NTL Record

Title Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis TOPS-BC User's Manual: Providing Guidance to Practitioners in the Analysis of Benefits and Costs of Management and Operations Projects
Record ID 66964
Personal Name
Creator
Sallman, Doug; Jeannotte, Krista; Margiotta, Rich; Strasser, Jennifer; Hunt, Jim
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Operations; Cambridge Systematics
Publisher United States. Federal Highway Administration
Publication Date 20130101
Language English
Abstract This document provides guidance on the setup and application of the Tool for Operations Benefit/Cost (TOPS-BC), which was developed to provide key decision support capabilities including: The ability for users to investigate the expected range of impacts associated with previous deployments and analyses of many TSM&O strategies; A screening mechanism to help users identify appropriate tools and methodologies for conducting a benefit/cost (B/C) analysis based on their analysis needs; A framework and default cost data to estimate the life-cycle costs of various TSM&O strategies, including capital, replacement, and continuing operations and maintenance (O&M) costs; and A framework and suggested impact values for conducting simple sketch planning level B/C analysis for selected TSM&O strategies. This User's Manual provides instruction on the installation and setup of TOPS-BC Version 1.0, instruction for using the basic capabilities, and discussion of adapting the available capabilities to the unique needs of an individual analysis. The TOPS-BC tool was developed to support and complement the guidance developed as part of the FHWA Operations Benefit/Cost Desk Reference project. The Desk Reference provides more general discussion on the field of B/C analysis and methods for structuring analyses to overcome the many challenges often present when attempting to apply B/C analysis to Operations strategies.
Rosap ID dot:41433
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/41433
General Subjects Transportation agencies--United States--Management--Cost effectiveness; Traffic engineering--United States; Value analysis (Cost control)
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Contract Number DTFH61-06-D-00004
Report Number FHWA-HOP-13-041
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/66000/66900/66964/fhwahop13041.pdf
Alternative URL http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13041/fhwahop13041.pdf; https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop1341/index.htm
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository