In the mid-continent transportation corridor, a study of electronic credentialing found that benefit-to-cost ratios for motor carriers and state agencies range from 0.7 to 2.7.
Date Posted
05/23/2001
Identifier
2001-B00181
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Analysis of a Multi-State Corridor Deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems for Commercial Vehicle Operations

Summary Information

The purpose of this conference paper was to quantify the benefits and costs associated with public and private deployment of ITS/CVO (Intelligent Transportation Systems and Commercial Vehicle Operations). The survey was limited to the states in the mid-continent transportation corridor along interstate highway IH-35 from Duluth, Minnesota to Laredo, Texas. Three ITS/CVO functions were analyzed during the study:
  • Electronic Credentialing
  • Electronic Screening
  • Electronic Border Screening

To evaluate the benefit-to-cost (B/C) ratios for each of these technologies three different growth scenarios (conservative, expected, and aggressive) were analyzed to account for future market penetration . These three scenarios were then evaluated against estimates of high and low deployment cost to account for large-scale as well as small-scale motor carriers.

FINDINGS

Electronic Credentialing

Electronic Credentialing data was obtained from the Western Highway Institute (WHI), the International Registration Plan (IRP), and the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA). Over-Size/Over-Weight OS/OW information was obtained from states records.

The Electronic Credentialing benefits for carriers were calculated as the difference between the overall time required for manual transactions and the time required for electronic transactions. Electronic Credentialing costs included both equipment and personnel costs that ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 dollars for each motor carrier, and 1 million to 2 million dollars for each state.

Except for the most conservative growth and high cost estimates, benefits exceed costs for most motor carriers. State agencies were able to realize positive B/C ratios only when very aggressive growth scenarios were paired with low cost estimates.

The B/C ratios for motor carriers and state agencies were combined to give the following overall results for Electronic Credentialing.

 

 

Market Penetration with Low-Cost Initial Deployment
B/C ratio
Conservative Growth
1.3
Expected Growth
1.8
Aggressive Growth
2.7

 

 

 

Market Penetration with High-Cost Initial Deployment
B/C ratio
Conservative Growth
0.7
Expected Growth
0.9
Aggressive Growth
1.3

 

Goal Areas