Glossary

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• 0-9

Back Office

See Center.

Backhaul

The process of a transportation vehicle (typically a truck) returning from the original destination point to the point of origin. A backhaul can be with a full or partially loaded trailer.

Backup

The ability of one System Element replacing another System Element's functionality upon the failure of that System Element.

Bad Actor

A role played by a user or another system that provides false or misleading data, operates in such a fashion as to impede other users, or operates outside of its authorized scope.

Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA)

A conceptual framework and methodology that quantifies in dollar terms as many of the costs and benefits of a proposal (a plan, program, project, or policy) as feasible. BCA helps determine whether, and to what extent, a proposal is worthwhile from a socio-economic perspective. It differs from financial analysis in that BCA seeks to consider all gains (benefits) and losses (costs) to economic actors.

Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR)

The primary output of a BCA. The BCR is an estimate of value for money, or return on investment, generated by a BCA. BCR is calculated as the present value of total benefits expressed in dollars, divided by the present value of total costs, also expressed in dollars. Other things being equal, the higher the BCR, the more desirable the project.

Bicycle Facilities

A general term denoting improvements and provisions made by public agencies to accommodate or encourage bicycling, including parking and storage facilities, and shared roadways not specifically designated for bicycle use.

Bicycle Route System

A system of bikeways designated by the jurisdiction having authority with appropriate directional and informational route markers, with or without specific bicycle route numbers. Bike routes should establish a continuous routing, but may be a combination of any and all types of bikeways.

Bikeway

A bicycle path physically separated from motorized traffic by an open space or barrier, either within the highway right-of-way or within an independent right-of-way.

Block

A term used in transit operations to describe a vehicle work assignment, i.e. a sequence of trips made by a single bus. Blocks can be divided between different operators.

Bottleneck

A segment of a transportation network that consistently experiences significant operational problems such as oversaturated congestion.

Boundaries

The area of management and control for a System or Object. It could be by latitude/longitude or by county or by regional jurisdictions. Or some other institutional boundary, e.g. with a commercial vendor and their product line.

Broadcast

A characteristic of an information flow where the initiator sends information on a predefined communications channel using a protocol that enables others who know how to listen to that channel to receive the information; i.e. One-to-all communication, with no dialog.

Browser

A software application that allows viewing of and navigation through HTML pages.

Buffer Index

See travel time buffer index.