Evaluation of Toll Options with Quick-Response Analysis Tools: Case Study of the Capital Beltway

Author(s):  
Patrick DeCorla-Souza

Analysis tools in current use in transportation decision-making processes are not well suited for evaluating toll highway alternatives against more traditional free highway alternatives. How existing analysis tools might be used in evaluating toll options was examined. A case study demonstrates that relatively simple analytical procedures may be used to estimate the impact of pricing alternatives and to generate information for use by local decision makers. The case study also demonstrates that pricing alternatives often can accomplish the purpose of a major highway project more efficiently and more effectively than conventional alternatives that exclude pricing, while generating revenue to support bonds for project construction or to fund improved transit and paratransit services. With toll revenue to back bonds, project delays due to constrained funding can be avoided, and the public can be provided with superior mobility earlier and at lower public cost.

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Noble

This article examines the role local decision-makers played in the development of Orillia. This small Ontario community exhibited as high a degree of boosterism as that found in much larger centres, and the economic growth of the town was primarily the result of growth strategies pursued by Orillia's entrepreneurial decision-makers. Although this group implemented a variety of successful growth strategies, this study concentrates on two of the most important. First, the businessmen supported a progressive railway policy which brought two competing lines to the community. This action enlarged the town's hinterland and enabled local businessmen to utilize a diverse pattern of buying and selling. Second, the entrepreneurs used the municipal corporation to finance the construction of North America's first municipally owned hydro-electric power system. This development enabled the town to successfully make the transition from a declining commercial centre to a small manufacturing town.


1969 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean McGrath

Before introducing a new pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical agent into clinical practice, local decision makers need to consider not only the costs and benefits of the product, but also the impact that it will have on local health-care priorities and on the manner in which services are delivered. Its use is likely to require updated protocols, new patient information, staff training and changes to the manner in which clinics are organised – all of which can take many months to develop and implement. Hence, timely introduction of a new product relies on the delivery of advance information via a carefully planned market access strategy. Ideally, local decision makers need to receive initial notification of the likely impact of a product at least 18 months before its launch date, with follow-up communications at intervals thereafter. Failure to devise and fund a market access strategy in good time can reduce the company's return on its product. More important, patients may have to wait for access to the new product, and there is a potential for inequality of care when the introduction of a drug is delayed in some areas and not in others.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-121
Author(s):  
Maruša Goluža ◽  
Maruška Šubic-Kovač ◽  
Drago Kos ◽  
David Bole

We analyzed planning mechanisms and evaluated their performance in achieving legitimacy in infrastructure planning in Slovenia. Planning mechanisms were divided according to the concept of input, throughput and output legitimacy. We conducted a document analysis and interviews to assess their effectiveness in achieving legitimate decisions. Although the analyzed decision-making process declaratively promoted democratic principles, the mechanisms failed to satisfactorily enhance the legitimacy of decisions. The study revealed inadequate communication approaches, both in the decision-makers' relationship with the public and within the expert discourse. Accordingly, the study argues for more genuine communication with the public and within academia to address legitimacy challenges in increasingly conflictual decision-making processes.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Adam Seth Levine

ABSTRACT Many people seek to increase practitioners’ use of research evidence in decision making. Two common strategies are dissemination and interaction. Dissemination can reach a wide audience at once, yet interactive strategies can be beneficial because they entail back-and-forth conversations to clarify how research evidence applies in a particular context. To date, however, we lack much direct evidence of the impact of interaction beyond dissemination. Partnering with an international sustainability-oriented NGO, I conducted a field experiment to test the impact of an interactive strategy (i.e., a single conversation) on practitioners’ use of research evidence in a pending decision. I find that the conversation had a substantial impact on research use relative to only receiving disseminated materials, which likely was due to increased self-efficacy. I also provide practical guidance on how researchers can apply this finding close to home by strengthening linkages with local decision makers.


Author(s):  
Patrick De Corla-Souza ◽  
Fred Skaer

Pricing can be incorporated into alternatives being considered during the National Environmental Policy Act process for major highway improvements in metropolitan areas, and the transportation performance and other impacts of pricing can be evaluated and compared with more traditional alternatives. A case study demonstrated that relatively simple analytical procedures may be used to estimate the impacts of pricing alternatives and generate information for use by local decision makers. It also demonstrated that pricing alternatives can accomplish the purpose and need of a major highway project in a way that effectively competes with conventional alternatives that exclude pricing while generating net revenue surpluses to make the funding of transportation improvements financially feasible.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sejun JANG ◽  
Ghang LEE

This study analyzed the impact of organizational factors on delays in building information modeling (BIM)- based coordination for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems from the decision-making perspective. Recently BIM-based coordination has been regarded as a critical phase in project delivery but suffers from delays during the coordination process. This study investigated three complexity factors that often contribute to coordination delays: the number of participants – the total number of participants involved in a decision-making process for resolving a coordination issue; the level of the decision makers – the highest decision-maker involved in a problem-resolution process; and the heterogeneity of participants –the number of trades related to an issue. Using 95 major coordination issues derived from 11,808 clashes in a case study, the correlations between the coordination time and the complexity factors were analyzed. The coordination time linearly increased as each factor increased. The number of participants had the highest correlation with the coordination time, followed by the level of decision makers and the heterogeneity of participants. The findings stress the significance of integration between BIM and lean approaches, such as Obeya (big room) and Shojinka (flexible manpower line), during BIM-based coordination to expedite decision-making processes and eventually to reduce the coordination time.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 3366
Author(s):  
Daniel Suchet ◽  
Adrien Jeantet ◽  
Thomas Elghozi ◽  
Zacharie Jehl

The lack of a systematic definition of intermittency in the power sector blurs the use of this term in the public debate: the same power source can be described as stable or intermittent, depending on the standpoint of the authors. This work tackles a quantitative definition of intermittency adapted to the power sector, linked to the nature of the source, and not to the current state of the energy mix or the production predictive capacity. A quantitative indicator is devised, discussed and graphically depicted. A case study is illustrated by the analysis of the 2018 production data in France and then developed further to evaluate the impact of two methods often considered to reduce intermittency: aggregation and complementarity between wind and solar productions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 184 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Weich ◽  
Ricardo Araya

Vicente and his colleagues present admirably concise findings from a large epidemiological survey of non-psychotic psychiatric morbidity in four different geographical locations in Chile (Vicente et al, 2004, this issue). Without gainsaying the importance of psychiatric morbidity in that country, many readers, including local decision-makers, may find it difficult to assimilate these results.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalifa Al-Farsi ◽  
Ramzi EL Haddadeh

Information technology governance is considered one of the innovative practices that can provide support for decision-makers. Interestingly, it has become increasingly a de facto for organizations in seeking to optimise their performance. In principle, information technology governance has emerged to support organizations in the integration of information technology (IT) infrastructures and the delivery of high-quality services. On the other hand, decision-making processes in public sector organisations can be multi-faceted and complex, and decision makers play an important role in implementing technology in the public sector. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on current opportunities and challenges that IT governance is experiencing in the context of public sector services. In this respect, this paper examines the factors influencing the decision-making process to fully appreciate IT governance. Furthermore, this study focuses on combining institutional and individual perspectives to explain how individuals can take decisions in response to institutional influences.


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