CAREER: Optimizing the Selection of Added Capacity Trans- portation Infrastructure Improvements

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Abstract Proposal: CMS 97-03319 PI: Debbie A. Niemeier, U. California at Davis "Career: Optimizing the Selection of Added Capacity Transportation Infrastructure Improvements " The increasing complexity of transportation systems demands that engineers provide theoretical guidance on the issue of program-specific resource allocation. Program-specific models in use seek to optimize resources within an engineering-based funding category without linkage to other funding categories. This research will address this theoretical gap and will provide the necessary framework to optimize future infrastructure investments in such a way that the overall transportation system productivity, including both longevity and performance, is enhanced. Specific objectives of the workplan include to: 1) develop a new theoretical optimization model to dynamically allocate funds between transportation infrastructure programs; 2) specify and evaluate an empirical model for validation; 3) develop new performance measures that relate funding allocation to performance; and 4) develop new guidelines to better link infrastructure funding policies and system performance optimization. Educational opportunities will be enhanced by including opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate researchers, and by directly utilizing the results in undergraduate and graduate transportation courses. The new theoretical model will allow transportation agencies to work within a framework that optimizes total infrastructure performance. The theoretical and empirical models will be used to develop new policy guidelines for 1) assessing the amount of funding required to maintain a specified level of total system performance, 2) optimizing resource allocations among spending programs, and 3) to assist in the development of appropriate data bases to monitor long-term infrastructure performance. These results will play a crucial role in advancing the concept of evaluating and maintaining tota l infrastructure system productivity as opposed to concentrating on discrete infrastructure performance. ***