Why are Cost Estimates Needed?

Costs are generally requested within a larger context. These contexts include: 

  1. Anticipated costs: Providing the ability to request, acquire, and allocate funding
    • Future steps in Connected Corridors
    • As an estimate for other corridors
  2. Cost/benefit analysis: Often used to either encourage or discourage future investment in other corridors
  3. Cost matching: To help with grants that require a certain amount of funding from other sources
  4. Auditing: Tracking overall funding for the Connected Corridors Program as a state-wide effort
  5. Gravitas and PR: Demonstrating the serious nature of the project by showing a large amount of funding commitment
  6. Initial project approval: Demonstrating that adoption of ICM is not that costly when considered within the normal baseline elements of a corridor
  7. Curiosity or general knowledge

A note on funding: Funding originates from different agencies and is allocated based on the priorities of those agencies. A decision to allocate funds to the I-210 Pilot may serve multiple purposes. The purpose used to allocate or justify the funding may include reasons beyond the immediate scope of the I-210 Pilot.

At times, many different items are grouped together in a funding request under a simple, easy-to-present topic (such as the I-210 Pilot). It may be the case that most but not all items in the grouping are directly related to the topic. In this case, when costs estimates for this topic are requested it may be appropriate to include the overall grouped cost. This avoids unneeded confusion.