U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| User's Manual |
| This user's manual is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-16-020 Date: September 2015 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-16-020 Date: September 2015 |
The required user inputs listed below are essential to develop accurate estimates of benefits and costs. The data elements are arranged in the order they appear in the tool, assuming users move through the tool in the default order. The tables below describe, for each required input, the acceptable data types and ranges.
Tables 1though 4 show the acceptable data elements for the various fields. Refer to the Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet “TIM_BC_Input_Output_Variables.xlsx” for more detailed explanations of each variable used in this tool.
Table 1: Acceptable data elements for Project Name/Project Title fields.
| ID | Information | Corresponding Interface Element | Format/Type | Valid Options | Required Input? |
| 1 | Program Name/Project Title | Text entry box | String | Any string | Yes |
Table 2: Acceptable data elements for the Project Details screen.
| ID | Information | Corresponding Interface Element | Format/Type | Valid Options | Required Input? |
| 2 | State | Drop-down box | String | Any of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia | Yes |
| 3 | Annual Program Cost | Text entry box | Double or Long | Any value > 0 | Yes, unless cost details (#3a–3h) are provided. |
| 4 | Number of incidents on program roadway | Text entry box | Long | Any integer >= 0 | Yes |
| 5 | Number of segments in program roadway | Text entry box | Integer | Any integer between 0 and 30 | Yes |
| 6 | Study Period Duration in months | Text entry box | Integer | 1, 2, 3, … 12 | Yes |
If the overall total annual program cost (element 3 inTable 2) is not known by the user, relevant program information and data can be entered into the sidebar in the following fields to build the cost:
Table 3. Acceptable data elements for the cost calculator.
| ID | Information | Corresponding Interface Element | Format/ Type | Valid Options | Required Input? |
| 3a | Patrol vehicle type | Text entry box | String | Any string | Yes, unless overall annual program cost estimate (#3) is provided. |
| 3b | Driver's salary ($/hour) | Text entry box | Double | Any value > 0 | |
| 3c | Fuel (gal/month) | Text entry box | Double | Any value > 0 | |
| 3d | Vehicle maintenance ($/month) | Text entry box | Double | Any value >= 0 | |
| 3e | Hours per day | Text entry box | Integer | Any integer >= 0 | |
| 3f | Days per month | Text entry box | Integer | Any integer >= 0 | |
| 3g | Number of vehicles | Text entry box | Integer | Any integer >= 0 | |
| 3h | Provided Gas ($/month) | Text entry box | Double | Any integer >= 0 | |
| 3i | Other ($/month) | Text entry box | Double | Any integer >= 0 |
Table 4. Acceptable data elements for Segment Information fields.
| ID | Information | Corresponding Interface Element | Format/ Type | Valid Options | Required Input? |
| 6 | Segment Number | Drop-down box | String | Segment #, where # = (1, 2, 3, … n) and "n" is user input #5 | Yes |
| 7 | Segment Region | Drop-down box | String | Various options within State chosen in input #2 | Yes |
| 8 | Program Operation Time on Segment | Option selection | 1, 2, or 3 options to select | AM Peak, PM Peak, Off-Peak | Yes |
| 9 | Study Period Duration in months | Text entry box | Integer | 1, 2, 3, … 12 | Yes |
| 10 | Incident Duration Savings Metric | Option selection | Toggle button | Average duration, by lane blockage | Yes |
| 11 | Average Duration Savings (minutes) | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | Only if "Average Duration" is selected in input #10. |
| 12a | Shoulder Blockage (duration savings) | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | Only if "By Lane Blockage" is selected in input #10. |
| 12b | One-Lane Blockage (duration savings) | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | |
| 12c | Two-Lane Blockage (duration savings) | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | |
| 12d-g | Duration savings estimates for three-, four-, five-, and six-lane blockages | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | |
| 13 | Segment length in miles | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | Yes |
| 14 | Number of traffic lanes by direction | Text entry box | Integer | Any number between 2 and 6 | Yes |
| 15 | General terrain | Drop-down box | String | Flat, Level, Rolling hills, Mountainous | Yes |
| 16 | Horizontal curvature | Drop-down box | String | Straight, Mild, Sharp | Yes |
| 17 | Posted mainline speed limit, miles per hour (mph) | Text entry box | Integer | 37.3–74.5 mph (Note that this value is the actual speed range for calculation. Since the speed may be reduced according to ramp density and curvature, the actual input range may be slightly different than this.) | Yes |
| 18 | Traffic volumes (veh/h/ln) by operation time | Text entry box | Long | 500–2200 veh/h/ln | Yes |
| 19 | Truck percentage by operation time | Text entry box | Double | 0–25 | Yes |
| 20 | Weather type and percentage | Drop-down box (weather type); text entry box (percentage) | String, double | Weather: Clear, Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Snow, Fog, Icy conditions, Low Visibility, Wind; Percentage: 0–100 | No |
| 21 | Average Incident Duration (min)—by Operation time and lane blockage | Text entry box | Double | 1–240 minutes | Yes |
| 22 | Number of managed incidents in study period—by operation time and lane blockage | Text entry box | Integer | > 0 | Yes |
| 23 | Percentage of estimated secondary incidents | Text entry box | Double | >= 0 | Yes |
