Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the Washington DOT for providing funding and SRA data for this study. The authors also would like to thank responding states for providing cost data.
International conference on construction engineering and project management (국제학술발표논문집)
- 2022.06a
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- Pages.640-648
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- 2022
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- 2508-9048(eISSN)
Comparing the Operation Cost of Washington Safety Rest Areas with Other States Using Performance-Based Method
- Shrestha, Kishor (School of Design and Construction, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, Washington State University) ;
- Berg, Alix (Headquarter Capital Facilities Office, Washington State Department of Transportation) ;
- Tafazzoli, Mohammadsoroush (School of Design and Construction, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, Washington State University) ;
- Kisi, Krishna (Department of Engineering Technology, College of Science and Engineering, Texas State University)
- Published : 2022.06.20
Abstract
In the United States, the Safety Rest Areas (SRAs) were introduced as highway roadside infrastructures in the early 1900s. The State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) operate/maintain their SRAs using different methods. The Washington DOT used the in-house workforce method for over 20 years, whereas some states moved to Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) from the in-house workforce to save cost primarily. Several existing studies claimed that using the PBC approach saved costs on several highway assets. Thus, the principal objective of this study is to compute and compare the unit operating/maintenance cost of SRAs using the in-house workforce method (in Washington state) with the PBC approach (in other states). The findings of this study show that the average annual cost using the PBC approach was much more than the average annual cost using the in-house workforce approach. The findings also show that in Washington state, the 'Labor Cost' category was a key expenditure, which is statistically higher than other categories. The 'Labor Cost' was followed by the 'Other Services', and then 'Materials and Supplies' and 'Equipment.' The study's findings indicated that outsourcing does not always save costs for agencies. The study findings may help transportation construction/maintenance professionals select a cost-effective approach for their future planning.