A Framework for Improving Travel Time Reliability (2013)

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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2014 www.TRB.org The Second S T R A T E G I C H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M REPORT S2-L17-RW-1 A Framework for Improving Travel Time Reliability John D. Zegeer, BranDon nevers, anD Wayne Kittelson Kittelson & Associates, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Parsons BrincKerhoff ICF International Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Subject Areas Highways Operations and Traffic Management Research

SHRP 2 Reports Available by subscription and through the TRB online bookstore: www.TRB.org/bookstore Contact the TRB Business Office: 202-334-3213 More information about SHRP 2: www.TRB.org/SHRP2 SHRP 2 Report S2-L17-RW-1 ISBN: 978-0-309-27327-5 © 2014 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Copyright Information Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copy- right to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. The second Strategic Highway Research Program grants permission to repro- duce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, or FHWA endorsement of a particular prod- uct, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing material in this document for educational and not-for-profit purposes will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from SHRP 2. Note: SHRP 2 report numbers convey the program, focus area, project number, and publication format. Report numbers ending in “w” are published as web documents only. Notice The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the second Strategic Highway Research Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and review this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical committee and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the sponsors of the second Strategic Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report. The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America’s highway system is critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. Developments in research and technology—such as advanced materials, communications technology, new data collection tech- nologies, and human factors science—offer a new opportunity to improve the safety and reliability of this important national resource. Breakthrough resolution of significant transportation problems, however, requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. Reflecting this need, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has an intense, large-scale focus, integrates multiple fields of research and technology, and is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway research industry for half a century. The need for SHRP 2 was identified in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life, published in 2001 and based on a study sponsored by Congress through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). SHRP 2, modeled after the first Strategic Highway Research Program, is a focused, time- constrained, management-driven program designed to com- plement existing highway research programs. SHRP 2 focuses on applied research in four areas: Safety, to prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior; Renewal, to address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruptions and produce lasting facilities; Reliability, to reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation; and Capacity, to integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new trans- portation capacity. SHRP 2 was authorized in August 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The program is managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) on behalf of the National Research Council (NRC). SHRP 2 is conducted under a memorandum of understanding among the American Associa- tion of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Academy of Sciences, parent organization of TRB and NRC. The program provides for competitive, merit-based selection of research contractors; independent research project oversight; and dissemination of research results.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisci- plinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transporta- tion, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It was conducted in the second Strategic Highway Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. The project was managed by David J. Plazak, Senior Program Officer for SHRP 2 Capacity and Reliability. The research reported herein was performed under the SHRP 2 L17 project titled A Framework for Improving Travel Time Reliability. Kittelson & Associates, Inc., is the primary contractor for this study and is supported by the following subcontractors: ICF International; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Cambridge Systematics, Inc.; and Write Rhetoric. Brandon Nevers and Wayne Kittelson with Kittelson & Associates, Inc., served as principal investigators for this study. The other authors of this report included John Zegeer of Kittelson & Associates, Inc.; Janet D’Ignazio and Beverley Bowen of ICF International; Rich Margiotta of Cambridge Systematics, Inc.; and Steve Lockwood of Parsons Brinckerhoff. SHRP 2 STAFF Ann M. Brach, Director Stephen J. Andrle, Deputy Director Neil J. Pedersen, Deputy Director, Implementation and Communications Cynthia Allen, Editor Kenneth Campbell, Chief Program Officer, Safety JoAnn Coleman, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability Eduardo Cusicanqui, Financial Officer Richard Deering, Special Consultant, Safety Data Phase 1 Planning Shantia Douglas, Senior Financial Assistant Charles Fay, Senior Program Officer, Safety Carol Ford, Senior Program Assistant, Renewal and Safety Jo Allen Gause, Senior Program Officer, Capacity James Hedlund, Special Consultant, Safety Coordination Alyssa Hernandez, Reports Coordinator Ralph Hessian, Special Consultant, Capacity and Reliability Andy Horosko, Special Consultant, Safety Field Data Collection William Hyman, Senior Program Officer, Reliability Linda Mason, Communications Officer Reena Mathews, Senior Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Matthew Miller, Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Michael Miller, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability David Plazak, Senior Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Rachel Taylor, Senior Editorial Assistant Dean Trackman, Managing Editor Connie Woldu, Administrative Coordinator

F O R EWO R D David J. Plazak, SHRP 2 Senior Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability This project was designed to assemble, organize, and document the complete diverse results and products of the SHRP 2 Reliability research focus area. The project report and associ- ated products will help transportation agency decision makers and individual practitioners to understand the principles and value of management and operations programs, guide the design and resourcing of such programs, and provide technical knowledge and tools for effective program delivery on a regular basis to improve travel time reliability. There were three main tracks of the L17 research agenda: 1. To assess the current state of research in the realm of travel time reliability and to iden- tify and assess critical gaps that might impede progress by transportation agencies in improving travel time reliability on their highway systems. This assessment included both SHRP 2 and non-SHRP 2 efforts; for instance, recent research sponsored by part- ners of TRB such as FHWA, AASHTO, Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC), and the Intelligent Transpor- tation Society of America (ITS America). The results of this gap assessment led to the selection of a small number of “gap-filling” research topics that could be completed dur- ing the time available for the L17 research project. 2. To develop a suite of branding and marketing materials. These materials were designed to be customized by individual transportation agencies to communicate the value of transportation systems management and operations (TSM&O) to internal and external stakeholders, decision makers, and the general public. 3. Most importantly, a prototype web-based Knowledge Transfer System (KTS) was designed and constructed to be used by TSM&O practitioners in state DOTs, metropolitan plan- ning organizations, regional transportation agencies, and local transportation agencies to understand how to improve the operations and reliability of their systems in a compre- hensive manner. The KTS highlights all of the results of the SHRP 2 Reliability research projects but also goes beyond them. The intent was to provide a “one-stop shop” on the web for learning about TSM&O and improving travel time reliability. The results of the other two L17 research tracks—the gap-filling research and the branding and marketing materials—are also included on the KTS. The L17 project was intended to serve as the location of reference for the full SHRP 2 research and as the initial foundation for a future comprehensive resource site. TRB will be handing off the products of L17 at the end of the life of the SHRP 2 research program in early 2015. An Operations Center of Excellence (OCOE) has been proposed as the new home for the KTS and other L17 products; the business planning for the center was under way as of mid-2013.

C O N T E N T S 1 Executive Summary 1 Literature Synthesis and Review 2 Addressing Gaps in Knowledge 2 Knowledge Transfer System 7 Branding and Communication 10 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 10 Project Description 11 Scope of Work 13 CHAPTER 2 Existing Reliability/TSM&O Content 13 Approach 14 Organizational Taxonomy 14 Important Remaining Gaps 17 Key Gap-Filling Options and Recommendations 19 Gap-Filling Project Summaries 22 CHAPTER 3 Knowledge Transfer System 22 Reliability and the Broader Systems Operations and Management Context 22 Overarching KTS Framework 24 Knowledge Transfer Systems 26 Best Practices 27 Options for Transferring Knowledge 30 Development of the KTS Concept 31 Content and Website Design Direction 39 CHAPTER 4 Branding and Communication 39 Overview 39 Definition and Purpose 40 Branding Synthesis for Travel Time Reliability 40 Branding TSM&O 41 Communication: Building the Business Cases 41 Communication Materials and Strategy 42 Lessons Learned 43 Conclusions 43 Outreach: Audience Interactions 45 Current Status of Academic Curricula in Support of TSM&O 47 Bibliography

48 Appendix A. Summary of Existing Reliability/TSM&O Content 54 Appendix B. Analysis of Gap-Filling Projects 62 Appendix C. Briefing Book Pages 73 Appendix D. Researched Websites for Branding Synthesis 102 Appendix E. Available Curricula for Future TSM&O Practitioners