Infrastructure assessment

Introduction

Agencies tend to select projects that, once constructed, do not generate ridership levels that warrant their construction. In short, many project projects are overbuilt and a less costly alternative would satisfy the project need.

A variety of political, financial, and accounting incentives support the construction of projects whose capacities far exceed demand, including:

• Overestimated ridership from forecast modeling inputs that do not correspond with actual travel behavior
• Unanticipated construction costs
• Preference for large, splashy projects
• No incentive to manage project costs because others are footing the bill

Strategies

Improve modeling

Adjust forecast year

Improve cost estimation

Conduct extensive engineering studies before deciding on alternative Reach out to stakeholders Use historical cost estimates as comparison Consistently measure across projects

Contain project cost

Clearly define scope and schedule Increase cost estimate transparency