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 2004-06-30 monographic deposited born digital 59 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-744 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744 P0b002ee18038ad7c f:d04744 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744 GAO-04-744 Cost effectiveness analysis Decision making Economic analysis Federal aid for transportation Freight transportation operations Ground transportation operations Investment planning Mass transit operations Program evaluation Public roads or highways Railroad transportation operations Regional planning Transportation legislation Transportation research Intergovernmental relations Other Written Product A10688

Passenger and freight traffic are expected to grow substantially in the future, generating additional congestion and requiring continued investment in the nation's surface transportation system. Over the past 12 years, the federal government has provided hundreds of billions of dollars for investment in surface transportation projects through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and its successor legislation, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Reauthorization of this legislation is expected to provide hundreds of billions of dollars more in federal funding for surface transportation projects. For this investment to have the greatest positive effect, agencies at all levels of government need to select investments that yield the greatest benefits for a given level of cost. This report provides information about the processes that state and regional transportation decisionmakers use to analyze and select transportation infrastructure investments. GAO identified (1) key federal requirements for planning and deciding on such investments, (2) how benefit-cost analysis facilitates sound decisionmaking, and (3) other factors that decision-makers consider in evaluating and deciding on investments. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744.pdf GAO-04-744 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-744 Other Written Product GAO-04-744; Surface Transportation: Many Factors Affect Investment Decisions; Cost effectiveness analysis Decision making Economic analysis Federal aid for transportation Freight transportation operations Ground transportation operations Investment planning Mass transit operations Program evaluation Public roads or highways Railroad transportation operations Regional planning Transportation legislation Transportation research Intergovernmental relations Title 23 Section 135 23 U.S.C. 135 Title 42 Section 2000(d) 42 U.S.C. 2000(d) Title 923 Section 134 923 U.S.C. 134 Public Law 108-7