PLANNING SNAPSHOT 5:

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1 PLANNING SNAPSHOT 5: INCORPORATING TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS WITH PLANNING MAY 2015 Funded through the NCHRP 8-36 Research Series, these snapshots are designed to tell you a little about the current state of a specific practice of interest today. Beyond Traffic Linking Operations and Planning To better understand how agencies are currently integrating and operations functions, a survey of state DOTs and regional organizations was distributed on behalf of SCOP, A, and NARC. 22 state DOTs and 58 s responded providing the insights and information shared here. and WHAT TRENDS WILL IMPACT FUTURE PLANNING FOR OPERATIONS? 100% 100% 9 Trends 86% 79% Population growth 73% National VMT decrease 50% 50% Alternative fuel vehicles 32% Land use development trends Funding at state and national level Availability of real-time data Tech advances (ITS, Connected Vehicles, etc.) Mid-Size s (200K-9K) Attention to freight movement Need for congestion reduction Large s (1,000K+) Small s (50K-1K) Private-sector innovation Climate change and emissions reductions 9 9 MAP-21 and other performance requirements

2 PLANNING SNAPSHOT 5: INCORPORATING TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS WITH PLANNING H OW D O PL A N N I N G A N D O PER ATI O N S I N FLU EN CE E ACH OTH ER? Operations Planning Identifies potential low-cost solutions rather than O&M strategies can meet transportation goals reconstruction recommendations. given funding constrains. Focus on evaluating operations during project Collects data and influences selection of and program development. performance measures. Plans are fluid to adapt to operational changes. Inclusion of diverse stakeholders in leads to awareness of operational challenges. Real-time traffic info has changed the long-range solution set. Directly influences investment priorities. H OW I S O PER ATI O N S I N CO R PO R ATED I NTO TH E PL A N N I N G PROCES S? 93% 93% 73% 68% 68% 4 32% 32% 43% 9% 0% LRTP Corridor plans ITS/Ops Safety plans (1,000k+) TSM&O plan Incident Incident management management plan performance measures (200k-9k) Operations Planning influences available funding opportunities for operations. Planning assesses current and projected needs to identify operational issues. Corridor plans facilitate implementation of regional operations initiatives. Integral to ITS program development. Exploring automated vehicle technologies. 0% 0% Not incorporated (50k-1k) Planning Public input in process has greatly impacted operations. Planning influences type of data collected by operations. Identifies congestion and safety problems. Strategically analyzes potential operational improvements. Identifies need for regional operations center.

3 B EST PR ACTI CES EN GAGI N G STA K EH O LD ERS I N O PER ATI O N S PL A N N I N G HOW TO BETTER LINK PLANNING AND OPERATIONS Education on operational strategies and how to evaluate them 4 26% 17% Need champions for TSM&O at decision-making levels Need more examples of successful implementation More grants targeting operations Social Media TDM programs Include new stakeholders Engage freight industry reps FHWA s Planning for Operations model provides structure Yes () Having strong TSM&O component in LRTP is vital Must include O&M costs when project budgeting ACTI V E I N CO N N ECTED V EH I CLE I N ITI ATI V ES? No (86%) Better communications between silos Agencies must be required to be linked Before a new capital project is funded, must show that TSM&O is unfeasible alternative Engage traffic operations engineers early in processes Yes () No () Data sharing Co-locate and crosspollinate divisions and offices

4 PLANNING SNAPSHOT 5: INCORPORATING TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS WITH PLANNING TOOLS USED TO INTEGRATE OPERATIONS INTO PLANNING AGENCY ACCESS TO OPERATIONS DATA s 23% 32% Sketch demand forecasting 78% Microsim or mesosim s Deterministic and traffic optimization tools s Insufficient 38% 29% 16% 33% Moderately sufficient Sufficient 33% Sketch demand forecasting Microsim or mesosim Deterministic and traffic optimization tools OPERATIONS PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN PLANS Travel time reliability Arterial performance Incidents 29% Weather 4 Work zones 9% Freight operations 22% Not in plans 19% SPECIFIC MEASURES INCLUDE: Vehicle hours of delay Transit flows Fatality rate Travel time reduction Automated signal measures Throughput Volume/Capacity ratios Bottleneck queue length Time to clear lane blockage Weather-induced delays

5 INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN PLANNING AND OPERATIONS Caltrans Districts are in the process of reorganizing business practices for and operations functions. The purpose is to provide the institutional collaboration needed to more effectively deliver improved multimodal system management and operational improvements. Concepts of Operations are being developed by some Districts as multi-agency partnerships that have the potential to focus discussion and action around system management issues. Penn DOT worked closely with Carnegie Mellon University to complete a Connected and Autonomous Vehicles 2040 Vision. This effort looked at the implications of connected and autonomous vehicles on the management and operation of the State s surface transportation system. The report explores the impacts of connected and autonomous vehicles on design and investment decisions, communication devices investment, real-time data usage, existing infrastructure, workforce training needs, driver licensing, and freight flow. Over the last two years, the New Jersey DOT established a complete team or a /operations collaborative construct that is modeled after FHWA s Getting More by Working Together Reference Manual. The group meets quarterly and includes the, s, transit and other agencies, and the FHWA office. Following FHWA s Planning for Operations model helps to provide structure and guidance. The Delaware Valley Planning Commission s (DVRPC) Transportation Operations Task Force and Goods Movement Task Force hold joint quarterly meetings. The DVRPC s Incident Management Task Force includes operations staff from DOT s, toll authorities, state police, ports, and emergency management in the process. The Atlanta Commission (ARC) adopted a Thoroughfare Network (RTN), a prioritized group of nonfreeway facilities that will help provide focus for current and future TSM&O investment. Both GDOT initiatives and ARC s focus on the RTN have caused the process to evolve and be more accountable for mobility and safety from a systematic stand point. TSM&O has become a go to investment strategy in the Atlanta Metro region, largely due to GDOT s stance on deploying more technology. Caltrans uses macrosimulation models such as FREQ, and is testing a new macrosimulation operations analysis tool developed by UC Berkeley called Tools for Operations Planning (TOPL). TOPL is also planned for use as a realtime system management decision support tool. Information on TOPL can be found at On a systemwide level, the South Jersey TPO makes extensive use of archived operations data provided by the University of Maryland s Vehicle Probe Project (VPP). On a project and/or corridor level, we have the SYNCHRO microsimulation model to measure the impact on delay of different signal timing plans. 9 9 In Montana, and operations are tied in the long-range plan as a consideration of project prioritization. In support of these goals, we use pre-nepa corridor studies to consider operation needs early in the process prior to nominating projects.