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Guidelines for estimating the triennial benefits of Kansas transportation research and new developments (K-TRAN) research projects
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2004-07-01
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[PDF-2.34 MB]
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Edition:Final Report; May 2000-Nov. 2003
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Abstract:Between 1991 and 2003, the K-TRAN program has funded over 200 research projects at a total program cost of $7.3 million.
Since 1991, a total of 76 K-TRAN projects have been implemented. Estimates of monetary triennial benefits have been developed
by the research project monitors for 25 of the implemented projects. The estimated benefit/cost ratio for the total K-TRAN
program (i.e., including projects which have not been implemented) is 15.4. The benefit/cost ratio for projects that have been or
are in the process of being implemented is 37.3. The K-TRAN Program is clearly an economically viable program. The
objectives of this research project were to: 1) identify and evaluate techniques for estimating the benefits of research projects, 2)
test one or more of the techniques by preparing estimates of the benefits of selected completed Kansas Transportation Research
and New-Developments (K-TRAN) research projects, and 3) develop and document easy to use guidelines that project monitors
and principal investigators can use to develop estimates of the potential benefits of research projects. The guidelines presented in
this report represent a hybrid approach to research project assessment that incorporates elements from traditional benefit-cost and
multi-objective analysis techniques. The basic methodology requires the researcher to perform an initial subjective assessment of
project benefits using a checklist of potential benefit categories. The researcher is then guided through a process whereby he/she is
asked to attempt to quantify (i.e., assign a monetary value to) the benefits identified in the initial subjective assessment. The
process provides the researcher with guidelines for developing reasonable (i.e., justifiable) estimates of potential project benefits.
If the process leads to the development of a monetary estimate of benefits, then a traditional benefit-cost analysis of the project can
be performed. If it is determined that the project benefits cannot be expressed in purely economic terms, then the results of the
subjective multi-objective assessment are assumed to represent the best assessment possible at that point in time. The guidelines
for the multi-objective assessment technique include recommendations for rating project impacts and for identifying “successful”
projects based on a project’s overall rating. Application of the recommended guidelines in estimating the potential monetary
benefits of research projects is illustrated through an extensive set of examples using information from 14 completed K-TRAN
research projects for the period 1991-2000. Current KDOT policy requires that all K-TRAN proposals and project reports include
an Implementation Plan. This study recommends that this policy be expanded to require a project Benefit Assessment Plan as
well.
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