Strategy for traffic-signal-systems selection in Venezuela

At the end of 1995, the Venezuelan government obtained a ;The objectives of the research were to develop a practical, consensus-seeker, and rational strategy for evaluating various alternatives in the selection of traffic-signal-system standards in Venezuela according to the local conditions. Its main objective was to set the basis for a decision-support strategy to assist traffic engineers, public officials and administrators to make decisions about traffic-control-system selection in Venezuela by evaluating alternatives using the proposed Modified Utility/Cost Analysis. Through this process, the alternatives were evaluated based on comparison of utilities values for each alternative and their respective costs. The conversion of benefits in terms of goals and utility measures seemed to be more adequate to address this type of problem due to limited availability of data. A comprehensive evaluation of costs and benefits in terms of dollars would be extremely difficult because of intangible benefits achieved with any alternative and the difficulty to estimate accurate costs of operation and maintenance. A major objective was to present recommendations that could be put into immediate practice.;The strategy was introduced into the evaluation process for the selection of traffic-signal-control standards in Venezuela, primarily to make possible the consideration of the intangible consequences of the alternatives, rather than in an explicit effort to measure effectiveness. This research was intended to be a wide application that could be used in not only Venezuela but also other countries.