Kentucky Highway Rating System

This study had two goals: 1. Formulate a new method for generating roadway adequacy ratings; 2. Construct an appropriate data set and then test the method by comparing it to the results of the HPMS-AP method. The recommended methodology builds on the previous methodology, the HPMS-AP. However, the recommended differs from the HPMS-AP in that it incorporates crash data into the adequacy rating and increases the relative weight given to indicators of roadway safety for the appropriate functional classification of highways. The software for the proposed highway rating system is in a format that permits what if scenarios. The comparison of the proposed method with the HPMS-AP shows tl:e former more effectively identifies the roads with inadequacies

The Crisis in State Highway Finances: Its Roots, Current Effects, and Some Possible Remedies

This paper focuses on the American states and the sources of the expanding structural imbalance between their highway-related revenues on the one hand and expenditures for transportation infrastructure needs on the other. The paper describes the roots of the funding problem over recent decades, looks at some of the responses taken at the state and federal level, and discusses their inherent limitations as solutions to this funding crisis. The paper also presents several policy recommendations for increasing revenues. We demonstrate that a variable rate gas tax indexed to the construction cost index and improvements in automobile fuel efficiency and a tax on large commercial trucks based on equivalent standard axle loads (an esal-mile tax) would more effectively fund the state highway system and reduce the need for more spending on maintenance and new facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR

How Effective is the International Fuel Tax Agreement as a Multistate Tax Administration Model? A View From the States

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) was established to reduce the complexities of reporting, allocating, and collecting diesel fuel taxes from interstate commercial carriers operating in multiple jurisdictions. This paper examines IFTA\u27s effectiveness as a multistate tax administration model from the perspective of the states. We identify three criteria of effectiveness and use a survey of IFTA officials in the member states and provinces as well as additional data provided by IFTA, Inc to assess IFTA\u27s effectiveness. We conclude that (1) IFTA promotes inter-jurisdictional cooperation and revenue transfers; (2) carriers do not locate disproportionately in low tax jurisdictions; and (3) IFTA\u27s audit system, which relies on carrier record-keeping, may not be effectively preventing tax evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR

The Effects of Discussion and Information on Public Support for Tax and Fee Increases for Transportation

This research note compares the effect on willingness to raise taxes and government fees of three common approaches to public consultation: (a) a telephone survey with no information or discussion, (b) a focus group with discussion but no information relating need to the proposed tax or fee, and (c) a focus group with discussion and such information. Our purpose is twofold: (a) illustrate the contribution of pertinent information to public acceptance of tax or fee increases, and (b) suggest a more comprehensive and informative approach to consultation with the public. We do so using the examples of raising the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. The results show that the combination of information and discussion produces the greatest level of support for both revenue enhancing options. Implications for presenting proposals to raise taxes and fees are discussed

Outsourcing Expert Services by State Transportation Departments: A Look at Effects on Cost, Quality, and Changing Employment Levels

Privatization has increasingly become a policy option for government agencies struggling to meet rising demands for services but with fewer resources. In the transportation arena, many state departments of transportation (DOTs) have privatized by outsourcing highway functions to the private sector. But the outsourcing of technical and expert services such as those related to the design and construction of highway infrastructure may result in a smaller or less knowledgeable DOT workforce that is unable to perform the necessary contract management to ensure the quality of the work done by contractors. We posit an outsourcing process in which DOTs respond to the combination of increased demand for highway services and growing workforce constraints by contracting out much of the work formerly performed by in-house personnel. This, in turn, can produce perceptions of quality problems regarding the outsourced work and a subsequent expansion of the workforce. We examine the extent to which different highway-related tasks are being outsourced, the effect of workforce and employment factors on outsourcing, the perceptions of highway officials regarding the impact of outsourcing on cost-effectiveness and the service quality of the outsourced work, and subsequent employment levels

2023 Final Report for Databases in the 2022 Traffic Records Improvement Plan: Facilitating the Development of Projects to Attain the Goals in the Implementation Plan for the 2022-26 Traffic Records Strategic Plan

During fiscal year 2023, with financial support (Grant #M3Da-2022-04) from the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC)-continued its work with traffic database officials to facilitate successful attainment of the remaining goals from the 2017-21 Traffic Records Strategic Plan (TRSP), which goals are in the 2022-26 TRSP Transportation Records Improvement Plan (TRIP). For most databases, some new goals were developed; this required further refinement of some projects or strategies to improve database performance. Projects to complete the goals in the TRIP were continued and some completed for the following databases: CRASH, Citation/Adjudication, Injury Surveillance (KIPRC and EMS), Vehicle Registration, Roadway, and Driver Licensing

Long-Term Maintenance Needs Planning

This research contributes to Kentucky’s knowledge base of long-term maintenance needs in two parts. Part 1 presents an estimate of the average revenue needed to maintain four categories of highway in the first fifteen years after each is built or resurfaced. Total maintenance costs per mile for four types of facilities in five AADT volume categories were estimated. The results suggest that Kentucky is not resurfacing all its roads in a timely manner. Part II presents background information on preventive maintenance programs in the states. A review of the states found two recurring themes. The first was the widespread adoption of two types of preventive measures: thin overlays and crack sealing. The second theme was the adoption of maintenance schedules to ensure timely maintenance. The report recommends the development of a routine pavement maintenance program with three elements: (1) more timely resurfacing, (2) scheduled inspections of drainage and ditching, and (3) crack sealing. It is also recommended that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet adopt ASSHTO’s recommended performance criteria and targets for sub-drainage assets

Two Models of Teacher Accountability Toward an Explanation for the Disappointing Results of Some Market-Based School Reforms

Accountability is a pivotal concern of applied social science. This article asserts that in many situations a full explanation of the sources of accountability requires the application of concepts from sociology and management science, in addition to those from the market-based approaches inspired by economics. The article describes the market-based approach to accountability exemplified by agency theory, applies it to school reform and derives several predictions about the likely success of market-based approaches to school reform, and documents the lack of evidence supporting the contention that programs for school choice will markedly improve teacher work effort and performance (as measured by student test scores). The social actor approach, rooted in sociological and management theories, is introduced and used to describe the pressures and norms operating in the public schools that foster accountability even in the absence of competition between schools for students. The article concludes with some implications for practice and research on public sector accountability

Assessment Program for Kentucky Traffic Records

During 2013, the Kentucky Transportation Center identified 117 potential performance metrics for the ten databases in the Kentucky Traffic Records System. This report summarizes the findings of three main tasks completed in 2014: (1) assessment of the utility of each metric and/or the availability of data; (2) collection of data on the metrics deemed useful with available data; and (3) assessment the possibility of incorporating a number of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) elements into the CRASH database. Interviews with liaisons for each database reduced the number of metrics from 117 to 51. The reason for rejecting the metric as useless is provided in two tables. Data on the useful and data available metrics is reported in one or more tables for each database. The review of the CRASH database for compliance with MMUCC found that 470 of 682 elements are currently MMUCC compliant. A total of 137 elements could be added to the CRASH database, which would render it 89% MMUCC compliant. A list of tentative conclusions is provided

For Whom the Tunnel Be Tolled: A Four-Factor Model for Explaining Willingness-to-Pay Tolls

This research examines citizen acceptance of tolls and road pricing, and specifically focuses on determinants of the individual’s expressed willingness-to-pay tolls to use a tunnel express lane that would be free of traffic delays. We answer the research question “What factors influence citizens’ willingness-to-pay tolls” by empirically estimating a four factor model of willingness-to-pay: (a) direct benefit to the respondent; (b) relative cost over time; (c) community concern; and (d) political and environmental liberalism. We use data about citizen perceptions from the Life in Hampton Roads Survey, a survey of residents of Hampton Roads, Virginia. We find that willingness-to-pay is primarily driven and motivated by self-interest, through a balancing of benefit to cost relative to individual income and frequency of use. In addition, concern for the community also contributes to willingness-to-pay tolls. The individual’s perception of government’s trustworthiness, a reflection of political and environmental beliefs, also influences the extent to which an individual is willing to pay tolls