Context Sensitive Solutions: Quantification of the Benefits in Transportation

As more organizations apply the principles of context sensitive solutions (CSS), evidence is increasing that measurable benefits result from a more broadly informed and flexible approach to all phases of transportation decision making. There is a widely shared belief that involving stakeholders in decision making results in solutions that balance environmental, engineering, community, mobility, funding, and safety needs with minimum delay and controversy. If this is true, there should be significant quantifiable benefits from the strategic and appropriate application of CSS principles. Evaluation of the benefits of transportation programs is often limited to the cost savings accrued from reduced travel times, emissions, environmental impacts, and operations. These evaluations continue to produce an abundance of data that often address a particular mode such as transit or highways and specific aspects that are easily quantified such as ridership, noise levels, wetland impacts, and arterial capacity. Data on less readily quantifiable aspects have been lacking. The economic impacts of CSS, in terms of achieving value-added benefits and reducing costs and delays, have not been well documented. Quantification of benefits and cost savings realized through application of CSS in transportation should be of great value to agencies and stakeholders working to deliver projects and will advance CSS implementation nationally. The objective of this project is to quantify the benefits of strategic and appropriate application of the principles of context sensitive solutions in transportation planning, programming, project development, and operations.

• Record URL:
  http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=412

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $450000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 15-32

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Harrigan, Edward

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Kentucky, Lexington

  Kentucky Transportation Center
  College of Engineering, 176 Raymond Building
  Lexington, KY  United States  40506-0281
• Principal Investigators:

  Stamatiadis, Nikiforos

• Start Date: 20060525
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20090630
• Source Data: RiP Project 11112

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Context sensitive design; Decision making; Environmental impacts; Mobility; Research projects; Revenues; Ridership; Safety; Transportation engineering; Transportation planning; Travel time
• Identifier Terms: National Cooperative Highway Research Program
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01463014
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Cooperative Highway Research Program
• Contract Numbers: Project 15-32
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 2:14PM