| Title | Methodology for Determining the Avoidable and Fully Allocated Costs of Amtrak Routes : Volume III, Appendix B-H |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 49201 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Mauri, Ronald A.; Church, Robert F.; Hyde, David J.; Mergel, Joseph J.; Pace, David; Pickrell, Don H.; Shaulov, Mark; Templeton, Joshua; Wetula, Leopold E. |
| Source | 107p. in various pages |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development |
| Publisher | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration |
| Publication Date | 20090801 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The Federal Railroad Administration tasked the Volpe Center with developing a methodology for determining the avoidable and fully allocated costs of Amtrak routes. Avoidable costs are costs that would not be incurred if an Amtrak route were discontinued. Fully allocated costs are the total costs of operating a route, including operating, marketing, general and administrative, and capital costs. The methodology was developed in cooperation with Amtrak staff a nd is being implemented within Amtrak's new Amtrak Performance Tracking (APT) system. This report describes the methodology for determining Amtrak's avoidable and fully allocated costs. Challenges faced in developing the methodology included how to allocate shared costs that cannot be directly linked to single trains, how to spread high-level costs, such as general and administrative costs, how to distribute costs to Amtrak's ancillary businesses, how to estimate and allocate capital costs given Amtrak's history and structure, and how to estimate avoidable costs given record keeping limitations and the fact that many Amtrak costs are shared. The methodology will provide improved estimates of avoidable and fully allocated costs as compared to Amtrak's current cost allocation system. It simplifies the cost allocation rules, incorporates Amtrak's ancillary businesses in the allocation process, and increases transparency. |
| Rosap ID | dot:10667 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/10667 |
| TRT Terms | Cost allocation; Cost estimating; Cost accounting; Railroad transportation; Performance measurement |
| General Subjects | Amtrak |
| Classification | NTL - ECONOMICS AND FINANCE - ECONOMICS AND FINANCE; NTL - ECONOMICS AND FINANCE - Rail Economics and Finance; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - Rail Economics and Finance; NTL - RAIL TRANSPORTATION - RAIL TRANSPORTATION |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1518957 |
| Report Number | DOT-VNTSC-FRA-09-05; DOT/FRA/ORD-09/16 |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/49000/49200/49201/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-09-05_Appendices_B-H.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |