scholarly journals Considerations for the development of a driver distraction safety rating system for new vehicles

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-34
Author(s):  
Kelly Imberger ◽  
Christopher Poulter ◽  
Michael Regan ◽  
Mitchell Cunningham ◽  
Michael Paine
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Test Protocol ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Road Crash ◽  
Victorian Department

Drivers engage in a wide range of non-driving related tasks while driving that have potential to distract to them and compromise their safety. These include interactions with infotainment systems built into the vehicle by vehicle manufacturers. These systems enable the performance of communication, entertainment, navigation and internet browsing tasks. Performing these tasks can degrade driving performance and increase crash risk. Not all infotainment technologies in new vehicles are equal in terms of their potential to distract. This paper documents the findings of a study commissioned by the Victorian Department of Transport to determine the feasibility of developing a test protocol for rating the distraction potential of new vehicles entering the Australian market. A literature review, consultation with expert international researchers and industry representatives, and workshops, were conducted in order to determine those elements of the HMI design of infotainment systems that should be assessed, identify suitable candidate test methods for assessing the visual and cognitive load imposed on drivers when performing infotainment tasks, and derive options for a distraction rating system. In addition, safety/rating assessment program reviews and a cost-benefit analysis of introducing a distraction rating system were undertaken. Eight potential distraction test methods were discerned from the literature and consultation. It was concluded that the most suitable test protocol for a distraction rating system involves the use of an HMI design checklist in combination with measurement of the visual and cognitive load imposed on drivers when performing specific infotainment tasks, using the VOT and DRT, respectively. Eight options for introducing a distraction safety rating as a consumer or NCAP distraction rating are presented. Each option builds upon the previous, with the first option being the development of voluntary guidelines (where vehicle manufacturers work to these guidelines on a voluntary basis) to option eight, where NCAPs incorporate a distraction rating in the overall vehicle safety rating. The benefits of introducing a highly effective (best case) distraction rating system are estimated to result in a road crash saving of approximately AU$28 per ‘improved/low distraction’ vehicle per year.

scholarly journals A Methodological Framework for Sustainable Office Building Renovation Using Green Building Rating Systems and Cost-Benefit Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6156
Author(s):  
Nataša Šuman ◽  
Mojca Marinič ◽  
Milan Kuhta
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Benefit Analysis

Sustainable development is a priority for the future of our society. Sustainable development is of particular importance to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, both for new buildings and for the renovation of existing buildings. Great potential for sustainable development lies in the renovation of existing office buildings. This paper introduces a new framework for identifying the best set of renovation strategies for existing office buildings. The framework applies selected green building rating system criteria and cost-effective sustainable renovation solutions based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and thus provides a novelty in decision-making support for the sustainable renovation of office buildings at an early-stage. The framework covers all necessary steps and activities including data collection, determination of the required level of renovation, selection of the green building rating system, identification of impact categories and criteria, and final evaluation and decision-making using CBA. The framework can be used in conjunction with different systems and according to different regional characteristics. The applicability of the addressing procedure is shown through a case study of a comprehensive renovation of an office building in the city of Maribor.

Noisy Motorcycles and Barriers and Quieter Pavements for Traffic Noise Abatement: Summaries of Two TQA Workshops

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. 4144-4153
Author(s):  
Paul Donavan
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Noise Mitigation ◽  
Community Noise ◽  
National Cooperative

In the Technology for a Quieter America report, motorcycles were mentioned three times, once in terms of standard test methods and twice in relation to community noise. In New York City, motorcycles placed in the top 10 bothersome noise sources identified by residents. Although there are regulated levels that manufacturers must meet, complaints about in-service motorcycle noise persist. To address this issue, a round table meeting was held in August 2012 with a broad spectrum of participants representing manufacturers, regulators, and other interested, knowledgeable engineers. In preparation of the TQA report, a workshop entitled Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for Noise Control found that CBA was being applied in the area of traffic noise mitigation in regard to the use of barriers and/or quieter pavement. To address the particular CBA issues for this topic, a workshop was held in January 2014 with state and federal transportation officials and the research team responsible for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRP Report 738, Evaluating Pavement Strategies and Barriers for Noise Mitigation. The findings of these two meetings are summarized in this paper.

Tackling conservation/welfare conflicts in the management of wild animals

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Review Process ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ethical Review Process

During the last century there were two distinct and profound changes in attitudes to animals. First, it became widely understood that human activities and anthropogenic changes to the environment present a serious threat to biological diversity. In response to this many programmes to protect habitat and to conserve species have been launched. Second, advances in various fields of science led to a strengthening belief in many societies that a wide range of animals may have the capacity for consciousness and thus suffering. This has led to growing concern for the welfare of animals - the quality of their lives - and to the development of extensive bodies of welfare legislation in many countries. Concerns for species conservation and concerns for individual animal welfare do not always pull in the same direction. Around the world, conflicts are becoming commonplace between those who believe it can be justifiable to compromise the interests of individual animals in order to prevent species extinctions and those who do not. Such conflicts may be addressed and hopefully avoided or minimized through use of an ethical review process in which conservation benefits and welfare costs are carefully identified, considered and weighed in a cost/benefit analysis. A second function of this review process is to ensure that, where the decision is taken to proceed with a conservation programme that may adversely affect the welfare of some individuals, all necessary steps are taken to minimize these threats and their possible impacts.

Cost–benefit and water resources policy: a survey

Water Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank A. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Water Policy ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Policy Cost ◽  
The Right

This paper reviews recent developments in cost–benefit analysis for water policy researchers who wish to understand the applications of economic principles to inform emerging water policy debates. The cost–benefit framework can provide a comparison of total economic gains and losses resulting from a proposed water policy. Cost–benefit analysis can provide decision-makers with a comparison of the impacts of two or more water policy options using methods that are grounded in time-tested economic principles. Economic efficiency, measured as the difference between added benefits and added costs, can inform water managers and the public of the economic impacts of water programs to address peace, development, health, the environment, climate and poverty. Faced by limited resources, cost–benefit analysis can inform policy choices by summarizing trade-offs involved in designing, applying, or reviewing a wide range of water programs. The data required to conduct a cost–benefit analysis are often poor but the steps needed to carry out that analysis require posing the right questions.

Health Economics of Vaccination and Immunization Practices

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Szucs
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Year ◽  
Cost Utility ◽  
Cost Effectiveness Analysis ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Effectiveness Analysis ◽  
Wide Range

The economic importance of vaccines lies partly in the burden of disease that can be avoided and partly in the competition for resources between vaccines and other interventions. Decision-makers are increasingly demanding hard economic data as a basis for the allocation of limited healthcare resources. The main types of evaluation available are cost-benefit analysis (best use of allocated resources), cost-effectiveness analysis (a tool that helps policy-makers decide on the overall allocation of resources), and cost-utility analysis (quality-adjusted life year [QALY] which allows for a direct comparison of a wide range of medical interventions). The cost per QALY for a range of vaccinations can be compared in order to plan a vaccination program. Public health vaccines warrant a cost-benefit approach, in order to determine if they are worthwhile, whereas recommended vaccines might be more usefully assessed by cost-effectiveness analysis. Although cost-savings do not necessarily equate with cost-effectiveness, cost-savings are achieved in many vaccination programs.

An evaluation of the economic impact of ten European e-health applications

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 62-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl A Stroetmann ◽  
Tom Jones ◽  
Alexander Dobrev ◽  
Veli N Stroetmann
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impact ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Health Spending ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Planning Horizon ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Record System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Health Applications

We conducted a cost benefit analysis of ten e-health applications in different European countries. All ten cases showed a positive economic impact – a sustainable net benefit. For the ten cases together, it would take four years for the present value of annual benefits to exceed the present value annual costs. The range was from 2 years (for teleradiology) to 7 years (for an electronic patient record system and search meta-engine, and for a Web-based, national electronic health record system). The wide range reflects the differences in scope and complexity between sites. The average time needed for total benefits to exceed total costs was five years. This means that e-health spending must be dealt with as an investment in health-care resources along with other investments in staff and assets, on a medium to long-term planning horizon.

An Empirical Study of Usability Testing: Heuristic Evaluation Vs. User Testing

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 774-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enlie Wang ◽  
Barrett Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
User Testing ◽  
Testing Methods ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Wide Range

In this study, two different usability-testing methods (Heuristic Evaluation and User Testing) were selected to test the usability of a pre-release version of software searching for Science, Mathematics and Engineering education materials. Our major goal is to compare Heuristic Evaluation and User Testing in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and cost/benefit analysis. We found that Heuristic Evaluation was more efficient than User Testing in finding usability problems (41 vs. 10), while User Testing was more effective than Heuristic Evaluation in finding major problems (70% vs.12%). in general, Heuristic Evaluation appears to be more economic in finding a wide range of usability problems by incurring a low cost in comparison to User Testing. However, User Testing can provide more insightful data from real users such as user's performance and satisfaction.

scholarly journals A Cost–Benefit Based, Parametric Procedure to Screen Existing Irrigation and Municipal Supply Reservoirs for Wind Energy Storage

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Arena ◽  
Mario Genco ◽  
Alessio Lombardo ◽  
Ignazio Meli ◽  
Mario Mazzola
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Release Process ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Wide Range

Pumped hydro storage (PHS) is one of the more suitable energy storage technologies to provide bulk storage of intermittent renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind. Since the main limiting factors to the expansion of this mature technology are environmental and financial concerns, the use of an existing reservoir can help mitigate both types of impacts. In addition, the high number of reservoirs for municipal and irrigation supply in many areas of the world makes the idea of using PHS as a relatively diffuse, open-market, technology for RES management attractive. These arguments in favor of PHS must, however, be convincing for investors and regulators from an economic standpoint. To this end, this paper presents a methodological tool to screen the feasibility of a PHS facility around an existing reservoir based on the principles of cost–benefit analysis, calibrated with data from Sicily, Italy. Each potential plant is characterized by two locational and two plant-specific parameters. Costs and benefits are assessed through a simulation model of the storage–release process on an hourly basis. Costs include both investment, and operation and maintenance expenditures, while the benefits considered include the opportunity cost of the current energy mix substituted by the stored energy, and the avoided CO2 emissions. The evaluation exercise is carried out parametrically, i.e., looking at a large number of combinations of the four parameters, in order to explore a wide range of possible plant configurations and to identify optimal ones under different locational conditions. A sensitivity analysis performed on models’ parameters points out the sensitivity of results to benefit, rather than cost-related, input parameters, such as the efficiency of the generating and pumping system and the opportunity cost of energy.

scholarly journals A Simple GDP-based Model for Public Investments at Risk

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Bernard Lapeyre ◽  
Emile Quinet
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Stopping Time ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Public Investments ◽  
Time Problem ◽  
Wide Range

Investment decision rules in risk situations have been extensively analyzed for firms. Most research focus on financial options and the wide range of methods based on dynamic programming currently used by firms to decide on whether and when to implement an irreversible investment under uncertainty. The situation is quite different for public investments, which are decided and largely funded by public authorities. These investments are assessed by public authorities, not through market criteria, but through public Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) procedures. Strangely enough, these procedures pay little attention to risk and uncertainty. The present text aims at filling this gap. We address the classic problem of whether and when an investment should be implemented. This stopping time problem is established in a framework where the discount rate is typically linked toGDP, which follows a Brownian motion, and where the benefits and cost of implementation follow linked Brownian motions. We find that the decision rule depends on a threshold value of the First Year Advantage/Cost ratio. This threshold can be expressed in a closed form including the means, standard deviations and correlations of the stochastic variables. Simulations with sensible current values of these parameters show that the systemic risk, coming from the correlation between the benefits of the investment and economic growth, is not that high, and that more attention should be paid to risks relating to the construction cost of the investment; furthermore, simple rules of thumb are designed for estimating the above-mentioned threshold. Some extensions are explored. Others are suggested for further research.

scholarly journals Application of Quality Function Deployment to the Management of Information Physical Security

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-732
Author(s):  
Mara Lombardi ◽  
Fabio Garzia ◽  
Mario Fargnoli ◽  
Anselmo Pellizzi ◽  
Soodamani Ramalingam
Keyword(s):  
Quality Function Deployment ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Security System ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Customer Requirements ◽  
Physical Security ◽  
Quality Function ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Wide Range

Information physical security (IPS) refers to the prevention from intended attacks against all material devices and to the protection against deliberate attacks by supporting and managing related data/information. Information in today's world represents an important asset to be protected and for this reason it is necessary to adopt a suitable method for risk and security management. The Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method was originally developed as a tool capable of ensuring a valuable help in the design of products and services, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and value creation. The core of the method is the set of matrices called the ‘House of Quality’ (HoQ), which relates the Customer Requirements (CRs) with Engineering Characteristics (ECs): in other words, the HoQ is a way of translating customer requirements into design parameters. Numerous studies have demonstrated its use in a wide range of sectors. In particular, its application in the security engineering context has been investigated by means of the House of Security (HoS). Its objective is represented by the classification of the components of a security system in response to different scenarios of voluntary attacks. Based on this, the aim of the study consists in extending such an approach to information physical security. More in detail, the purpose of this paper is the development of a systematic model, based on the HoS and applicable to information physical security, that allows the definition and raking of the vital components of an information physical security system (IPSS). In this way, it is possible to perform a proper cost/benefit analysis, considering a general physical layout of a certain organization so that the results can be wide-ranging and applicable in different contexts.

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