A quick approach to evaluate two types of transportation investments is presented in this paper. The investments are (a) adding lanes to an existing highway, or (b) providing an express bus service (park-and-ride). The procedure focuses on congestion relief, and the only measure of effectiveness considered is delay. The arterial analysis package (aap) software, developed at the university of florida, is used to compute delays for the alternatives considered. The quick-response method is not intended to replace the need for a comprehensive investment analysis. It provides a quick indicator of how public investments perform toward reducing traffic delays. The procedure is most effective when dealing with major urban streets operating ata poor level of service caused by limited intersection capacities. Typically, right-of-way costs for additional lanes on similar streets are expensive. Such corridors are the ones considered for some type of transit solution. The express bus is one solution that requiresminimum capital cost and offers maximum flexibility. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1209, Transit administration and planning research.
Abstract