The Transportations Research Board’s (TRB) National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 664: Measuring Transportation Network Performance reviews ways to track transportation network performance through the development of new, or integrating existing, performance measures from different sources. Congestion management, linking planning and operations, and corridor coalitions are strategies available to agencies to build consistent transportation performance measures. Monitoring transportation network performance is important because it allows transportation professionals to easily identify areas that are under performing on a consistent basis throughout a system and provides insight into where future transportation investment will be needed.
CMAP currently measures the performance of the transportation system through its Congestion Management Process and the forthcoming regional indicators project, MetroPulse.

This report, released by the Virginia Transportation Research Council, examines ways to quantify the benefits of coordinated actuated traffic signal systems. The study used before and after data to analyze two performance measures, travel time and stopped delay. It also examined the performance of an adaptive split feature on non-coordinated approaches. The study found that travel times on the coordinated corridor were reduced by 30 percent, but the stopped delay increased on the non-coordinated approaches. The stopped delay for a non-coordinate approach was reduced by 40 percent without impacting the coordinated approaches when the adaptive split feature was added. The study also found a benefit/cost ratio of 461.3 for coordinated actuated traffic signal system compared to the non-coordinated actuated traffic signal system.

This flyer provides information on the Maintenance Decision Support Systems (MDSS) deployed by many local and state maintenance departments to consistently make effective decisions during weather events. The MDSS has assisted agencies to reduce winter maintenance labor costs, use less material in event response, improve situational awareness of weather conditions, increase confidences in winter maintenance decision-making, and continue maintenance improvements. The MDSS is intended to assist, not replace, the years of acquired expertise, skills, and judgment that reside in maintenance operators.
 

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration will sponsor a webinar, Open Source Alternative to Deploying Transportation Management Systems. The webinar will discuss an open-source alternative for deploying transportation management systems for state departments of transportation, municipalities, or other agencies. Open-source alternatives are more likely to be cost-effective and have the potential for enhancement through collaboration with other agencies deploying similar open-source solutions. Two state agencies, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), will share their experiences and the benefits of using open-source Intelligent Roadway Information System (IRIS) Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS).

The free webinar will take place on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CST.

This report, released by the University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Transportation System’s Institute, examines the impact the I-35 West bridge collapse on August 1, 2007, had on travel behavior in the Twin cities area. The report also examines the travel behavior before and after the event, psychological impacts, and reviews previous studies on major disruptive events both planned and unplanned. Major incidents like the I-35 West bridge collapse have a drastic effect on system operations. The more transportation operating agencies are prepared for severe incidents the better they can mitigate the effect when these unplanned incidents occur.

CMAP believes it is important to better understand the impacts incidents have on a transportation system and how operators could be better informed of the effects certain incidents have on travel behavior.
 

A report released by the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), “State of the Practice in Highway Access Management,” reviews the current practice, possible hurdles, and potential advances to highway access management programs at the state and local level. The report examines many issues facing transportation agencies in regards to highway access management such as the legal, legislative, policy, program, implementation, and effectiveness of highway access management programs. Appendices for the report can be found here.

The 59th Annual Illinois Traffic Engineering & Safety Conference will take place at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois from October 20 to 22, 2010. The conference session topics include operation and safety, safety and performance services, congestion, and traffic management. Transportation professionals involved in traffic safety, engineering, and management should attend to learn about the latest research and information in the traffic engineering and safety fields. Conference registration is available online.

The Office of Operations in the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the 2009 Urban Congestion Trends: How Operations is Solving Congestion Problems brochure. The brochure features trends in congestion over the last three years in 23 urban areas and examples of how transportation agencies are relieving congestion through innovative transportation operations.

CMAP supports innovative transportation operations to improve regional mobility in the Invest Strategically in Transportation section of the GO TO 2040 draft plan.

Seattle-area drivers are testing out the Smarter Highways initiative, deployed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) along the I-5 corridor, which helps alleviate congestion and delays caused by traffic incidents. The Smarter Highways initiative installed electronic overhead signs every half-mile which inform drivers of variable speed limits, lane status alerts, and real time traffic information. This information allows drivers to make more informed decisions, both on the speed in which they travel and the route they take in case of a major incident. The implementation of smart highways in Europe has had good results.

CMAP supports the development of initiatives like Smarter Highways in the Invest Strategically in Transportation section of the GO TO 2040 draft plan.

This webinar, offered by the Transportation Safety Advancement Group (TSAG) on behalf of the U.S. DOT, Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), will allow interested parties to listen to the discussions of the NG9-1-1 What’s Next Forum opening and wrap up sessions. Emergency responder groups such as law enforcement personnel, emergency medical services, fire and rescue, and transportation operations personnel will make up the NG 9-1-1 working group. The working group will focus on the critical emergency information that can and should be sent to the field level emergency responders and through the 9-1-1 centers of the future. More information on Next Generation 9-1-1 is available online.

The free webinar will take place on September 23 and 24, from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. CST.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently released the Information-Sharing Guidebook for Transportation Management Centers, Emergency Operations Centers, and Fusion Centers. The guidebook discusses the overall purpose of the centers and covers the types of information these centers produce, manage, and share; benefits and challenges of sharing data for the purpose of day-to-day and emergency operations; and lessons learned and best practices.

The I-95 Corridor Coalition, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Traffic Management Coalition are holding a webinar for those not able to attend the National Unified Goal (NUG) Summit. Developed under the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition (NTIMC), the NUG for Traffic Incident Management (TIM) established three key objectives through a consensus process, which have been endorsed by organizations at the national and regional level. The three objectives include Responder Safety; Safe, Quick, Clearance; and Prompt, Reliable Interoperable Communications. The topics covered in the webinar will include funding options, performance measures, incident management best practices, sustaining TIM teams, service patrols, TIM training, and others. Traffic incident responders from all levels should be encouraged to attend the webinar. This will allow for the opportunity to advance the way traffic incidents are managed through the implementation of the National Unified Goals and strategies.

The free webinar will be held on September 21, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. CST.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty released a reference manual that identifies opportunities for the integration of operations, safety, and multimodal planning activities. The reference manual provides information to assist Transportation professionals to integrate these activities at various levels of decision making. The manual highlights the importance of multidisciplinary teams and the use of performance measures. It also emphasizes the value of data collection, sharing, and analysis in the integration of operations, safety, and multimodal planning.

Transportation Research Board’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 83: was recently released. The report examines the different applications for transit preferential treatments in mixed traffic and provides guidance on which treatment would be most applicable in certain locations.

As part of the CMAP Congestion Management Process, staff compiled an overview of highway traffic safety trends in the Chicago region. The causes of motor vehicle crashes are complex, owing to interactions between vehicles, roadways, and driver behavior. However, the report demonstrates that concerted efforts to improve vehicles’ ability to avoid crashes, vehicles’ crashworthiness, driver training and compliance with traffic safety laws, and highway safety engineering focused on addressing locations with high rates of fatal and serious injury crashes have had a strong positive effect over the past several years.

Highway traffic safety is an important indicator of how well our regional Transportation system is operating. CMAP will be monitoring this performance measure through our Regional Indicators Project, which is key to the successful implementation of GO TO 2040.

The Off Hour Delivery Pilot Program in New York City explored the impact of commercial trucks making deliveries during off-peak hours. Trucks and commercial vehicles both cause and suffer from congestion. Because of congestion, deliveries made during the business day affect us all. The receiver of the delivery passes the expense caused by wasted time, lost revenue, missed deliveries, and parking tickets on to the consumer.

Twenty participants agreed to shift their delivery window to between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Receivers found that fewer deliveries during business hours allowed them to focus more on customers and their staff was more productive because they did not have to wait as long for deliveries stuck in traffic. Carriers found that they could save time and money by making off-hour deliveries. The drivers also reported feeling safer and less stressed.

The program was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and implemented by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a group of stakeholders and research partners. It was also featured in Secretary LaHood’s “Fast Lane” Blog.

Strategies to facilitate off-peak deliveries are also included in the GO TO 2040 section Create a More Efficient Freight Network.

The National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) recently released “NCFRP Report 3: Separation of Vehicles – CMV-Only Lanes.” The report examines major issues and concepts that should be understood in developing new applications of CMV-only lanes as a potential method for both easing congestion and reducing the number of traffic accidents on highways.

Federal and state governments are increasingly looking toward performance measures to improve the functioning of the Transportation system and optimize their investment strategies. This webinar will examine how beneficial cargo owners and carriers are using performance measures, what are the applications for the public sector, and what measures the private side believes are important for the public sector. It will also discuss what the public sector looks to the private sector for with regard to performance measures. Presenters include Gordon Proctor, Gordon Proctor & Associates, Inc.; Bill Gardner, MN DOT; Jeff Short, American Transportation Research Institute

The free webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, from noon to 1:30 p.m. CDT.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Operations has released the . This handbook explores advances in traffic incident management (TIM) programs and practices. The handbook also highlights the latest innovation in TIM tools and technologies.

Transportation Research Board ’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 140: explores the types of flexible Transportation service strategies that are potentially appropriate for small, medium, and large urban and rural transit agencies. The guide examines financial and political realities, operations issues, and institutional mechanisms related to implementing and sustaining flexible Transportation services. More information is available online.