In May 2002, Virginia's commonwealth transportation commissioner directed the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) to develop an improved method to estimate the project costs of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). After an effort to look across the United States and within VDOT for proven estimation methods, the study group found that VDOT's Fredericksburg district had been using an estimation worksheet for several years that produced consistent and reliable results. The study group concluded that no other methods examined had the specificity and inclusive nature of this tool. VTRC staff and the Fredericksburg staff who had developed the model expanded it by collecting extensive project data and obtaining evaluations of VDOT project management personnel statewide. The existing worksheet with roadway and bridge estimates was expanded to include construction engineering, to be applicable for Interstates and to generate estimates for right-of-way and utilities costs. Data on completed projects were collected from all VDOT districts to help calibrate the model further to account for cost variations across the state. The study group recognized early that a strong focus on project scoping was essential to ensuring accurate project estimation. Therefore, the group relied on input from the VDOT scoping committee that had been charged with exploring and developing recommendations for improving the scoping process. Testing of the tool was completed in the summer of 2003. Analyses of many completed VDOT construction projects showed that the estimation model yielded results that on average differed from actual final project costs by 22%.
Accurate predictions of cash balances are essential to the month-to-month operations of transportation departments. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) relies on a general cash flow forecasting model to predict monthly outflows and inflows of cash to various activities. VDOT’s model was developed in the mid-1980s and reflects the realities of that time. Much has changed in the operational aspects of VDOT since then. The cash flow model was updated. The research focused on two components (or submodels) of the general cash flow model: the monthly factors submodel, which is used to forecast monthly expenditures on construction contracts, and the maintenance expenditures submodel, which is used to forecast monthly outlays on maintenance activities. The result was an update of the basic elements of the monthly factors submodel while, for the most part, retaining the original underlying methodology. The research yielded a new methodology for the prediction of monthly expenditures on maintenance. The new forecasting method is based on a regression equation.
Citizens have higher expectations for meaningful involvement in decision making than ever before. The Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) use of the open-forum hearing format was assessed in response to pending legislation requiring the use of the traditional format for all highway location hearings. VDOT staff were concerned that substantial public input might be lost if this occurred. A comprehensive review of the literature on hearing formats, a survey completed by 235 citizens, and a survey on hearing formats completed by 84 transportation professionals representing 43 states are included. Citizens’ preferences for the ways in which hearings are conducted—one-on-one interaction, flexible scheduling, and the opportunity to comment in private—supported VDOT’s continued use of the open forum. The open-forum format does not, however, typically provide two features that some citizens want: the formal presentation about the project and the opportunity to hear the comments that others (“neighbors”) make for the record. The open forum was also the format of choice among transportation professionals. It was rated more highly (often substantially more highly) than either the combined format or the traditional format on seven of eight dimensions included in the survey. The exception was “providing what interest groups seem to want.” A compromise bill was engineered in the 2000 legislative session of Virginia’s General Assembly that would require VDOT to incorporate a public comment component into a location hearing upon the request of the local governing body or 25 or more citizens.
Details are given of the business relocation program at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), with a focus on the adequacy of federal payment ceilings for reestablishment and in-lieu-of-moving-costs (ILO) benefits. Under the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, relocated businesses have two payment options: reimbursement of actual moving costs and business reestablishment expenses or an ILO payment. The act specifies a $10,000 maximum, or ceiling, for reestablishment payments and a $20,000 maximum for ILO payments. Reports and policies on business relocations were reviewed, and interviews with relocation professionals in Virginia, other states, and the Federal Highway Administration were conducted. The study also included a mail survey of businesses relocated by VDOT. Statistical analyses were performed using VDOT business relocation data to estimate ( a) what the average reestablishment and ILO payments would have been without the federal limits and ( b) how much higher the limits would need to be to ensure that the majority of relocated businesses were compensated adequately. Substantial evidence was found that the federal limits on reestablishment and ILO payments are too low. For businesses relocated by VDOT, a maximum reestablishment payment of $26,534 and a maximum ILO payment of $31,112 would provide much more assurance that most businesses were being compensated for their true relocation costs (both values unadjusted for inflation since 1987)
The rental rates for centralized fleet passenger vehicles that the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Division of Fleet Management charges state agencies were investigated. Similar studies by Virginia’s Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission were reviewed, Fleet Management data were analyzed, and regression analyses were performed to develop new replacement criteria and more equitable rental rates for customers. The impacts of these suggested rates on the VDOT Fleet Management budget and customers were identified.
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