TransValU
Overview
Which transportation improvement brings the most return on your investment? Or creates the most jobs?" How do you compare the relative benefits and costs of multiple project alternatives? Florida DOT District Five has created a tool to address these questions. TransValU (Transportation Value to You) is a tool designed for corridor-level economic and financial analyses of proposed transportation investments in District Five. The tool can be used to assess projects focused on passenger movements (including highway, transit, bicycle/pedestrian, and combinations of these modes) or on the movement of goods (including highway freight, rail freight, and intermodal logistics centers).
Three types of analyses are available within the tool: Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA), Economic Impact Analysis (EIA), and Financial Analysis. Separate BCA and EIA modules are used for evaluating freight projects.
The BCA modules compare the total costs of a project to its expected benefits, and calculate net benefits to society. Key outputs include the project net present value (NPV), benefit-cost ratio (BCR), break-even year, and overall rate of return (ORR).
The EIA modules estimate the economic impacts of a project on the economy of a state or region. Both short-term and long-term impacts are estimated. Economic impacts are expressed as changes in jobs, earnings, business sales (output), and value added.
The Financial Analysis module focuses on the flows of money to and from a project and calculates net revenue, financial rate of return, and the discounted payback period.
TransValU PNR Module
The P&R Module is the new addition to the TransValU tool family. The module is housed in its own Excel workbook, separate from the other two TransValU modules. While the module exists in a separate tool, it is still part of TransValU and uses the same general assumptions and methodologies.
The P&R Module performs two main analyses:
1) Demand estimation for the P&R facility; and
2) Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) of a P&R project. The tool can be used to analyze the benefits of a new P&R facility or of expanding an existing P&R facility. The module tool does not at this time perform economic impact analysis or financial analysis.
TransValU TSM&O Module
The TSM&O (Transportation System Management and Operations) Module is used to perform a benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of implementing certain transportation system management and operations improvement strategies.
These strategies are used to maximize the efficiency and safety of existing transportation infrastructure, and generally do not require large (if any) capital investments. This standalone TransValU TSM&O Excel workbook is still part of the TransValU “family” and uses the same general assumptions, formatting, and methodologies, as applicable.
Additional Resources