United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-02-14 monographic deposited born digital 41 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-299 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299 P0b002ee18038a38c f:d01299 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299 GAO-01-299 Highway planning Highway research Public roads or highways Federal/state relations Management information systems Computer modeling Federal aid for highways Economic analysis Cost effectiveness analysis DOT Highway Economic Requirements System Oregon Indiana Letter Report The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed the state-level version of the Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS-ST) model as an investment-analysis tool for highway planning at the state level. FHWA officials believe that some state departments of transportation will find the analysis that the HERS-ST model produces useful because it demonstrates the potential results of highway investment decisions from an economic point of view. FHWA is conducting a pilot project for its prototype HERS-ST model with those states that volunteered to test the model. FHWA distributed to these states HERS-ST software, technical manuals, and sets of state highway data with which to run the model. FHWA then provided an overall orientation and technical training and addressed states' questions during a workshop. Officials from a sample of the states planning to participate reported that they are primarily interested in taking advantage of the model's use of benefit-cost analysis to assess alternative highway improvements. If the pilot project shows that states view the HERS-ST model as a useful tool, FHWA expects to upgrade the model for future users. In doing so, it would consider both enhancements that have already been planned for the national-level HERS model and changes targeted specifically to HERS-ST. Changes specifically to improve the HERS-ST model's usefulness to states include converting the model to a menu-driven system to improve its ease of use or revising the model's data input format so that it matches FHWA's current state highway data reporting requirements. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299.pdf GAO-01-299 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-299 Letter Report GAO-01-299; Highway Infrastructure: FHWA's Model for Estimating; Highway planning Highway research Public roads or highways Federal/state relations Management information systems Computer modeling Federal aid for highways Economic analysis Cost effectiveness analysis DOT Highway Economic Requirements System Oregon Indiana