Citywide Congestion Management Plan (CCMP) by New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT)

4. Benefits of the Proposed Deployment

Following development and deployment of these technologies, the supplemental data is crucial to evaluating performance. Under current conditions, many counts and travel data collection surveys that are performed at key locations across the city are only deployed one-to-two weeks at a time, once or twice a year, or on a project-by-project basis. As a result, there is no information on the traffic flow characteristics at other times and NYCDOT must draw conclusions from such data for planning, operations, and monitoring purposes. Having a sustainable, consistent source of data is critical. Detection equipment deployed under the proposed system will have uniform technology specifications and counting procedures. The resulting data will be consistent in format and will be seamlessly integrated into NYCDOT's current data flows. In addition, variation due to count contractor personnel and count methods will be eliminated.

A reliable set of continuous, renewable, real-time and historical data will provide insights into the spatial and temporal fluctuations of traffic activity, greatly benefit a number of citywide initiatives, and provide a basis for performance monitoring. The new dataset for CCMP will also allow NYCDOT to analyze an unprecedented amount of continuous, real-time information on traffic flows to support innovative programming and applications that improve mobility and system efficiency.

Transit Signal Priority Benefits:

Improving bus service reliability and on-time performance will encourage increased transit usage, public safety and improve air quality. TSP enables buses to move out of traffic congestion and minimize customer delay.

Off Hour Delivery Benefits:

OHD promotes less loading and double parking, which alleviates congestion in the daytime hours. Carriers/shippers benefit from faster and more reliable travel times, reductions in delivery costs, reductions in parking fines, and less stress on delivery crews. Receivers benefit from large increases in the reliability of deliveries, reductions in inventory costs, and lower shipping costs.

Also, low-noise delivery practices and technologies will reduce disruption during night time deliveries. OHD reduces vehicular emissions produced by trucks due to shorter routes with less congestion, faster speeds, and no stop-and-go traffic.

HOV Vehicle Occupancy Verification Benefits: If camera technology proves viable in the NYC environment, the near-term applicability would be to allow for verification of occupancy in HOV lanes during the L subway line closure. This would result in the reduction of congestion on East River bridges and the adjacent street network, as well as the prioritization of more efficient travel modes such as bus service and carpooling. Over the longer term, HOV lane restrictions could potentially be implemented after the end of the L line construction closure, and facilitated through the development of a full electronic enforcement infrastructure built around camera-based enforcement. Such an outcome would offer the benefit of long-term congestion reduction as well as reduced police enforcement costs.