C
• Publication Date: 1982-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 155-190
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Unpublished Report
  • Issue Number: 25
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Cost effectiveness; Crash reports; Data analysis; Data collection; Data management; Highway safety; Information processing; Mathematical analysis
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00372900
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-81-X-00005
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 31 1983 12:00AM