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Title:

OPTIMAL HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT INVESTMENTS BY DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

Accession Number:

00141523

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

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Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309024994

Abstract:

Determining which projects to implement under a given budget and which to defer until later is central to the planning and management of highway systems. With a limited budget for construction, maintenance, and safety improvements, investments must produce optimal benefits. This paper discusses a dynamic programming procedure developed to select the optimal combination of safety improvement projects for a given budget. The type of dynamic programming considered is multistage, i.e., cost optimization of several projects, each with one or more alternatives. All safety improvement costs are dealt with in terms of present worth, and consideration is given to construction or installation cost, yearly maintenance cost, yearly maintenance cost, present interest rate, and expected life of the improvement. The option of staging safety improvements over a number of years was excluded from this analysis. All possible combinations of improvements were input as alternatives for each of the 61 projects involved in this study. The input consisted of the designated budget for the safety improvement program, the improvement cost, and the benefits derived from each improvement. The accuracy and reliability of dynamic programming depend on the accuracy of benefits and costs used as input. In a comparison with benefit-cost analyses, dynamic programming yielded a higher return for a given budget. An optimal allocation of funds will always be obtained if the individual project costs are multiples of the increment used in dynamic programming.

Supplemental Notes:

Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Transportation Programming, Planning, and Evaluation. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Monograph Accession #:

01411442

Authors:

Pigman, J G
Agent, K R
Mayes, J G
Zegeer, C V

Pagination:

pp 49-59

Publication Date:

1976

Serial:

Transportation Research Record

Issue Number: 585
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISSN: 0361-1981

Conference:

54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board

Location: Washington District of Columbia
Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17

ISBN:

0309024994

Media Type:

Print

Features:

Figures (2) ; References (14) ; Tables (3)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Fund allocations

Subject Areas:

Administration and Management; Highways

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Nov 17 1976 12:00AM

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