New Dimensions in Infrastructure Evaluation: The Case of Non-Technical Issues in Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems |
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| Authors: | Thomas A. Horan Jonathan L. Gifford |
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| Affiliation: | Thomas A. Horan is a Senior Fellow for Transportation and Evahration Policy in The Institute of Public Policy at George Mason University. He has directed research and written on the federal policymaking process, urban design, technology development, and evaluation metbods. He is currently engaged in avariety of national studies assessing social, institutional, and environmental aspects of federal tmnsportation policies.;Jonathan L. Gifford serves on the faculty of the Department of Public and International Affairs and The Institute of Public Policy at George Mason University. His research interests inchlude transportation system analysis and planning and the application of information technology to infrastructure. Recent work includes a study the historical antecedents of highways of national significance, and a forthcoming book on flexible urban transportation systems. |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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