Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA/TX-11/0-6267-2 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date BENEFITS OF PUBLIC ROADSIDE SAFETY REST AREAS IN Published: May 2011 TEXAS: TECHNICAL REPORT 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Jodi L. Carson, Val J. Pezoldt, Nicholas Koncz, and Kwaku Obeng- Report 0-6267-2 Boampong 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Texas Transportation Institute The Texas A&M University System 11. Contract or Grant No. College Station, Texas 77843-3135 Project 0-6267 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Texas Department of Transportation Technical Report: Research and Technology Implementation Office September 2008–February 2011 P. O. Box 5080 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Austin, Texas 78763-5080 15. Supplementary Notes Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Project Title: Benefits of Public Roadside Safety Rest Areas in Texas URL: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6267-2.pdf 16. Abstract The objective of this investigation was to develop a benefit-cost analysis methodology for safety rest areas in Texas and to demonstrate its application in select corridors throughout the state. In addition, this project considered novel safety rest area development approaches that could reduce the public cost burden borne by individual public agencies. Based upon the available supporting data for Texas, a benefit-cost ratio relationship was developed that included safety, comfort and convenience, and excess travel and diversion benefits accrued by highway users; direct monetary benefits accrued by highway or other public agencies; economic development/tourism and specific business enterprise benefits accrued by external entities and direct monetary cost accrued by highway or other public agencies. The resulting method utilizes timely and relevant data and national/aggregate unit values, whose sources are carefully documented to ensure defensibility and repeatability of the benefit-cost ratios estimated for Texas. A noted shortcoming of the applied method is that it is heavily assumption-based—minor changes to any of the assumed values will influence the resultant benefit-cost ratios, although it is unclear to what extent these ratios would change. A second shortcoming not unique to this methodology relates to the quality and accessibility of supporting data, which challenged and in some instances prevented estimation of individual benefit and cost components. A high level of variability in individual benefit and cost component estimates—both within and between the three demonstration corridors—suggests limitations to the transferability of these results. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Safety Rest Area, Travel Information Center, No restrictions. This document is available to the Benefit, Cost public through NTIS: National Technical Information Service Alexandria, Virginia 22312 http://www.ntis.gov 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 238 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized BENEFITS OF PUBLIC ROADSIDE SAFETY REST AREAS IN TEXAS: TECHNICAL REPORT by Jodi L. Carson, P.E., Ph.D. Val J. Pezoldt Research Engineer Research Scientist Texas Transportation Institute Texas Transportation Institute and Nicholas Koncz, Ph.D. Kwaku Obeng-Boampong, P.E. Assistant Research Scientist Assistant Research Engineer Texas Transportation Institute Texas Transportation Institute Report 0-6267-2 Project 0-6267 Project Title: Benefits of Public Roadside Safety Rest Areas in Texas Performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration Published: May 2011 TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE The Texas A&M University System College Station, Texas 77843-3135 DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government and the State of Texas do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. The researcher in charge was Dr. Jodi L. Carson, P.E. (Texas Board of Professional Engineers 94536 and Montana Department of Labor and Industries, Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors 16210). v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was conducted in cooperation with TxDOT and FHWA. The authors would like to thank Mr. Paul G. Campbell—Facilities Management Section, Maintenance Division, TxDOT; Mr. Jim Hollis—Programs Director, Safe Communities, Division Traffic Safety Section, Traffic Operations Division, TxDOT; Ms. Brenda Harper—Director, Travel Services Section, Travel Information Division, TxDOT; and Ms. Martha Martin, Travel Information Division, TxDOT for serving as Project Advisors and Andrew Keith—Supervisor, Safety Rest Area Program, Facilities Management Section, Maintenance Division, TxDOT for overseeing the project as Project Director. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: SAFETY REST AREA BENEFIT-COST COMPONENTS AND LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................. 3 SAFETY REST AREA BENEFITS ........................................................................................... 3 Highway Users ........................................................................................................................ 4 Highway and Other Public Agencies .................................................................................... 10 External Entities .................................................................................................................... 11 SAFETY REST AREA COSTS ............................................................................................... 13 Highway Users ...................................................................................................................... 13 Highway and Other Public Agencies .................................................................................... 14 External Entities .................................................................................................................... 15 SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THIS INVESTIGATION .................................... 16 CHAPTER 3: PROPOSED SAFETY REST AREA BENEFIT-COST METHODOLOGY IN TEXAS .................................................................................................. 17 BENEFIT COMPONENT ANALYSIS METHODS ............................................................... 17 Highway Users ...................................................................................................................... 20 Highway and Other Public Agencies .................................................................................... 33 External Entities .................................................................................................................... 36 COST COMPONENT ANALYSIS METHODS ..................................................................... 40 Highway and Other Public Agencies .................................................................................... 42 COMPREHENSIVE BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS METHOD ............................................. 47 CHAPTER 4: SAFETY REST AREA BENEFIT-COST ESTIMATES FOR SELECT DEMONSTRATION CORRIDORS IN TEXAS ..................................................................... 49 DEMONSTRATION CORRIDORS ........................................................................................ 50 U.S. 287 between Ft. Worth and Amarillo ........................................................................... 50 IH 45 between Houston and Dallas ...................................................................................... 50 IH 10 between San Antonio and Anthony ............................................................................ 52 ESTIMATED HIGHWAY USER BENEFITS ........................................................................ 54 Safety Benefits ...................................................................................................................... 54 Comfort and Convenience Benefits ...................................................................................... 57 Excess Travel and Diversion Benefits .................................................................................. 59 ESTIMATED HIGHWAY AND OTHER PUBLIC AGENCY BENEFITS ........................... 64 Direct Monetary Revenue Benefits ....................................................................................... 65 vii ESTIMATED EXTERNAL