Justifying Advanced Traffic Management System
Abstract
The Auckland ATMS project, which is described in a separate paper by Derrick Hitchins of Transit New Zealand (Transit), is part of the National Roads Program in New Zealand. The project was conceived to demonstrate the benefits of an ATMS for Auckland, which could provide a benchmark for further ATMS projects.
As a demonstration project, the Auckland ATMS had to compete for funding in the same manner as other road schemes, be they new motorways or safety improvement schemes. Transit has to apply for funding for all its’ projects from Transfund New Zealand, the Crown Entity responsible for distributing government support for all transport projects in New Zealand. Transfund has prescribed procedures for funding applications, which need to demonstrate a benefit to cost ratio (BCR) above a certain threshold, presently 3.0.
However, the benefits of ATMS schemes are not directly comparable to those associated with new roads. A careful evaluation of ATMS projects overseas was carried out to determine which benefits could be quantified in a manner suitable for adaptation to the Transfund procedures. These were then evaluated with real data to establish the benefits of the system proposed for Auckland.
This paper summarises the process used to define the benefits of ATMS in Auckland and examines how well the system is capturing these benefits, now that it is partly operational.