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2.0 DATA SOURCES, AVAILABILITY, AND RISKS

2.1 Data Sources

The cost benefit analysis test plan will use two major sources of data. The first source is the detailed costs associated with the UPA projects. These data will be provided by Mn/DOT, Metro Transit, the City of Minneapolis, MVTA, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota. The second source is data collected through other test plans. These data will be analyzed using the Metropolitan Council's Twin Cities Regional Travel Forecast Model described in the transportation modeling test plan.

Cost Data from Participating Agencies. Cost data will mainly be obtained from Mn/DOT, Metro Transit, the City of Minneapolis, MVTA, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Policy. Data include the capital costs associated with various projects, the operating and maintenance costs, and the replacement and re-investment costs. Cost data will be collected for the following cost categories.

  • Capital investment costs.
    • Construction on I-35W – building new park-and-ride lots; adding new HOT lanes, the PDSL, and auxiliary lanes; and other construction projects.
    • Construction of the MARQ2 project.
    • Transit expansion – purchasing new buses.
    • MnPASS HOT lanes and PDSL – installing gantries, purchasing communication equipment, and computer software and hardware.
    • Shoulder-running bus lane guidance system and real-time traffic and transit information system.
  • Operating and maintenance costs.
    • Operating and maintaining transit services.
    • Operating and Maintaining MnPASS HOT lanes and PDSL.
    • Compliance costs for enforcing the HOT lanes and PDSL.
    • Maintaining the lane guidance system and the real-time traffic and transit information system.
    • Maintaining the highway infrastructure.
    • Investment in telecommuting.
  • Replacement and re-investment costs.
    • Replacing components of the MnPASS facilities.
    • Replacing and/or updating computer hardware and software for MnPASS management.
    • Replacing and/or updating communication equipment for MnPASS management.
    • Replacing and/or updating the shoulder-running bus lane guidance system and real-time traffic and transit information system.

Table 2-1 provides a cost reporting scheme with detailed cost categories by type of projects and by reporting agency.2 The costs to be considered in the cost benefit analysis should only include those annual expenditures up to 2020 incurred as a result of implementing the UPA projects. In other words, only the differential costs should be recorded and reported as the costs of the UPA projects. For instance, suppose that Metro Transit currently operates a bus fleet on the I-35W corridor with an annual operation budget of $1 million. Further, suppose that with the investment from the UPA projects, Metro Transit's annual operational budget for the bus fleet increases to $1.5 million. For the purpose of reporting the costs for the cost benefit analysis, only the newly increased costs of $0.5 million should be reported.

Table 2-1. Cost Reporting Scheme for the UPA Projects
Project Reporting Agency Major Cost Category Cost Sub-category Year(*)
2008		 Year(*)
2009		 Year(*)
2010		 Year(*)
2011		 Year(*)
...		 Year(*)
2020
New Investment in Highway Construction
empty cell Mn/DOT Capital Cost ROW; Roadway excavation; Materials (asphalts, concrete, others) empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
empty cell empty cell Operational Engineer design and planning; Construction labor; Management empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
New Investment in HOT Lane Set-up
empty cell Mn/DOT Capital Cost Booths; Gantries; Customer service center; Data center; ETC equipment empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
empty cell empty cell Operational Equipment Computer hardware and software empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
New Investment in the MARQ2 Project
empty cell City of Minneapolis Capital Cost Lane construction; Materials (asphalts, concrete, others) empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
New Purchases in Transit
empty cell Metro Transit Capital Cost New bus purchases; Transit information system empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
empty cell empty cell Operational Equipment Computer hardware and software empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
New Investment in Lane Guidance System
empty cell MVTA Capital Cost Cedar avenue lane guidance system empty cell empty cell empty cell Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year.
Investment in Telecommuting
empty cell Humphrey Institute Operational Investment in telecommuting empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
Differential O&M Costs in Toll Lanes: with the UPA Projects minus without the UPA Projects
empty cell Mn/DOT Operating and Maintenance Account set-up; Equipment O&M; Hardware and software maintenance; Banking; Oversight; Labor; Others Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
empty cell empty cell Collection Account management; communication; Payment processing; Labor Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
empty cell empty cell Compliance Enforcement; Violation processing; Dispute resolution; Labor Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
Differential Costs in Road Maintenance: with the UPA Projects minus without the UPA Projects
empty cell empty cell Road Maintenance Repair and maintenance; Labor Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
Differential Transit O&M Costs: with the UPA Projects minus without the UPA Projects
empty cell Metro Transit Operating and Maintenance Repair and maintenance of buses and other transit equipment; Labor Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell empty cell
Differential Reinvestment in Toll Lanes: with the UPA Projects minus without the UPA Projects
empty cell Mn/DOT Replacement Tolling equipment and computers upgrade / replacement; Labor Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell
Differential Reinvestment in Transit: with the UPA Projects minus without the UPA Projects
empty cell Metro Transit Replacement Buses and other equipment upgrade / replacement Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. Shaded cell - indicates that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for this year. empty cell empty cell empty cell
(*) The shaded cells indicate that cost data most likely do not need to be collected for those years.

Other Minnesota UPA Test Plans. Another important source of data for the cost benefit analysis is other test plans. The data from the test plans that include both pre- and post-deployment will be used for comparative data analysis as described in Section 3.0. The data from other test plans that will be used in the cost benefit analysis include:

  • Traffic Condition Data – Data will include vehicle hours-traveled (VHT), vehicle mileage-traveled (VMT), vehicle occupancy rates by personal travel trip purposes, number of vehicles, and trip volume. Data on truck trips in the corridor will also be needed. The data will be provided by the transportation modeling test plan, for forecasts post-deployment, and the traffic system data test plan, for observed data.
  • Safety Condition Data – Type of incidents and crashes, number of incidents, severity of crashes, and incident clearance times from the safety test plan and the traffic system data test plan.
  • Travel Time Reliability Data – Change in travel time reliability from the traffic system data test plan.
  • Mode Shifting Data – Number of people changing from driving alone to riding the bus and the transit costs incurred to those people from the transportation modeling test plan, the transit system data test plan, and the survey test plan.
  • Transit Travel Condition Data – Change in transit travel time from the transit system data test plan.
  • Air Quality – Change in air quality from the environmental test plan.
  • Telecommuting Condition Data – Reduction in travel time and travel costs and changes in productivity for telecommuting workers and changes in businesses' costs from employers from the telecommuting data test plan and the survey test plan.

2.2 Data Availability

Mn/DOT, Metro Transit, the City of Minneapolis, MVTA, and the Humphrey Institute will provide the cost data. The cost data from these agencies are available for the pre- and post-deployment time periods. The operating and maintenance costs and the replacement and re-investment costs need to cover a 10-year time period after the Minnesota UPA projects are completed. Agency staff will need to develop forecasts of these costs using their normal budgeting methods. Other data needed for the cost benefit analysis will be obtained from the other test plans.

2.3 Potential Risks

There do not appear to be any significant risks associated with obtaining information from the sources outlined previously. Potential issues may arise during the data collection process, however. Examples of possible concerns include delays in gathering data, inconsistency or duplication in the data, and cost accounting methods. In addition, the current limitations of the travel demand forecast model to account for tolling and mode sharing may influence the cost benefit analysis. As a result, the traffic forecast generated by the model may not fully capture travelers' behavior on tolling and mode shifting.

To address potential issues with obtaining cost information, Battelle team members will work with partnership agency staff to initiate the data request early in the evaluation process and follow up with any specific questions. To address the possible concerns with the travel demand forecast model, Battelle team members will work with Metropolitan Council staff to review the model runs, address any issues, and rerun the model.