L02 – Establishing Monitoring Programs for Travel Time Reliability

1. SHRP 2 Joint Technical Coordinating Committee Meeting Irvine, CA - April 8, 2010 L02 – Establishing Monitoring Programs for Travel Time Reliability

2. Purpose and Deliverables • Guidebook • Travel time reliability monitoring system • Design, build, integrate, operate, maintain • System prototype • Efficacy assessment • How well the guidebook and system work • Real-world network and data (primary) • Simulation (if needed)

3. Research Team Ralph Hessian

4. In the midst of other SHRP2 projects L03 – Analytic Procedures for Determining the Impacts of Reliability Mitigation Strategies L11 – Evaluating Alternative Operations Strategies to Improve Travel Time Reliability L13 – Archive for Reliability and Related Data L02 – Establishing Travel Time Monitoring Systems L05 – Incorporating Reliability Performance Measures into the Transportation Planning and Programming Processes L14 – Traveler Information and Travel Time Reliability L17 – A Framework for Improving Travel Time Reliability

5. Guiding Principles • Be clear and action oriented • Use field-based case studies as much as possible • Employ a long-term vision • Learn from operational agencies during development • Focus on origin-destination travel times • Stress the use of probe vehicles • Develop clear, concise, and robust metrics tailored for all users

6. Phase I - Finished System Design Needs: Define user and functional requirements for travel time reliability monitoring systems • Task 1: Inventory and Assess Existing Traffic Monitoring Systems • Task 2: Identify User Needs • Task 3: Characterize User Needs • Task 4: Define Functional Requirements • Task 5: Phase I Interim Report

7. Phase II – About to Start System Design Completion and Guidebook Preparation • Task 6: Develop Sampling and Data Acquisition Plans • Task 7: Design a Monitoring System • Task 8: Assess the Design Trade-offs for Real-time versus Archived Travel Time Data Collection Systems • Task 9: Phase II Report – Including a Draft of the Guidebook

8. Phase III – In the Future Validate Monitoring Programs • Task 10: Program Validation • Subtask 10.1: Module Development • Subtask 10.2: Module Integration • Subtask 10.3: Site selection (Five sites) • Subtask 10.4: Validate Systems • Subtask 10.5: Analyze Results • Subtask 10.6: Summarize Results • Subtask 10.7: Update Guidebook • Task 11: Final Report

9. Task 1 – Inventory and Assess Existing Traffic Monitoring Systems • Findings based on the 25 largest metropolitan areas • Nearly every major metropolitan area has travel time monitoring and reporting capabilities • Many areas are served by several information providers, public and private • A few providers report travel time reliability information to travelers • Several providers contrast current travel times and delays with averages • Behind-the-scenes data processing firms are striving to determine how to report and use travel time reliability information

10. Best Practice Examples

11. Source: GMC Website

13. Task 2/3 – User Needs • A few agencies are reporting reliability measures • Clearly communicating travel time reliability information is a challenge • Many agencies strive to use reliability measures in decision-making • But how they use the information varies widely: • planning and programming, user cost assessment, performance assessment • Reliability measures are used internally to monitor and manage: • peak hour congestion, work zones, incidents, and special events • Agencies must understand what users value and what they will listen to and comprehend • Most common communication channels are: • media outlets, 511, other internet tools (websites, email distribution lists, twitter) • Average travel time is reported most often and is the easiest metric to communicate • Most agencies are unsure about using private sector information • Agencies need to share information and resources to do an effective monitoring job • Communication tools need to be constantly updated to ensure user confidence

14. Task 2/3 – Passenger Metrics Source: Adapted from SHRP 2 Project L11 Technical Memorandum 1, Exhibits 2 and 4

15. Freight Metrics Source: Adapted from SHRP 2 Project L11 Technical Memorandum 1, Exhibit 3

16. Task 2/3 – Key Take-Away Points

17. Task 4- System Vision • Use Cases for: • Passenger travelers • Freight movers • Policy makers • Roadway system managers • Transit system managers

18. Dual-use: • Real-time • Off-line RTIP Guidelines: Real-Time System Management Information Program

19. Task 4 - System Capabilities • Address both person and freight trips • Support computation and estimation of travel time reliability • Support prediction algorithms for both real-time and static (e.g. planning) applications • Impute data for facilities and areas where data are not available • Support aggregation of localized travel time reliability to corridors, subsystems, and systems • Monitor long- and short-term changes in the reliability of roadway systems, and compare the findings with peer systems • Be able to check for equipment failures in real-time • Be compatible with existing (legacy) systems. • Receive data from existing and future sensing technologies • Disseminate travel time reliability information to users. • Use public and private sources of data as appropriate.

20. Task 4 – System Capabilities (cont) • Serve the traffic monitoring needs of the public and, to the extent practical, the private sector. • Store travel time and other data concerning reliability in a standard-compliant data base • Use appropriate telecommunication technologies

21. Use Cases – The Building Block

22. Use Case Processing

23. Data Needs Example for travelers and freight movers

24. Data Sources

25. AVI Sensors in Houston

26. Data Issues • Traffic data collection (infrastructure, vehicle, private) • Other data/sources (incidents, weather, other) • Storage • Validation (infrastructure, vehicle) • Imputation • Computation • Assembly (routes, corridors, areas, etc.) • Causal analyses • Incidents, weather, construction, special events, traffic control, fluctuations in demand, inadequate base capacity

27. Report Generation

29. Monthly Travel Conditions

31. System Integration

32. Questions / Thank you