IMPROVED ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY

The Strategic Plan for Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems in the United States (Intelligent Vehicle Highway Society of America, 1992) cites improving productivity of individuals, organizations, and the economy as a whole as a basic objective of IVHS. From the institutional perspective, this objective can be achieved by reducing total institutional expenditures for the transportation infrastructure. From the individual and CVO perspective, improved economic productivity relates to specific gains by individuals and commercial operators. A closely related objective is improved energy consumption, which translates into cost savings for all components of the economy. Mean ratings and 95% CI for the importance of ATIS subsystems in meeting the objective of improved economic productivity in private and commercial applications is depicted in figure 7. Mean ratings for IRANS are near maximum for both private and commercial applications and, in both cases, review of 95% CI (see appendix A, table 41, for detailed values) indicates that IRANS was rated significantly higher than all other subsystems. This finding represents the common view that improved route selection and navigation will be the central capability supporting improved economic productivity. In the case of private applications, IMSIS was rated significantly higher than the remaining two subsystems, reflecting the view that increased access to commercial listings would serve as an economic stimulus to drivers of private vehicles. In contrast, IMSIS, ISIS, and IVSAWS ratings were not significantly different from one another for commercial applications.

Figure 7. Mean importance ratings for ATIS subsystems in meeting the objective of improved economic productivity for private and commercial vehicle applications.

Table 6 provides an overview of the performance objectives and measures associated with the general ATIS objective of improved economic productivity that were identified through the review of operational test plans, strategic plans, and interview notes. No performance requirements were identified within the transportation community. Three performance measures and seven performance objectives were identified, as described below.

Table 6. Improved economic productivity objectives, measures, and performance requirements.

Institutional Performance Objectives, Measures, and Requirements

Institutional goals addressing improved economic productivity were limited to four performance objectives. These objectives address reductions in new road construction costs, efficiencies in public service vehicle operations, efficiencies in roadway operations and maintenance, and improvements in transportation planning.

• Reduced new road construction costs - reductions in new roadway construction costs were identified as an objective in the DOT IVHS Strategic Plan: Report to Congress (Department of Transportation, 1992) and by interview respondents from the government sector. This performance objective is seen as being attained as a result of increased roadway traffic volume.
• Improved efficiency of roadway operations and maintenance - ATIS was seen by some interview respondents from the government sector as one component of the IVHS technologies that would provide improved data to more efficiently manage roadway maintenance and operations requirements. One specific application area is in electronic toll collection, which could result in reduced tollway collection costs.
• Improved efficiency in public service vehicle operations - this objective was identified by interview respondents from the government sector. Application of advanced fleet management capabilities (including automated fleet vehicle location; computer-aided dispatch; and integrated scheduling, routing, and navigation systems) provide the potential for increasing the productivity of public service vehicles. This could result in reduced numbers of vehicles required to provide a given level of service coverage.
• Improved efficiency of transportation planning - a final performance objective is to reduce the costs associated with and improve the quality of data collected for transportation planning, operations management, roadway construction and maintenance services, and user fee purposes. This objective was identified by government interviewees and in the IVHS America (Intelligent Vehicle Highway Society of America, 1992) and DOT IVHS Strategic Plan: Report to Congress (Department of Transportation, 1992).

Private Vehicle Driver Performance Objectives, Measures, and Requirements

• Reduced private vehicle operating costs - this performance measure would provide an indicator of cost savings to private vehicle operators. This requirement is closely related to energy efficiency and reduced travel miles. The measure was identified in the Mobility 2000 Operation Benefits report (Mobility 2000, 1990) and the FAST-TRAC evaluation plan (Underwood, 1993).

CVO Performance Objectives, Measures, and Requirements

CVO performance objectives and measures associated with economic productivity include various aspects of operational efficiency and effectiveness, as summarized below.

• Decreased vehicle operation costs - fuel efficiency savings are a very important requirement associated with improved productivity. One interview respondent from the R&D sector noted that even very small improvements in fuel efficiency represent a significant level of operations costs reductions.
• Increased vehicle service coverage - for any delivery vehicle that must travel through congested areas, increased service coverage for vehicles represents a basic measure of productivity. This is represented by the measures of reduced travel time for long-haul activities and increased numbers of deliveries for local delivery operations. These measures were identified by interview respondents from the R&D sector.
• Increased efficiency of dispatch operations - the efficiency of complex commercial vehicle dispatch operations could be increased through the application of advanced fleet management capabilities (including automated fleet vehicle location; computer-aided dispatch; and integrated scheduling, routing, and navigation systems). These benefits could be measured by staff hours required to support these operations.
• Improved timeliness of delivery - improved efficiency of commercial vehicle operations also translates into productivity gains by the client when more timely service is provided, as determined by client delays. This performance objective was identified by several respondents familiar with the CVO environment, as well as by the Mobility 2000 Operational Benefits report (Mobility 2000, 1990).
• Improved vehicle maintenance costs - in-vehicle CVO devices provide the capability to monitor truck performance, which can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of vehicle maintenance. This performance objective of reduced costs was identified by an interview respondent from the R&D sector