Closed form models to assess railroad technology investments |
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Authors: | Raj Bridgelall Denver D. Tolliver |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Transportation, Logistics &2. Finance, College of Business, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA raj@bridgelall.comhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3743-6652;4. Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8522-9394 |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACT Class I railroads in North America collectively invested USUS$11.2 billion to comply with a U.S. federal mandate to deploy positive train control as a form of train protection system. This amount dwarfs the potential savings from accidents the technology could prevent. Therefore, railroads must seek additional benefits. This research contributes simple closed-form models to inform strategies that can leverage the technology deployment by estimating the annual additional net benefits, internal rate of return, and benefit-cost ratio needed for a desired payback period. |
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Keywords: | Railroad safety train protection system positive train control benefit-cost analysis internal rate of return non-destructive evaluation payback period |
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