Mosaic began as Oregon’s least cost planning effort, defined in legislation as "a process of comparing direct and indirect costs of demand and supply options to meet transportation goals, policies or both, where the intent of the process is to identify the most cost effective mix of options."
During Mosaic development, ODOT heard from many stakeholders that the term “least cost planning” was confusing, since the goal is to help find cost-effective options in line with goals and policies rather than always the least immediate cost option. While the Legislature’s definition of least cost planning still forms the foundation of Mosaic, it was renamed to reduce confusion over its purpose and intent.
Goals in developing Mosaic included:
- Enable fair comparison of different kinds of transportation solutions, including both projects and programs
- Evaluate their impacts in monetary terms where possible
- Include items that cannot be monetized in the analysis
- Use available data and tools wherever possible
- Make Mosaic flexible so that it can be used in different contexts
The result is a comprehensive transportation decision analysis tool, designed to be used at a planning level, such as a city or corridor, where there are complex choices necessary about kinds of investments to pursue and considering their effects on the pursuit of the community’s goals.
Here are a few summary resources about Mosaic: