Research Project Description
Systematic Procedures to Determine Incentive/Disincentive Dollar Amount for Highway Transportation Construction Projects
Project Number: 2908
Project Objective
The objective of this research project is to develop systematic procedures to determine Incentive/Disincentive (I/D) amounts and enhance the decision-making process for I/D contracting policy in highway transportation construction projects.
Principal Investigator:
Jae-Ho Pyeon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San Jose State University
Team Members:
Dr. E.B. Lee, Ph.D., Research Engineer, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Berkeley
Project Abstract:
The Federal Highway Administration has encouraged state highway agencies to implement I/D contracting provisions to shorten project duration during highway transportation construction. Many state highway agencies, including Caltrans, have implemented I/D provisions to improve a contractor´s time performance in transportation projects. Although I/D contracting has been used in many states, there is as yet no systematic and practical decision-making procedure for the determination of I/D dollar amounts to assist project planners and managers and to refine the use of I/D provisions. Therefore, the issue of determining appropriate I/D dollar amounts has been a major barrier for many transportation district project planners and engineers wanting to use I/D provisions for their transportation construction projects. In order to encourage transportation districts to implement I/D provisions more frequently and with confidence, it is necessary to develop improved systematic procedures to determine I/D dollar amounts to assist district project planners and engineers improve the decision-making process. The research team will collect transportation construction I/D project data, evaluate daily and/or maximum I/D dollar amounts in terms of project time performance, and perform data analysis to calculate road user cost per day for I/D projects. Finally, the research team will deliver systematic procedures to determine I/D dollar amounts to assist the decision-making process for district project planners and engineers in order to enhance and strengthen the I/D project decision-making process. The proposed procedure will enable project planners and managers to better set up daily and/or maximum I/D dollar amounts to motivate the contractor to complete a project early.
Task Description:
Task 1: Literature Review
The research team will review published research related to I/D contracting dollar amount determination and evaluation, and obtain up-to-date information on current practices of I/D contracting experiences with regard to maximum and daily I/D amounts.
Task 2: Collection of Project Data
The required project data, such as annual average daily traffic (AADT), length of project, average operating speed, vehicle operating costs, I/D daily dollar amount, maximum incentive cap amount, number of lanes added, project descriptions, and construction time and cost, will be collected.
Task 3:Survey
Project data obtained will be evaluated using project performance indices; project performance data will be analyzed and evaluated with regard to project outcomes in two key areas: time and cost. Statistical analysis will be performed to identify the relationship between I/D dollar amount and project time performance. The impact of I/D dollar amounts on project time performance will be quantified.
Task 4:Development of Procedures for Daily I/D Amount
Using the Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) software, daily road user costs will be calculated and be used for the determination of daily I/D amount. Incorporating the statistical analysis results and CA4PRS into systematic procedures to determine an appropriate I/D amount, the researchers will propose improved procedures to assist transportation project planners and managers and to improve I/D project time performance.
Task 5: Prepare and Submit Draft and Final Reports
A draft report will be prepared to document the results of this research. The final report will include the literature review, current practice to determine I/D dollar amount, statistical analysis for I/D dollar amount usage, and development of the procedures for maximum or daily I/D amount.
Technology Transfer:
At least one paper will be prepared and submitted to a referred conference, such as the TRB Annual Meeting and a minimum of one paper will be submitted to appropriate transportation journals, such as the Journal of Transportation Engineering or the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Upon publication, results of the project will be disseminated through the MTI website as a pdf version of the final report.
Potential Benefits of Project:
This research will provide a better understanding of the relationship between the daily and/or maximum I/D dollar amount and project time performance. The proposed procedures to determine an appropriate I/D dollar amount for a highway transportation construction project will provide systematic guidelines to improve I/D project usage. Ultimately, the proposed procedures will help to maximize I/D project time performance and improve efficiencies in spending public funds for I/D projects.
Project Funding: $49,886.00
