An agency's Transportation Management Center (TMC) financial plan must account for the initial capital costs and the annual operating costs. To help estimate these costs, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) study entitled "Transportation Management Center Business Planning and Plans Handbook" provided templates that itemized various elements of the capital and operating budget of a TMC. The objective of the templates is "to trigger the thought process that needs to go into a TMC Financial Plan," according to the FHWA study. Refer to Figures 9-2 and 9-3 in the source report to view the templates.

The annual operating costs template includes several operational scenarios, from 8 hour per day operation up to 24 hour per day operation, to assist the decision makers in estimating the costs of the differing service levels.

Resources available to help estimate the cost for the various components include:

• Traffic Control System Operations – Installation, Management, and Maintenance ITE, 2000
• BiState St. Louis Area Intelligent Vehicle Highway System Planning Study, 1994
• U.S. DOT ITS Costs Database, http://www.itscosts.its.dot.gov/
• MAG Regional Concept of Transportation Operations, Technical Memorandum No. 5/6 (http://www.mag.maricopa.gov/pdf/cms.resource/TechMemo5-050703-Final.pdf)

Extracted from the source report, the illustration further below shows the typical capital costs associated with an 18,000 square-feet TMC, with a total capital cost estimated at $2,960,623.

According to reference 4 noted above, the annual operations and management (O&M) costs can range from $50,000 to $1.8 million for the TMC physical plant, and from $55,000 to $1.3 million for the TMC personnel.

Source: ADOT Central Control Facility Technical Memorandum