| Title | Revised Assessment of Economic Impacts of Implementing Minimum Levels of Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 74276 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Hawkins, H. Gene; Lupes, Matt S.; Schertz, Greg; Satterfield, Cathy; Carlson, Paul J. |
| Personal Name Contributor |
Krumich, Aimee |
| Corporate Creator | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety |
| Corporate Contributor |
Texas Transportation Institute |
| Publisher | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety |
| Publication Date | 20100101 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The Federal Highway Administration’s retroreflectivity team prepared a revised assessment of the economic impacts for a proposed rulemaking initiative that would revise the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) to include minimum maintained levels of retroreflectivity for pavement markings. The revised assessment represents an update of the preliminary analysis that was prepared before the team developed the proposed MUTCD language. The retroreflectivity team used the proposed MUTCD language, along with data from the preliminary analysis and a series of assumptions related to marking applications, to calculate the number of miles of markings on a national basis that would be subject to compliance with the minimum retroreflectivity values. The team then calculated the current annual maintenance costs for these markings. Next, the team calculated the annual national costs associated with maintaining the markings to the minimum levels by adjusting the service lives of the markings in accordance with the applicable minimum retroreflectivity level. Using an assumption that the distribution of marking materials on a national basis is 75 percent paint, 20 percent thermoplastic, and 5 percent epoxy, the team calculated the annual nationwide costs of implementing two alternative minimum pavement marking retroreflectivity standards, based on reported public preferences. The increased costs of the two options (less stringent and more stringent) were estimated as $64 million and $126 million, respectively, or 3.2 percent and 6.3 percent of the current costs of $2 billion, respectively. Although the evidence of potential safety improvements remains limited, there is some reason to believe that the more stringent option would not generate commensurate benefits. Therefore, the less costly alternative is recommended. |
| Rosap ID | dot:49244 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49244 |
| TRT Terms | Retroreflectivity; Economic impacts; Road markings; Traffic control devices |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1740985 |
| Contract Number | DTFH61-05-D-00025, Task Order #T-08-004 |
| Report Number | FHWA-SA-10-016 |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/74000/74200/74276/FHWA-SA-10-016.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |