Paper Details

TRB 91st Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Event Number:	432
Event Title:	Research for the Sake of Safety
Event Date:	Jan 23 2012 7:30PM- 9:30PM
Event Location:	Marriott, Virginia A
Event Description:
Event Agenda:

The Value of Research About Safety Effect of Actions (12-1099)

ABSTRACT Money ought to be spent on research that promises most value for the buck; but how is one to estimate the value?. This paper suggests a logical and quantitative approach to estimating the $-value for a class of proposed road safety research projects – research to estimate the safety effect of various actions. The aim of such research is to improving our ability to predict. The more accurately one can predict the safety effect of some action the fewer incorrect decision will be made. With more decisions correct investment is more cost-effective. This is what gives such research its value. The task of assigning $-value to a proposed research is doable. The logic and the computations are described. The estimated $-value, when coupled with the cost of research, can used to prioritize proposed research projects

Authors
     Hauer, Ezra , University of Toronto, Canada
     Bonneson, James A., Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
     Council, Forrest M., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
     Srinivasan, Raghavan , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
     Bahar, Geni Brafman, NAVIGATS Inc.