Prescribing Policies

Name

Instructor

Date

Prescribing Policies

The federal government of the United States allows every state in the United States of America to set up its own transportation policies in order to coordinate as well as control the transport sector within their jurisdictions. Each state comes up with a transport policy that is feasible to its requirements, as well as one that ensures both efficiency as well as effectiveness in delivery of transport and logistics within its confines. These policies range in a diverse array of policies, from water to air transport, or from rail to road transport. These entire policies target at ensuring all the members of the state enjoy fast, efficient, as well as effective transport services within the right parameters of their pockets, or affordability. In addition, these transportation policies have to consider the costs of logistics and as such, try to minimize them as much as possible in order to reduce the operational costs for both individuals and companies or businesses, hence increase productivity within their regions (United States Department of Transportation, 2000).

This research paper will consider the transportation policies of three different states in the United States, which are the state of New York, the state of California, and the state of Washington D.C. The state of New York has two major government bodies charged with the jurisdiction of handling all matters transportation in the state. These include the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). These two state agencies confirm that the primary challenge facing the transport sector in the state of New York is the improvement as well as maintenance of the current infrastructure of transport. As such, most of the current transportation policies within New York target at the construction of new roads, alongside parkways and expressways, as well as, facilitate the complete transformation of the metropolitan areas found within the state. This a paradigm shift from the previous polices adopted by the state which championed for maintenance and improvement of transport infrastructure, which to some extent led to the issuance of a massive long-term debt that ruined the financial position of the state (Wiener, 2012).

The state of Washington D.C. follows a policy blueprint dubbed the Washington Transportation Plan (WTP 2030). The main developer of this policy was the state organization charged with the duty of overseeing transport infrastructure within the state, i.e. the State Transportation Commission. The main objective of this WTP 2030 is to outline the comprehensive, as well as, balanced transportation plan of the state. As such, the policy establishers a long-term objectives and vision of the state and how the state plans to develop its transportation systems across the entire state within a 20-year period. This includes a complete overhaul of the state highways and ferries, to the general development of county roads, bike paths and sidewalks, as well as, public transit, city streets, rail and air. The State Transportation Commission gets support from the Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) in developing formidable transportation policies with the incorporation of views from the public, through forums such as blog pages (United States Department of Transportation, 2000).

The state of California, on the other hand, also has major transportation policies governing its development of transport infrastructure. This is through the California Transportation Commission, a state agency established in 1978, and charged with the duties of overseeing the goals and objectives in transport within California. The commission holds the sole responsibility of programming, as well as allocation of funds to specific projects within the state, such as construction of a passenger rail, a highway, as well as fiancé other transit improvements within the state. There is also another state agency dealing with transport in California, this is the California State Transportation Agency, which also comes up with feasible policies to keep California connected through quality and advanced infrastructure (Wiener, 2012).

In making a determination of these policies, the policy makers in these states have to consider a number of factors that affect the effectiveness of their policies. The major external factor that affects proper implementation of a transportation policy is the cost constraint, which arises from the amount of capital that each state has to pump into a given transportation project that it is undertaking in order to ensure maximum and effective implementation. The policy makers come up with the policies that use the least amount of cash but deliver the highest possible level of efficiency and productivity. As such, the policy makers can also maximize on the effectiveness that arises from fixed costs which in most cases range from in the estimates of 4 10,000, and achieve a fixed effectiveness level of 6000 units of service at affixed cost of $ 20,000 (United States Department of Transportation, 2000).

The best program to take on when deciding on a quality transportation policy is the second program. This is because the second program provides the users with a number of effectiveness, as well as provides avenues for a few savings on the capital invested, or the total amount of money required by these states to invest into their infrastructural projects. This is also because the second criteria will guarantee greater service delivery and efficiency in productivity due its smooth operational patterns. However, each of the above criterion may become handy given a twist in the situations under observation, for instance, program a will be very good when the policy makers adopt an investment program that requires maximum injection of capital in order to guarantee some substantial amount of output (Wiener, 2012).

There are various assumptions that govern the estimates taken to determine the time lost while driving. These assumptions include the speed of driving. One might drive fast while another drive slowly, and this may lead to a delay or a fast drive through the journey. Another concept that may lead to the change or time lost during driving, such as the efficiency of roads and other transpotational infrastructures used for movement. The speed of movement depended on the efficiency of transport systems installed within each state. The best way to determine the value of time is to estimate the speed taken to move from one point to another. On the other hand, the opportunity cost of time arises from the time that a traveler spends while on their journey. Incidentally, the value of time makes up the amount in price or fare that a traveler is willing to pay for the journey in order to save on time, as well as, estimate the amount of money that they would accept as a formal compensation for the time they lost (United States Department of Transportation, 2000).

The best way to estimate the cost gallon of gasoline is to measure the amount of gallon used in travelling a given distance. The amount of gasoline used from one distance to another shows how much a gallon of gas costs. This is because every distance made through uses a specified amount of gas, especially considering the speeds at which these vehicles will be moving. The reliable method to estimate the speeds of driving and the gallons consumed per miles is to consider the state of the engine of the vehicle. According to the department of energy, certain engines speed lesser amounts of gasoline than others do, whilst others spend copious amounts of fuels even in short distance, such as fuel guzzlers (Wiener, 2012).

The best way to estimate the value of life is by assigning an economic constraint to life, such as attaching the social status of the individual’s life, or the job and career of the individual. All lives are equal in the eyes of law. However, some lives are worth more than others, especially basing on the position that the people hold within the society, such as politicians, managers of multinationals, and those of common citizens. There are a wide range of disciplines used to value the life of a human being, all including healthcare, political economy, economics, and insurance. The best policy to adopt for driving around cities is the 55.mph. this is because this speed is comfortable for a driver to easily break, as well as be in a formidable position to control their vehicle proficiently and avoid causing accidents along the roads (United States Department of Transportation, 2000).

References

Wiener. E. (2012). Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: A Historical View. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Wiener, E. (2012). Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: History, Policy, and Practice. New York; Springer Publishers.

United States Department of Transportation. (2000). Policy Architecture: Transportation Decision Making for The 21st Century. Washington D.C: United States Department of Transportation.