Project

Kansas Department of Transportation Project Performance Measurement and Priorization

For the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), EDR Group (now EBP) was part of the leadership team to improve the process for incorporating economic factors into transportation investment decision-making. This work involves a series of ongoing meetings to coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation and a statewide committee that reviewed alternative ways to rank, prioritize, and select among highway project proposals.

The work of EDR Group included a critical examination of alternative forms of economic benefit and performance measures, and their use in benefit-cost analysis, economic impact analysis, and multi-criteria analysis. As part of this process, pilot studies were conducted to show the economic benefits and impacts of both highway preservation and new capacity investments, as well as rail passenger investments. The staff of EDR Group gave testimony to the state legislature regarding factors affecting the state's economic competitiveness and development.

Ultimately, EDR Group helped support KDOT in the development of a multiple criteria rating system for its T-Works program of long term investment.  Ratings are based on a scoring system that considers engineering measures of user benefit, economic growth benefits, and local consultation input factors.