Multicriteria Framework to Aid Comparison of Roadway Improvement Projects

Abstract

A multicriteria decision-making framework to aid the selection of roadway improvement projects is developed, based on the needs of a state highway agency. Three major factors—crash-risk reduction, performance improvement, and project cost—are addressed in a multicriteria tool that enables the comparison of even very diverse projects on a common ground and provides information on the trade-offs that come with the selection of one or the other project. The contribution is unique in that no overall scores need to be generated, acknowledging that although decision support can be provided, project selection will be made by human decision makers, who should be able to incorporate additional information, e.g., environmental or aesthetic impacts, not necessarily available to the analyst. The use of this framework primarily is seen at an early stage of planning, which generally is characterized by the absence of detailed information for the potential projects. A real-world application of the proposed methodology is demonstrated, and various potential applications and decision-making contexts in which the use of this tool could be beneficial are highlighted.