You have been hired as a consultant to a medium-sized city to develop and implement a procedure for evaluating whether or not to build a highway bypass around the CBD. Write a short report describing your proposal and recommendation as to how the city should proceed with this process.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

I. Collection of Required Data and Information
In order for a consultant to develop and evaluate alternatives for a
highway bypass, information is needed to decide upon an evaluation process.
Establishing goals and objectives, identification of stakeholders (e.g., governing
bodies, citizen groups), definition of purpose and need for a bypass, and its
potential impacts (e.g., traffic flow, environmental effects) are all important steps
toward selecting an evaluation process. The data required, such as socioeconomic
data, and traffic data, should also be considered in selecting a suitable evaluation
process.
II. Use of Information
Upon deciding on the data and information requirements, an evaluation
process will be chosen that best fits the situation and any stated objectives and
goals of the study. If cost is a critical factor, an economic evaluation that includes
a life cycle cost analysis may be followed. The process will then be divided into
components, the data gathered, and alternatives defined and evaluated.
III. Results
A recommendation would be included with the evaluation of the highway
bypass. If several alternatives are relatively close, additional forms of evaluation
should be considered to ensure a sound decision.