Example Parameters

The following tables show recommended default values for benefit and cost factors developed in 2016 as a complement to the US DOT BCA Guidance (available at: https://www.transportation.gov/office-policy/transportation-policy/benefit-cost-analysis-guidance-discretionary-grant-programs-0). These were originally developed by staff of EBP US, Inc., and North Carolina State University for the TRB Economics Committee. Note that these are merely suggestions by the authors and there is no guarantee that they are necessarily right for any specific project or analysis application.

Vehicle Mileage-based Operating Cost: Free Flow ($/mile) – the average per-mile cost of vehicles’ tires, maintenance, and depreciation for travel in free-flow conditions. (Fuel costs are treated separately)

Source for Vehicle operating cost (VOC) per mile

Cars using AAA’s 2015 Your Driving Cost publication, combining an average of SUVs, minivans, and small, medium and large cars. VOC includes maintenance, tires, and mileage-based depreciation and mileage-based insurance costs. Fixed costs of ownership related to depreciation, insurance, financing and licensing are removed from VOC and fuel is treated separately in TREDIS. For personal vehicles, TREDIS expects reductions in VMT to decrease vehicle utilization but does not attempt to predict changes in vehicle ownership due to changing travel patterns. For the federal grant application specific passenger car mode, per mile operating costs include all depreciation and no insurance, consistent with guidance.

Trucks are based on the American Trucking Research Institute’s (ATRI) 2014 Operational Costs of Trucking report. Costs of truck and trailer leases and purchase payments, repair and maintenance, insurance, permits and licenses, and tires are included. Costs for labor, fuel and tolls are included elsewhere in TREDIS. Costs for leases, purchases, insurance, permits and licenses are included because in the long-run the industry is expected to maintain a fleet size with roughly constant utilization. CPI inflators are used to bring 2013 dollars up to 2015 dollars. The federal grant mode has been updated based on ATRI 2017 Operational Costs of Trucking numbers.

Transit (Bus, BRT, Light Rail, Heavy Rail, Commuter Rail and Passenger Ferry) uses data from the National Transit Database (NTD). NTD reporting divides operating expenses into four (4) expense functions: vehicle operations, vehicle maintenance, non-vehicle maintenance, and general administration. The transit modes are estimated based on 3-year averages in the 2015 NTD. Total vehicle maintenance costs are summed across all systems and are divided by total vehicle revenue miles.

Intercity Diesel is based on Amtrak’s 2014-2018 Financial Plan for each of six years of budget data. Total train operations are decreased by customer service and research spending and combined with 50 percent of the materials costs, assuming 50 is allocated to infrastructure rather than train equipment. These financial quantities are divided by total train-miles and averaged. CPI is used to bring 2013 dollars up to 2015 dollars.

Intercity Electric is based on Chapter 6 of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Revised 2012 Business plan with 2009 dollars brought up to 2015 dollars using a CPI adjustment.

Freight Rail is using a resource titled Prices and Costs in the Railway Sector by J.P. Baumgartner with adjustments using Line-haul Railroad PPI to 2015 dollars. Assume a train has 2 locomotives and 35 cars.

Marine Freight is derived from per hour operating cost factors using an assumed speed of 25 mph.

Cruise Ships is derived from per hour operating cost factors using an assumed speed of 23 mph.

Air is based on Economic Values for FAA Investment and Regulatory Decisions, A Guide 2016 Report

Vehicle Gallons Per Mile: Free Flow (gal/mile, unless otherwise noted) – estimated gallons of fuel consumed per vehicle mile traveled.

Source: based on preceding table of operating cost per mile and typical vehicle speeds

Vehicle Gallons Per Hour: – estimated gallons of fuel consumed per hour of vehicle travel.

Source: based on preceding table of operating cost per mile and typical vehicle speeds

$ per Collision

Collision Rates: All rates shown are per 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled

Sources:

Source: BLS National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (last updated with May 2015 values) for applicable transport occupations and Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (ECEC) series (last updated with December 2015 values). Historic and current Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates can be found at the Occupational Employment Statistics page: http://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. The current version of the ECEC is posted at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.toc.htm.

Average Crew Size (number) – including professional driver/ pilot and supporting paid crew. (This should be customized for the applicable location and type of vehicles.)

Source: Bus and rail modes are drawn from typical values for New York City, San Francisco and Chicago, as reported in Chester, Mikhail, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley. Default crew sizes for aircraft were drawn from “Economic Values for FAA Investment and Regulatory Decisions, A Guide,” U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, 2007. The default crew size for all aircraft is a weighted average based on an estimated mix of aircraft types.

Average Passenger Occupancy (number) – the total number of occupants excluding professional driver and supporting paid crew. (Note: in most cases, the car driver is counted as an occupant and not a crew member.)

Source: Vehicle Inventory and Use System (2002). Data for rail is from the Association of American Railroads, 2016 Class I Railroad Statistics. Data for water transport is based on 1000 TEUs per ship at 14 tons per TEU from InfoMare and NY/NJ port; Data for air transport from Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Capacity and load factor data for air cargo aircraft were drawn from “Economic Values for FAA Investment and Regulatory Decisions, A Guide,” U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, 2013. The value for single unit trucks is based on mean payload weights for straight truck and straight truck plus trailer groups, while the value of combination trucks is based on mean payload weights for truck and trailer combination groups (source: 2002 Vehicle Inventory and Use System).

Passenger Time Cost ($/hour per occupant) – the business opportunity cost or user valuation of the average passenger’s time.

Source: 2015 hourly wage and salary levels for all occupations based on BLS wage data from the 2016 release of the Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. Additional long-term business costs (beyond the user value of travel time) are included in commute and business trip purposes. For BCA calculations for federal grant applications, personal time may be valued at a higher level based on median household income, while business time is based on median values rather than means.

Both commuting and personal travel time are treated as a non-money user benefit with a value set at 50% of the wage rate (no fringe added; 70% for personal air travel). This is in line with USDOT guidance on the value of time. For economic impact analysis only, there is an additional allowance for the effect of higher commuting cost on employer cost in the form of a wage rate premium valued at the other 50% of the wage rate per hour without fringe.

Business or “on the clock” travel includes fringe benefits based on the December 2015 release of the Employer Cost for Employee Compensation series. For the “all occupations” category, fringe benefits are roughly an additional 45% on top of wages and salaries (or 31% of total compensation).

Based on USDOT analysis, the value of time for air and high speed rail travelers has been increased by 1.9 times for commute and personal times to reflect the higher income level observed for air travelers.