New Dimensions in Infrastructure Evaluation: The Case of Non-Technical Issues in Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems

Traditional infrastructure evaluation focuses primarily on technical criteria, such as the completion of a designated, interconnected system of facilities or a particular project's capacity to reduce costs borne by suppliers or end users. In the contemporary policymaking environment, however, nontechnical criteria are often of great importance in determining the success or failure of a particular infrastructure enterprise. Institutional considerations, for example, can often delay the implementation of a project or undermine its effectiveness. This paper examines the importance of non-technical criteria in infrastructure evaluation through a case study of the implementation of a major highway investment program in advanced communication and control technologies, known as intelligent vehicle -highway systems (IVHS). The case study focuses on the role of institutional issues as well as environmental issues, in the implementation of IVHS in the US. surface transportation system. The case emphasizes, first, the significance of institutional and environmental issues, and second, mechanisms for evaluating these issues in the context of a major infrastructure investment program.