Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: 2010-2012 Traveler Behavior Study

1. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center:2010-2012 Traveler Behavior Study

2. Refresher of UPA/CRD Programs • Overview of the 2010-2012 Traveler Behavior Study • Seattle • Preliminary Study Results • Next Steps • Conclusions

3. Refresher: Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) • Mid 2006: U.S. DOT Congestion Initiative announced • U.S DOT is forming Urban Partnership Agreements (UPA) to fund select cities and regions to implement: • “A comprehensive, integrated approach to reducing congestion through the use of tolling, transit, technology, and telecommuting” • In short, a new nationally funded road pricing program: • Funding: Requires an urban partnership • Goal: Have a “meaningful” impact on traffic congestion • August 2007: 4 Urban Partners announced • Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Francisco, & Seattle • Initial total of $853 million in Federal discretionary grants from 10 U.S. DOT sources. Mostly authorized for FY ‘07-09 History

4. Refresher: Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) • CRD is a separate and distinct follow-on program • In 2008, 2 new CRD urban areas announced: • Los Angeles ($213 million) • Atlanta ($110 million) Compared to UPA Program Why Does it Matter? • TTI’s annual Urban Mobility Report says in 2009:

5. Seattle: SR 520 Floating Bridge • Opened 1963, tolled until 1979 • World’s longest floating bridge: 1.4 miles • Design capacity: 65,000 vehicles per day, current AADT: 115,000 • Heavily congested, no shoulders • Vulnerable to windstorms/earthquakes, closed several times per year • 2014 is targetdate for opening of newreplacement bridge

6. Seattle: Variable Pricing on SR-520 Floating Bridge • Late June 2011 – Variable tolling expected to begin on SR-520 • Tolling in both directions • Toll range – up to $3.50 with Good To Go! and up to $5.00 paying by mail • Active Traffic Management (ATM) - New dynamic message signs being installed • Real-time Traveler Information signs – display info about travel times and which route to travel Technology Tolling Transit Tele-Commute • Adding 130 new bus trips to the existing 600 daily bus trips across SR-520 • 45 new hybrid-electric diesel buses for trips across the Lake • Improving stops/stations – 2 park/ride lots, real-time info displays • Implementation and support of employer and community trip reduction programs • Vanpools, ride-share programs • Marketing and outreach incentive programs

7. The National Evaluation (Battelle Memorial Institute) • Is it working? How do we know? • UPA/CRD programs must evaluate their own effectiveness • Measure benefits, impacts, and value of each UPA/CRD site’s approach to congestion reduction • Battelle is collecting “before” and “after” data for each urban area (2009-2012 or longer). Data collection is quarterly • Standard engineering measures of network performance – traffic volumes, vehicle occupancy, travel times, delay, travel speeds, etc.

8. Refresher of UPA/CRD Programs • Overview of the 2010-2012 Traveler Behavior Study • Seattle • Preliminary Study Results • Next Steps • Conclusions

9. Volpe Traveler Behavior Study: Goals • Volpe seeking to understand • The changes in travel behavior that occur as a result of road pricing strategies • Behavioral responses which likely vary based on type and location of pricing – hence 2 cities (Seattle & Atlanta) • Behavioral responses that vary across groups within the population (particular focus on low-income households) • Summary • Battelle trying to answer the What? • What are the changes? (Travel times, volumes, etc) • We’re trying to answer the How and Why? • How are individual travelers and households making more “economic” choices? Why are they making these travel choices?

10. Potential Traveler Responses to Pricing What are the potential behavioral responses to tolling SR 520? No Change: Pay toll Change Time: Earlier or Later Change Mode: Carpool Change Mode: Take bus Change Route: Drive I-90 Change Destination • Considerable variation in response to pricing among individuals • Affected by: household incomes, locations, trip patterns, travel purposes • Regional differences can also be pronounced • Observationally random differences in behavior Reduce Trip Frequency Don’t Make Trip

11. Volpe Traveler Behavior Study: Scope of Research • Household Panel Study • Survey same households before and after road pricing • 2-day travel diary (log all trips) completed by all adult (18+) household members • Includes additional survey questions on typical commute behavior, tele-work behavior, attitudes/values, ITS, etc. • Methodology (by City)

12. Refresher of UPA/CRD Programs • Overview of the 2010-2012 Traveler Behavior Study • Seattle • Preliminary Study Results • Next Steps • Conclusions

13. “Before” Seattle Data Collection is Complete • November 2010 - 4 sets of travel dates (Piloted in Sept 2010) • Basic Results • 3,328 total households*- 2,883 auto households- 393 transit households - 52 vanpool households • 6,309 individuals- 3,029 men- 3,280 women • 45,819 trips- 11,920 trips across/around Lake Washington - 5,522 auto trips across SR-520 *A participating household is defined as one where all adult members (18+) completed every question in the two diary day questionnaires

14. Basic Trip Statistics • Reported Time of Day that the Trip Began

15. Traveler Information Sources • Information was consulted for 45% of all trips across/around Lake Washington *Percentages do not add to 45% because multiple responses were allowed

16. General Attitudes and Attitudes Toward Tolling • Asked of all 6309 adults Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

17. Satisfaction with Auto Trips Crossing Lake WA • Respondents reported their level of satisfaction for auto trips across Lake Washington (n=9261 trips) Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very Satisfied

18. Satisfaction with Transit Trips Crossing Lake WA • Respondents reported their level of satisfaction for their transit trips across Lake Washington (n=1763 trips) Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very Satisfied

19. Sample Composition • Evaluate – Household Characteristics of Sample • Compare to previous studies (2009 SR-520 OD Study, 2006 PSRC Household Study) • Compare to census data and ancillary data sources • Within sample – non-responding households to sample, etc. • Initial Conclusions – Meeting project object to obtain sample that matches the composition of households that cross Lake WA during the peak

20. Next Steps in Seattle • Panel Maintenance – Ongoing communications to share data and maintain household engagement • Monitoring Tolling Implementation • Possible Focus Groups - Explore pricing responses; motivations; differences from expectations • Conduct “After” Data Collection • Refield same survey to same households in November 2011 • Add new questions about behavior changes (and reasons why) since pricing implementation

21. Conclusions • General Project Learnings: • When using existing survey methods for new purposes take the extra time to educate all stakeholders • Stay flexible! Nothing you can do about (significant) tolling delays in both cities (Seattle and Atlanta) • Our methodology and panel approach affords labor efficiencies and allows for the needed flexibility • Most importantly – maintain focus on key project objectives (and your analysis plan) at all times! • Everyone on the project team must maintain this focus • Many stakeholders (in both cities) want prompt access to results and a say in what questions to ask (“before” and “after”) • Travel behavior WILL be significantly impacted due to tolling - but our job is to capture the behavior responses – and the variation within it • Stay tuned for 2013 TRB Planning Applications Conference for results…..

22. Questions? Chicago Vermont Utah   Elizabeth Greene Thomas Adler Resource Systems Group, Inc. egreene@rsginc.com (802) 295-4999 Jane Lappin Margaret Petrella Sean Peirce Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Jane.lappin@dot.gov (617) 494-3692 Thanks also to staff at: PSRC, King County, WSDOT, FHWA, WSDOL, Community Transit