California Department of Transportation

Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and their role in addressing congestion

Discussion Materials

Lake ArrowheadOctober, 2002

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22

Congestion continues to grow at an alarming rate in California

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1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996* 1997* 1998 1999 2000 2001

Year

Urb

an F

reew

ays D

aily

Del

ay(1

,000

Veh

icle

-Hou

rs)

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

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4,000

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5,000

5,500

6,000

Daily Vehicle-Hours of Delay

Congested Directional Miles

Source: Caltrans, Division of Traffic Operations, 2001 Highway Congestion Monitoring Program Annual Report

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33

Congestion has grown almost five times faster than population

Population

1991-2000

Congestion

1991-2000

Build Our Way Out

1991-2000

Population

2001-2010

Congestion

2001-2010

Build Our Way Out

2001-2010

Growth Rate: 1.8%

Increase: 5 Million

Growth Rate: 8.4%

Increase: 72 MillionAnnual Hours

8.4% or 180 centerline miles

annually, or doubling the urban highway system in 10 years

Growth Rate: 1.7%

Projected Increase: 5 Million

Sources: Department of Finance and Caltrans

Highway Congestion Monitoring Program Report – Recurrent Weekday Commute Delay Only

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44

Congestion growth has been attributed to many factors…

Land Use/Urban Sprawl

More Travel/Population

Escalating InfrastructureExpansion Costs

Transit Mode Share

Increased Goods Movement

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55

But, highway productivity loss is a primary reason

Pre-CongestionFlow Rate

CongestionFlow Rate

ProductivityLoss

2,000 – 2,400Vehicles Per Hour

Per Lane

1,200 – 1,600Vehicles Per Hour

Per Lane

Loss of 1/4 to 1/3or 500 to 650

Centerline Miles

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66

An example on I-405 SB in Los Angeles shows productivity losses of more than 50 percent

Source: Performance Measurement System (PeMS) – October 2001

Vphpl: volume per lane per hour

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1:00 PM 2:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:00 PM 6:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 9:00 PM

Time of Day

Sp

eed

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1,750

2,000

Veh

icle

s p

er H

ou

r p

er L

ane

(vp

hp

l)

Lost Productivity

As speeds drop, flow rates diminish significantly

I-405 SBPostmile 31.93Los Angeles10/19/2001

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77

SR-22 in the City of Orange also shows an aggregate productivity loss over 50 percent

Source: Performance Measurement System (PeMS) – October 2001

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2:45 PM 3:45 PM 4:45 PM 5:45 PM 6:45 PM

Time of Day

Sp

eed

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2,000

3,000

4,000

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6,000

7,000

8,000

Veh

icle

s p

er H

ou

rLost Productivity

As speeds drop, flow rates diminish significantly

SR-22 WBPostmile 9.8City of Orange03/27/2002

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88

Addressing congestion requires a comprehensive system planning approach

Maintenanceand Preservation

OperationalImprovements

SystemExpansion

TravelerInformation

TrafficControl

Demand Management

Incident Management

System Monitoringand Evaluation

TMS are the business processes and associated tools, field elements and communication systems that help maximize the productivity of the

transportation system.

Maintenanceand Preservation

OperationalImprovements

SystemExpansion

TravelerInformation

TrafficControl

Demand Management

Incident Management

System Monitoringand Evaluation

TMS are the business processes and associated tools, field elements and communication systems that help maximize the productivity of the

transportation system.

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99

MTC’s definition of system management is consistent with TOPS

Metropolitan Transportation Commission (San Francisco Bay Area)

“[System Management] generally implies efforts to make the best use of an existing system over the long run. It encompasses maintenance of existing infrastructure; efficiency improvements such as those achieved through deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies and operating agreements; and strategic capacity expansion on the margin ….. The relevant projects include a range of services and infrastructure such as incident management programs, arterial and freeway operations systems, and traveler information systems.

Dahms, Lawrence and Klein, Lisa A., “The San Francisco Bay Area’s Approach to System Management”, ITE Journal, December 1999

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1010

SCAG’s RTP Technical Advisory Committee is also placing emphasis on system management

Reviewing RTP Goals and Policies – to potentially include productivity type goals (i.e., getting the most out of the existing system)

Initiating a Highway Task Force – to evaluate highway operations needs (among others)

Updating Performance Measurement – to potentially identify indicators that address productivity goals.

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1111

Adopting system management principles requires enhancements to the three traditional planning steps

Data collection – rely on real time , more detailed data (e.g., performance measures, traffic flows)

Analysis – use more sophisticated tools (e.g., simulation tools)

Improvements – develop system management plans that address operations, not just expansion and maximize the system’s productivity.

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1212

System management plans for a given corridor require comprehensive data and analysis

System Monitoring and Evaluation

– How is the corridor performing? Delay, Reliability, Safety, Productivity, Other

– What are the major Origin Destination pairs currently using this corridor? Who are the major employers at the destination side?

– What modal alternatives currently exist, what percent use transit, what are the limiting factors for transit, how do travel times compare among modes?

– Where are the freeway bottlenecks?

– What are ramp inflow and outflow rates?

– How aggressive are we being with ramp metering?

– How aggressive are we with incident management, traveler information systems?

– Are there any geometric features that contribute to the productivity losses?

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1313

System management principles applied to a given corridor require significant analyses … continued

Demand Management– Can we identify the excess demand by location? By time of day?– What are parking prices for the primary destinations?– What are the features of alternative modes (price, headways, travel times)?– Are the regional and local agencies fully involved in addressing the performance

problems?

Incident Management– How many incidents does the corridor experience (per week, month, year)– How many did the FSP respond to?– How many did the TMT respond to?– Do we have CMS that alert travelers in route of expected delays? In how many cases

did we activate them?

Traveler Information– Does the public know about modal alternatives for pre-trip planning? How?– Does the public know about time of day alternatives for pre-trip planning? How?

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1414

System management principles applied to a given corridor require significant analyses … continued

Operational Control Strategies

– How aggressive do we need to meter our ramps to re-claim lost productivity

– What impacts would it have on local streets, congestion duration, transit mode share?

– How does the regional agency and local agencies feel about ramp metering?

Operational Improvements

– What is programmed in SHOPP for the corridor in terms of operational improvements (e.g., auxiliary lanes, shoulder widening, other)? What are the expected benefits?

– What other geometric constraints should we evaluate?

Expansion

– Once we implement most of the other strategies, how much excess demand will still exist?

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