United States
The Federal Highway Administration Safety Office sponsored a project to define, evaluate, and test the feasibility of infrastructure-only Intersection Collision Avoidance System (ICAS) concepts at high crash intersections within the Infrastructure Consortium (IC) states: Minnesota, California, and Virginia. Two sites from each state were selected as candidates for implementing advanced intelligent countermeasures.
An ICAS solution must be feasible as well as cost-effective. It is expected that the societal benefit, in terms of a reduction in crashes, should outweigh the ICAS’s implementation, operation, and maintenance costs over its lifetime. As part of the project, the number of years to recoup investments for the six candidate intersections was calculated. The ICAS service life was assumed to be 20 years. With a 100 percent effectiveness rating, the years required to recoup investment costs ranged from 0.02 to 4.62. With a 50 percent effectiveness rating, the years to recoup investment costs ranged from 0.04 to 9.24; however, five of the six intersections showed minimal years required to recoup the investment.
In general, the investment associated with an ICAS solution involves design costs, capital costs, and operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. Data collection is conducted first, followed by the design of the system. Then the system undergoes human-factors testing to determine the type of warning, if any is necessary. The final step is the installation of hardware and software components. Once installed, the system incurs regular operations and maintenance (O&M) over its life span, typically about 20 years. The following provides estimates of design, capital costs, and systems costs, including the items involved in each type.
Design Costs
The table below excerpted from the source report shows the typical design items and the associated costs for an ICAS solution for one site (intersection).
DESIGN COST ITEMS
|
HOURS
|
RATES
|
COSTS
|
---|---|---|---|
Data Collection |
60
|
$49
|
$2,940
|
Analysis and System Design |
120
|
$70
|
$8,400
|
Human Factors Testing |
80
|
$70
|
$5,600
|
Software Design |
40
|
$76
|
$3,040
|
Total Costs |
$19,980
|
Capital Costs
The capital costs typically involve one-time purchases of the hardware used at an intersection, which may include loop detectors (or alternate means of detection), warning displays, and communication lines. The table below excerpted from the source report shows the cost estimates of these items including the cost of installation for one site.
CAPITAL COST ITEMS
|
COSTS
|
---|---|
Traffic controller with installation |
$14,000
|
LED Variable Message Sign (VMS) with installation |
$10,000
|
Red Signal head with Barlo strobe light with installation |
$765
|
Four loops with installation |
$8,000
|
Per mile communication line includes design and installation of conduit, boring/trenching of conduit and installation of twisted pair wire |
$77,000
|
System Costs
The table below excerpted from the source report shows the total costs of ICAS implementation that combines the design costs and the capital costs for six types of ICAS solutions.
ICAS SOLUTION
|
DESIGN COSTS
|
CAPITAL COSTS
|
COMPONENTS OF CAPITAL COSTS
|
TOTAL COSTS
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Intersection Collision Warning for Left Turn Across Path/Opposite Direction |
$19,980
|
$37,250
|
VMS. Loop defectors, 0.25 mile communication wiring |
$57,230
|
Intersection Collision Warning for Left Turn Across Path/Lateral Direction |
$19,980
|
$53,250
|
VMS. Loop detectors, controller, 0.25 mile communication wiring |
$73,230
|
Extended All-Red |
$19,980
|
$27,250
|
Loop detectors, 0.5 mile communication wiring |
$47,230
|
Cross Traffic Warning |
$19,980
|
$35,750
|
VMS, loop detectors, 0.5 mile communication wiring |
$55,730
|
Violator Warning |
$19,980
|
$28,015
|
Strove light, loop detectors, 0.25 mile communication wiring |
$47,995
|
Left Turn Phase Offset |
$19,980
|
$27,250
|
Loop detectors. 0.25 mile communication wiring |
$47,230
|
As shown in the table above, the components of an ICAS solution would vary in accordance with the site conditions at an intersection, so would the costs, ranging from $47,230 to $73,320 per site. For each solution studied, design costs totaled $19,980 and included data collection, analysis and system design, human factors testing, and software design. The remaining expenditure was for capital costs that included the equipment (e.g., dynamic message signs, loop detectors, controllers), communication lines, and installation.
Intersection Collision Avoidance Study
System costs: $47,230 to $73,320.