Integrating Travel Time Reliability into Transportation System Management: Final Technical Memorandum

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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
ops.fhwa.dot.gov

FHWA-HOP-19-035

May 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

[ Notice and Quality Assurance Statement ] [ Technical Report Documentation Page ] [ SI Modern Metric Conversion Factors ] [ Acronyms ]

Executive Summary
Chapter 1. Introduction
	Project Motivation
	Business Case
	Overview of Tasks
Chapter 2. Reliability Analysis Desk Scan
	Summary of Approach
	Desk Scan Findings
		Reliability and Operational Analysis Used in Setting Direction (Goals, Objectives, and Targets)
		Reliability and Operational Analysis for Planning and Investment Decisions
		Reliability and Operational Analysis for Implementation and Tactical Decisions
		Decision Support Systems
		Frameworks for Including Reliability and Operational Analysis in Transportation System Planning and Programming and in Strategic and Tactical Decisions
		Gaps and Barriers
		Trends and Opportunities
	Case Studies
		Reliability Performance Management at the Colorado DOT
		Iowa DOT Interstate 80 Automated Corridor Study – Travel Time Reliability Analysis for Investment Planning
		Wisconsin DOT Reliability and Benefit-Cost Update: Enhanced Project Selection through Travel Time Reliability Analysis
		Minnesota DOT Congestion Management Safety Plan – Enhanced Project Selection through Travel Time Reliability Analysis
Chapter 3. System-Level goals and Objectives for Operations and Reliability
	Environmental Scan
		Transportation Systems Management and Operations/Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategic and Program Plans
		Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plans, Programs, and Performance Reports
		Metropolitan Transportation Plans
		Corridor Plans and Concepts of Operations
	Representative Goals and Objectives
		Goals and Objectives for a State Transportation System
		Goals and Objectives for a Regional Transportation System
Chapter 4. Tactical Program Areas
	Incident and Event Management
	Traffic Management
	Demand Management
Chapter 5. Technical Expert Group Workshop
	Integrating Reliability Analysis and Concepts into System Planning and Transportation Systems Management
	Strawman Methodology for Applying Reliability Analysis to Translate System-Level Goals to Tactics for System Management
	Methodology Review and Key Takeaways
CHAPTER 6. METHODOLOGY FOR LINKING GOALS TO TACTICS
	Overview
	Step 1: Establishing System-Level Goals
	Step 2: Developing System-Level Objectives and Setting Targets
	Step 3: Developing Corridor/Network-Level Objectives and Setting Targets
	Step 4: Identifying an Operational Approach
	Step 5: Selecting Operational Tactics
Chapter 7. Next Steps
	Continued Refinement of the Overall Approach
	Outreach, Communications, and Technical Assistance
	Analytical Foundation for Methodology
	Enriching Management Strategies
	Pilot Testing
Appendix. Hypothetical Scenarios
	Scenario 1: Application of Methodology to Statewide Rural Interstate Corridor
	Scenario 2: Application of Methodology to a Freight Corridor Important to Interstate Commerce
	Scenario 3: Application of Methodology to a Small City
	Scenario 4: Application of Methodology to a Large Urban Subarea
	Establishing System-Level Goals
References

List of Figures

Figure 1.	Diagram. Methodology for linking from system-level goals and objectives developed at the planning level to more detailed operational objectives, operational approaches, and tactics.
Figure 2	Diagram. Task-based approach for project.
Figure 3.	Diagram. Actions to incorporate reliability into the congestion management process.
Figure 4.	Infographic. Iowa Department of Transportation results of the I-80 Automated Corridors Study.
Figure 5.	Diagram. Relationship between reliability and congestion.
Figure 6.	Diagram. Increasing number of factors required to complete analysis when moving between congestion, safety, and reliability.
Figure 7.	Diagram. Hierarchy of system-level goals and objectives.
Figure 8.	Diagram. Connections between goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
Figure 9.	Diagram. High-level tactical program area framework.
Figure 10.	Diagram. Incident and event management strategy, related tactical operations program areas, and supporting tactics.
Figure 11.	Diagram. Traffic management strategy, related tactical operations program areas, and supporting tactics.
Figure 12.	Diagram. Demand management strategies, related tactical operations program areas, and supporting tactics.
Figure 13.	Diagram. Map of the United States with geographic locations of technical expert group participants.
Figure 14.	Diagram. Five-step methodology for linking system-level goals to the selection of operational tactics.
Figure 15.	Map. Scenario 1: A rural east-west interstate corridor and geographic context.
Figure 16.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The first step of the methodology is establishing system-level goals.
Figure 17.	Diagram. Scenario 1: Motivators for improvement in the corridor lead to goals.
Figure 18.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The second step of the methodology is to develop system-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 19.	Diagram. Scenario 1: System-level objectives and targets for realizing system goals.
Figure 20.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The third step of the methodology is to develop corridor-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 21.	Diagram. Scenario 1: Corridor motivators and system-level objectives drive the development of the corridor-level objectives and targets.
Figure 22.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The fourth step of the methodology is to identify an operational approach for achieving the corridor-level objectives.
Figure 23.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The operational approach contains tactics from one or more tactical program areas.
Figure 24.	Diagram. Scenario 1: The fifth step of the methodology is to select operational tactics to execute the operational approach.
Figure 25.	Diagram. Scenario 1: Tactics from these tactical program areas were selected for the operational approach.
Figure 26.	Diagram. Scenario 1: Application of methodology to statewide rural interstate corridor.
Figure 27.	Map. Scenario 2: An east-west freight corridor and geographic context.
Figure 28.	Diagram. Scenario 2: The first step of the methodology is establishing system-level goals.
Figure 29.	Diagram. Scenario 2: Motivators for improvement in the corridor lead to goals.
Figure 30.	Diagram. Scenario 2: The second step of the methodology is to develop system-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 31.	Diagram. Scenario 2: System-level objectives and targets for realizing system goals.
Figure 32.	Diagram. Scenario 2: The third step of the methodology is to develop corridor-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 33.	Diagram. Scenario 2: Corridor motivators and system-level objectives drive the development of the corridor-level objectives and targets.
Figure 34.	Diagram. Scenario 2: System-level objectives and targets lead to the development of corridor-level objectives to support their achievement.
Figure 35.	Diagram. Scenario 2: The operational approach contains tactics from one or more tactical program areas to achieve the corridor-level objectives.
Figure 36.	Diagram. Scenario 2: The fifth step of the methodology is to select operational tactics to execute the operational approach.
Figure 37.	Diagram. Scenario 2: Tactics from these tactical program areas were selected for the operational approach.
Figure 38.	Diagram. Scenario 2: Application of methodology to a freight corridor important to interstate commerce.
Figure 39.	Map. Scenario 3: A small city and its geographic context.
Figure 40.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The first step of the methodology is establishing system-level goals.
Figure 41.	Diagram. Scenario 3: Motivators for improvement in the metropolitan region lead to goals.
Figure 42.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The third step of the methodology is to develop network-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 43.	Diagram. Scenario 3: System-level objectives and targets that lead to the development of network-level objectives to support the achievement of the system-level objectives.
Figure 44.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The third step of the methodology is to develop network-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 45.	Diagram. Scenario 3: Network motivators and system-level objectives drive the development of the network-level objectives and targets.
Figure 46.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The fourth step of the methodology is to identify an operational approach for achieving the network-level objectives.
Figure 47.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The operational approach contains tactics from one or more tactical program areas.
Figure 48.	Diagram. Scenario 3: The fifth step of the methodology is to select operational tactics to execute the operational approach.
Figure 49.	Diagram. Scenario 3: Tactics from these tactical program areas were selected for the operational approach.
Figure 50.	Diagram. Scenario 3: Application of the methodology to a small city.
Figure 51.	Map. Scenario 4: A large urban subarea and its geographic context.
Figure 52.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The first step of the methodology is establishing system-level goals.
Figure 53.	Diagram. Scenario 4: Motivators for improvement in the subarea lead to goals.
Figure 54.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The second step of the methodology is to develop system-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 55.	Diagram. Scenario 4: System-level objectives and targets for realizing system goals.
Figure 56.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The third step of the methodology is to develop network-level objectives and set targets.
Figure 57.	Diagram. Scenario 4: Network motivators and system-level objectives drive the development of the network-level objectives and targets.
Figure 58.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The fourth step of the methodology is to identify an operational approach for achieving the network-level objectives.
Figure 59.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The operational approach contains tactics from one or more tactical program areas.
Figure 60.	Diagram. Scenario 4: The fifth step of the methodology is to select operational tactics to execute the operational approach.
Figure 61.	Diagram. Scenario 4: Tactics from these tactical program areas were selected for the operational approach.
Figure 62.	Diagram. Scenario 4: Application of methodology to large urban subarea.

Tables

Table 1.	Mapping of operations-related technologies to the tactical program areas they support.
Table 2	Technical expert group agenda.