The Business Case for Sustainable Road Infrastructure Development

Details

• Creators:
  Holguin, David ; Benny, Deepak ; Song, Dong Yoon ; Gkritza, Konstantina ; Sinha, Kumares ; Labi, Samuel
• Corporate Creators:
  Purdue University. Joint Transportation Research Program
• Corporate Contributors:
  Indiana. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Case Studies Emissions Testing Evaluation Infrastructure Life Cycle Costing Road Construction Sustainability Sustainability Evaluation Sustainable Development
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/IN/JTRP-2026/02
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284318610
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Indiana
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Purdue University. Joint Transportation Research Program
• Abstract:
  This study developed a business-case framework for embedding sustainability into the Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) practices. The study first identified the role of sustainability in road infrastructure development, and then discussed strategic plans, sustainability programs, and institutional challenges that shape how sustainability actions are conceived and executed. The study reviewed existing sustainability rating systems, established exposure metrics, and subsequently developed a business-case framework called the Road Infrastructure Sustainability Evaluation (RISE) to guide INDOT in embedding sustainability across the full infrastructure lifecycle, from planning through end-of-life. RISE follows a multicriteria analysis approach, incorporating indicator selection, criteria evaluation, weighting, normalization, and final amalgamation to generate an interpretable sustainability score based on project inputs and outcomes. The RISE Excel spreadsheet was developed to demonstrate this framework. By quantifying sustainability-related benefits and costs, RISE supports evidence-based justification for project decisions and investment choices. The tool was demonstrated and validated through a case study involving a real-world highway project in Indiana. In the case study, survey responses from the agency’s personnel were used to establish the criteria weights to reflect their priorities and preferences, and normalization and amalgamation were carried out to yield a single sustainability RISE score for the case study project under consideration. The case study results indicated a strong propensity toward stakeholder engagement, habitat connectivity, and transparent governance, while also identifying opportunities for improvement in local sourcing, material reuse, emissions-reduction strategies, and the integration of financial sustainability metrics. The study then addressed in-house sustainability knowledge management at INDOT, analyzing survey feedback from personnel in diverse roles. This helped the researchers assess the current levels of sustainability awareness in the agency, diagnose the primary barriers to adoption, and develop a roadmap for strengthening the agency’s overall capacity to plan, design, build, operate, and maintain its infrastructure in more sustainable ways.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  SPR-4812
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4945faea1043b123925f93c4028f8c5c34d43206b04e310f6a571070fdcc6628d61d28adc50dba0475ad9052738c8f8d93d9a9e18f986550eec06e2b46c955cf
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/92569/dot_92569_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.88 MB ]