Quantifying the Effect of Transportation Infrastructure Deterioration on Travelers’ Economic Welfare
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
Engineers use an array of yardsticks, ranging from visual inspection to physical measurements, occasionally combined with users’ costs assessed from average long-term traffic data, to characterize a transportation facility’s condition and prioritize maintenance needs. This approach is inconsistent with basic economics principles that recognize that transportation facility users optimize their well-being by making rational decisions regarding travel choices. This paper outlines a joint engineering-economic modeling framework that converts engineering indicators of facility condition to a measure of consumer welfare. The feasibility of this framework is demonstrated by applying it to a case study that assesses the welfare of users of a network composed of two substitutable bridges with deteriorating riding surfaces. The analysis accounts for increased users’ costs as well as the reduction in traffic volume on a deteriorating facility due to partial diversion of its traffic to the alternate facility. Such joint engineering-economic analyses would give better appreciation of the economic impact of facility deterioration and maintenance deferrals, eventually leading to more informed maintenance decisions compared with those that rely solely on traditional engineering criteria.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the TriBorough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for providing the traffic volume data and for providing access to their library to extract the deck riding surface deterioration data used in this study. However, the opinions and conclusions presented in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the TBTA or MTA. The authors also acknowledge the financial support provided by UTRC (University Transportation System) Region II at the City College of the City University of New York.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • January 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 27, 2021
Accepted: Aug 12, 2022
Published online: Nov 7, 2022
Published in print: Jan 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 7, 2023
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