Evaluating Urban Transportation Systems

The optimal plan for improving highway facilities and transit facilities in an urban area may be selected by comparing the benefits to travel users with the cost of right-of-way and construction of the improvements. Highway user benefits include faster travel, accident reduction, and savings in vehicle operating cost. Transit user benefits consist of faster travel and reduced transit agency operating cost. Average weekday travel patterns at some future horizon year, the result of traffic assignments, serve as the basis for estimating the economic performance of alternate plans. The development of the optimal highway and transit plans for the Chicago urban area provides a practical demonstration of the economic evaluation technique.