TRAVEL TIME AND ACCIDENT BENEFITS DUE TO RECONSTRUCTION OF U. S. 52 BY PASS AT LAFAYETTE, INDIANA

A DETERMINATION WAS MADE OF THE BENEFITS THAT HAVE ACCRUED TO BOTH ROAD-USERS AND NONUSERS DUE TO THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST STAGE OF THE U.S. 52 BYPASS AT LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. A BEFORE AND AFTER STUDY WAS MADE OF THE TRAVEL TIMES ON THE FACILITY AND THE NUMBE AND SEVERITY OF THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS OCCURRING. A TWO- WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE PERFORMED ON THOSE TRAVEL TIME RUNS COLLECTED DURING THE PEAK HOURS OF THE DAY INDICATEE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN TRAVEL TIME AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION. ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS ALSO INDICATED TRAVEL TIME SAVINGS DURING THE OFF-PEAK PERIOD. VALUES OF TRAVEL TIME WERE ESTIMATED AND THE TOTAL TRAVEL TIME BENEFITS DUE TO THE RECONSTRUCTION WERE ESTIMATED. ALL REPORTED ACCIDENTS OCCURRING ON THE RECONSTRUCTED PORTION OF THE FACILITY FOR A FOUR YEAR PERIOD BEFORE AND ONE YEAR AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION WERE ANALYZED IN DEPTH. THE LOCATIONS OF GREATEST ACCIDENT CONCENTRATION WERE DETERMINED AND THE SPECIFIC CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS BOTH AT AND BETWEEN THE INTERSECTIONS WERE DETERMINED. AN ESTIMATE OF THE TOTAL DIRECT COSTS OF THE ACCIDENTS FOR EACH OF THE FIVE YEARS WAS MADE IN 1970 DOLLARS. STATISTICAL TESTS INDICATED A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE TOTAL DIRECT COSTS/MILLION VEHICLE-MILES BEFORE AND AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION. THE ESTIMATION OF TOTAL ACCIDENT BENEFITS WAS BASED ON THIS DIFFERENCE. THE TOTAL TRAVEL TIME AND ACCIDENT BENEFITS WERE ASSUMED AND COMPARED TO THE TOTAL COST OF THE RECONSTRUCTION. THIS COMPARISON, TOGETHER WITH A CONSIDERATION OF OTHER NONMARKET AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS, ALLOWED THE CONCLUSION TO BE MADE THAT THE RECONSTRUCTION WAS A GOOD INVESTMENT. THE CHANGES IN LAND-USE ALONG THE IMPROVED SECTION OF THE BYPASS WERE ALSO INVESTIGATED. THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN LAND-USE IN THE ONE YEAR SINCE THE RECONSTRUCTION, DUE IN LARGE PART THE LACK OF AVAILABLE LAND. NO TRENDS IN DEVELOPMENT FOR THE FUTURE ARE APPARENT AT THIS TIME. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 9, 148 PP, 47 FIG, 40 TAB, 41 REF, 2 APP
• Corporate Authors:

  Purdue University/Indiana Department of Transportation JHRP

  Purdue University, School of Civil Engineering
  West Lafayette, IN  United States  47907-1284
• Authors:
  • Mcneil, A
• Publication Date: 1971-7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Benefits; Bypasses; Crash investigation; Crash rates; Highways; Improvements; Land use; Prevention; Safety; Statistical analysis; Surveys; Travel time
• Old TRIS Terms: Bypass highways; Land use surveys
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226086
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 3 1971 12:00AM