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It Takes a “Team” of Solutions to Fix Congestion

It Takes a “Team” of Solutions to Fix Congestion. TEAMFL Quarterly Conference May 2007 Tim Lomax Texas Transportation Institute. The Headlines. Congestion is growing… …in cities of all sizes There are solutions that work We should tell the “story” of transportation’s value…

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It Takes a “Team” of Solutions to Fix Congestion

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  1. It Takes a “Team” of Solutions to Fix Congestion TEAMFL Quarterly Conference May 2007 Tim Lomax Texas Transportation Institute

  2. The Headlines • Congestion is growing… • …in cities of all sizes • There are solutions that work • We should tell the “story” of transportation’s value… • …to support the development of an action agenda

  3. Congestion is Getting Worse Very Large = 3 M + Large = 1 M - 3 M Medium = 500 K - 1 M Small = Below 500 K Hours per Traveler

  4. Extreme 5% Severe 7% Uncongested 70% Heavy 8% Moderate 10% Congestion is Growing 1982 0.7 Billion Hours 2003 3.7 Billion Hours

  5. Congestion in Very Large Cities Delay Per Traveler

  6. Congestion in Large Cities Delay Per Traveler

  7. Congestion in Medium Cities Delay Per Traveler

  8. Congestion in Small Cities Delay Per Traveler

  9. Congestion Has Many Causes Special Events/Other 5% Poor Signal Timing 5% Bottlenecks 40% Bad Weather 15% Work Zones 10% Traffic Incidents 25%

  10. Components of “The” Solution 100% 0% Accept Some Level of Congestion Diversify Development Patterns Manage the Construction Process Manage the Demand % Varies for Each City Increase System Efficiency Build More Capacity

  11. Strategy Mix Will Be Different Outer Loop Capacity Efficiency Demand Capacity Efficiency Demand Add Capacity Capacity Efficiency Demand Greater Efficiency Inner Loop Demand Management

  12. Road Growth Helps… But Can’t Do It All 53 Areas 28 Areas 4 Areas

  13. Freeways and Toll Lanes

  14. Bus, Carpool, & Variable Pricing • Reliable Service • “Gridlock Insurance” • (Minneapolis, I-394)

  15. Bus, Rail, Auto Transportation Centers

  16. Bus Rapid Transit

  17. Rapid Construction Methods • Katy Freeway (Houston, I-10W) Project • Completed 6 Years Sooner; Toll Authority Funds • $310B “Speed-Up” Costs = Cost inflation savings • Net Benefits - $2.8 Billion

  18. Operations Goal: Make Every Day an “Average” Day Index Value Worst Day of Month Reduce This Gap (Buffer Index) Average Time Time of Day

  19. Better Operations Reduces Delay Million Hours of Delay Reduction Note: More Aggressive Operations Could Decrease Delay Even More

  20. …… But Can’t Do It All Million Hours of Delay Reduction 3700

  21. Total Effect of Operations Treatments in Florida Million Hours of Delay Reduction Total Delay in 7 FL Regions = 265 Million Hours

  22. Ramp Metering

  23. Truck OperationsA Key to the 21st Century Economy;Local & Long Distance • Accommodate freight demand • Change time & route? • Ports of Los Angeles/ Long Beach “OffPeak” • Higher fees for peak cargo • Shift 1/3 of volume to off-peak

  24. Event Management

  25. Take the Pledge“I Will Not Rubberneck” Do you have a Steer it, Clear it Law?

  26. Houston’s SAFEclear Rapid Removal from Freeways

  27. What Else Can Be Done? • “Bottleneck” removals • Railroad crossings • Telecommuting, Flexible work hours, Vanpooling, etc. • Diverse development types • Truck-only facilities • Bottom Line – Everyone has a role in congestion relief

  28. Telling The Story • Go beyond miles and numbers inventory • More extensive use of “real data” • Move data from operations into the debate • Make it accessible (Sound bites and 1-pagers are not evil!) • Pictures, maps, graphs, bullet points – point your audience to your message

  29. Benefits from Mobility Improvement Source: Texas Governor’s Business Council www.texasgbc.org

  30. Adapt Measures To Use & Audience • Time scale of use . • Real-time website – point-to-point travel time • Near-term agency decisions – system volume • Short-range – system performance index • Long-range – progress toward targets • Key to good data is lots of users • Key to lots of users is understandable data

  31. Measure Overview • Travel time measures • Real-time • Average • Reliability • Collect the “Whys” – weather, crashes, work zone, demand • Customer and investment decisions

  32. Performance Measures for North Texas T’pike Auth • Monitor toll tags & events • Use Travel Time Index & Buffer Index • Monthly and Annual Reports • Measure would help: • Schedule maintenance & construction • Monitor contractor's effect on operations • Prioritize new capacity needs • Communicate with senior mgmt & NTTA Board • Communicate with customers

  33. What’s the Long-Term Strategy? • Aggressively operate what you have • Install better processes • operations, planning, design & construction • Tell the public • Performance reports & targets • Link deployment, events and actions • What can travelers do? • What can businesses do? • Experiment – Make different mistakes (http://mobility.tamu.edu)

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