The economics of transportation systems: A Reference for Practitioners

摘要: Transportation planners and engineers often feel unfamiliar with economic principles, and some assume that economics does not apply to their job duties. In practice, most transportation professionals can regularly employ economic concepts and techniques for decision-making—and many do, albeit unconsciously. Due to a variety of time and data constraints, many transportation practitioners’ decision-making processes are not formally documented and emerge via “engineering judgment.” However casual in nature, the wisdom behind such judgment comes from past experiences and is rooted in economic considerations and consequences. In fact, many rules of thumb for transportation investment and policy arose from economic backgrounds.Consider this example: due to pavement aging and regular use, many farm-to-market (FM) roads are in need of rehabilitation or reconstruction. Should TxDOT districts install more expensive but longer lasting concrete pavements or rely on less expensive asphalt overlays? The rule of thumb is to go with asphalt, for a variety of reasons, but a definitive answer is not simple. If strict near-term budget constraints did not exist, the decision presumably would be based on a lifecycle cost analysis, used to reveal the solution that yields the lowest annual equivalent cost or maximum net present benefit over a long-term horizon, reflecting risk and uncertainty in flow volumes, materials prices, vehicle sizes, and other economic indicators. In the face of tight budgets, immediate tradeoffs loom. Asphalt pavements may be favored simply to ensure a consistent level of pavement quality across the district under limited …