POLICY, FINANCE & ECONOMICS
A persistent challenge to federal, state, and local government agencies is identifying economically viable methods to finance new infrastructure projects while maintaining the operation and functionality of existing roads, highways, and bridges. With shrinking transportation budgets, it is imperative for these agencies to stretch their dollars and maximize returns on investment. KTC’s Policy, Finance, and Economics research group has worked with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and with federal agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and the United States Department of Transportation to understand the economic implications of policy proposals and emerging technologies, conduct financial data analysis, and examine legislative initiatives.
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Featured Project: Bridge Project Prioritization
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has previously used sufficiency ratings to prioritize bridge projects. These ratings weighted three factors – structural evaluation, design obsolescence, and asset importance – to determine eligibility for federal funding. However, this approach omitted factors which can justifiably be used to prioritize projects. Additionally, there was no way to combine risk and condition factors in prioritization, which inhibited KYTC’s ability to rank the relative importance of its assets to the overall network. Currently, input from district personnel informs bridge project prioritization; however, KYTC wants to integrate a Bridge Importance Index into the process, an approach several other states have adopted. Researchers in this group are collaborating with the Bridge Preservation and Special Projects and Initiatives groups to develop an index that synthesizes data on bridge condition and other factors. This work will help KYTC make project prioritization decisions and allow such information to be incorporated into risk-based asset management. Click here to read the final report.
Research in Progress
- Future Proofing KYTC’s Organizational Structure
- Incorporating Network-Level Friction Data into KYTC’s Pavement Resurfacing Prioritization
- Guidebook for Project Development (collaboration with Project Development)
- Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention of Transportation Professionals (collaboration with Special Projects and Initiatives)
- Accommodating Innovative Uses of Public Right of Way (collaboration with Special Projects and Initiatives)
- Innovative Methods to Strengthen Internal KYTC Communications (collaboration with Project Development)
- Developing a Cross Asset Allocation Mechanism (collaboration with Special Projects and Initiatives)
- Enhanced Pavement Prioritization (collaboration with Special Projects and Initiatives)
- Balancing Workforce Needs and Infrastructure Demands (collaboration with Construction engineering)
- Establishing a KYTC Lessons Learned Database (collaboration with Construction engineering)
- Mid-APPalachian Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (MAPP-CORE) Initiative
Completed Projects
- Training Curricula for KYTC Department of Highways
- Identification and Preservation of Core Competencies and Risk Management
- A Review of KY’s Extended Weight Hauling Programs
- Analysis of Truck Weight Limit Regulations
- Process Analysis for Disposal of Surplus Property
- Maintenance Overview and Budget Analysis
- Maintenance Field Operations Guide Manual
- Best Practices for Performance Measurement in Transportation Maintenance and Operations
- KRS and KAR Review of Models as a Legal Contract Document
- Evaluation of KYTC’s Maintenance Rating Program (MRP)
- Review of Initial Project Estimates for Design, Right of Way, and Utilities
- Analysis and Assessment of the Reimbursement Rates and Mechanisms for KY’s Publicly Funded Ferries
- Extended Weight Systems Pavement Analysis
- Electric Vehicles: Analysis of Revenue Issues and Charging Station Implementation Plans
Policy, Finance & Economics Faculty & Staff
Bryan Gibson
Gayle Marks
Bethany Paris
Research Associate