PERFORMANCE REPORT

STRATEGIC AND ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
REDUCED CONGESTION STRATEGIC GOAL

REDUCE CONGESTION AND OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO USING THE NATION'S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Most Americans would not know that congestion is costing America an estimated $200 billion a year collectively. What individual citizens do know, however, is that their time is being wasted sitting on our nation's roadways or in our airports - time that should be spent with family, friends and in our communities. The National Strategy to Reduce Congestion has elevated congestion relief to a top priority and a number of significant changes are being explored and proposed that could fundamentally change the way we plan and pay for transportation improvements. On a parallel track, the multi-agency NextGen program plans to transform aviation over the next 20 years, making it even safer and expanding capacity by a factor of 3. Finally, DOT's comprehensive surface transportation reform proposal (Reform Proposal) recommends changes to Federal surface transportation program and policies, many of which would enable states and localities to more effectively pursue congestion reduction strategies.

The U.S. Department of Transportation leveraged $38,184 million to reduce
congestion and other impediments to mobility in the U.S transportation system.

Key Performance Areas

Strategic outcomes from the DOT Strategic Plan are indicated in blue and FY 2008 results for key DOT performance measures are marked to indicate Met Target () and Did Not Meet Target ().

Highway Congestion Reduction in urban congestion. Percentage of total annual urban-area travel occurring in congested conditions.
Transit Ridership Reduction in urban congestion. Average percent change in transit boardings per transit market (150 largest transit agencies).
Improved Infrastructure Longer lasting, high performance transportation infrastructure. Percentage of travel on the National Highway System (NHS) meeting pavement performance standards for “good” rated ride. Percentage of deck area on National Highway System (NHS) bridges rated as deficient.	Aviation Delay Meet new and growing demands for air transportation services through 2025 and beyond. Percent of all flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule at the 35 Operational Evolution Plan airports due to NAS-related delays.
Transportation Accessibility Increased access for all Americans. Percent of bus fleets compliant with the ADA. Percent of key rail stations compliant with the ADA.

2008 Performance Highlights

• The percent of travel under congested conditions was estimated to be well below the FY 2008 target of 32.3 percent. The results suggest that increased adoption of strategies related to traffic incident management and work zone management plus the price of fuel have influenced travel patterns and reduced travel.
• Over half of the top 40 metropolitan areas have full service incident management service patrols.

Improved Infrastructure
FY 2008 Enacted Funds: $11.57 Billion

Improving the condition and performance of pavement and bridges is critical to the structural integrity and cost effectiveness of the transportation system. The condition of the National Highway System (NHS) also affects traffic congestion, wear-and-tear on vehicles, comfort of travelers, and fuel consumption.

Performance Measure Percentage of travel on the National Highway System (NHS) meeting pavement performance standards for “good” rated ride
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	53 (r)	54 (r)	56	57
Actual	52	54	57 (r)	56 *
(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $5.78 billion

FY 2008 Results. The target for 2008 was developed based on predictions using the Highway Economics Requirements System (HERS) model which reflect current engineering practices, transportation funding, and increasing construction material costs. The preliminary estimate of pavement condition for FY 2008 is 56 percent. The decline in nationwide pavement condition results corresponds to a significant year-to-year decline in pavement conditions reported in California. The data for California are still under review and may change at a later date.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. The 2008 target for the pavement condition measure was revised in 2007, reflecting a more predictive approach based on more sound engineering and economic models. Recent trends in funding and material cost increases will pose difficulty in meeting the 2009 and future targets.

---

Performance Measure Percent of deck area on National Highway System (NHS) bridges rated as deficient.
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	25.3	24.2	23.1	22.0
Actual	29.9	29.2	29.7 (r)	29.5 *
(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $5.78 billion

FY 2008 Results. The FY 2008 target was not met. Factors influencing the results include limited funding levels coupled with escalating materials costs on bridge projects. The percentage of deck area on NHS bridges that are rated as deficient decreased from 32.6 percent in 1998 to 29.5 percent in 2008. A gradual downward trend is expected to continue. The impact on the deck area figures of additional funding made available in 2008 may not be apparent for several years. Bridge deficiencies are reduced primarily through a reduction in the number of structurally deficient bridges.

FHWA conducted annual National Bridge Inspection System compliance reviews and met afterwards with the States as necessary to ensure that any compliance issues were resolved. More than 96 percent of the States are in compliance. FHWA will continue to work with the States with a goal of reaching 100 percent compliance through the sharing of commendable practices, peer reviews of a few individual programs, and continued bridge inspection training through the National Highway Institute.

FHWA is working with the States to ensure that the additional funding made available for years 2008 through 2010 is being used to supplement and not supplant planned bridge activities. At the end of FY 2008, nearly half of the $1 billion was made available to 13 States and $300 million was obligated to bridge activities.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. FHWA will reexamine and reset the 10-year targets in FY 2009 to better reflect future forecasted conditions.

Repair and Reconstruction of the Minneapolis T-35W Bridge

On August 1, 2007, the center span of the I-35W interstate bridge in Minneapolis broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River. Thirteen people died as a result of the collapse and over one hundred were injured. FHWA provided significant technical support to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the I-35W bridge collapse. Following the immediate reevaluation of all steel deck truss bridges, FHWA issued a Technical Advisory calling for States to check the capacity of gusset plates on all steel trusses. FHWA issued technical guidance regarding methods to check gusset plate capacity and is now working with AASHTO to improve upon the guidance.

FHWA was immediately involved in discussions with the Minnesota DOT on the design layout of the new bridge. Work began immediately on ensuring that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process was followed for the removal of the existing bridge, the traffic restoration work and the reconstruction of the bridge. The project was accelerated using a Design-Build Best-Value procurement method. The State of Minnesota chose the contractor based on the most advantageous cost and time combination presented. The FHWA validated the cost estimate for the bridge and the entire reconstruction contract using a risk-based review. Construction was completed ahead of schedule and the I-35W bridge reopened in September 2008.

HIGHWAY CONGESTION

Traffic congestion on our Nation's highways now affects more trips, involves more hours of the day, and includes more of the transportation system than ever before. Congestion varies significantly day to day because demand and capacity are constantly changing at any given location. Overall, 67 percent of the peak-period travel nationwide is congested, compared to 32 percent in 1982. Travelers in 85 urban areas spent 4.2 billion hours stuck in traffic in 2005, more than a five-fold increase when compared to 1982.

Performance Measure Percent of total annual urban-area travel occurring in congested conditions.
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	33.0	33.7	32.5	32.3
Actual	28.6 (r)	28.4 (r)	27.8 (r)	27.3 #
(r) Revised; # Projection; * Preliminary Estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $5.78 billion

FY 2008 Results. The percent of travel under congested conditions was estimated to be 27.3 percent, which is well below the FY 2008 target of 32.3 percent. Although increased adoption of strategies related to traffic incident management and work zone management may have helped to slow the growth of congestion, it is difficult to know to what extent. External factors including the price of fuel have significantly influenced travel patterns and reduced vehicle miles traveled (VMT) sharply.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. The actual results for congested travel nationwide from 2005 to 2007 were revised downward in 2008 based on an improved freeway speed estimate by the Texas Transportation Institute. As a result, the annual targets for FY 2009 and subsequent years will be reexamined in 2009. FHWA expects to meet the new 2009 target.

Reducing Congestion

Initiatives designed to demonstrate the value and efficacy of congestion pricing in reducing traffic congestion are key to advancing the Transportation Secretary's Congestion Initiative. To this end, the Department initiated the Urban Partnership (UP) and Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) programs and is now working with six metropolitan areas to demonstrate various pricing strategies. These UP/CRD partners have agreed to pursue integrated approaches that, while prominently featuring pricing, also include supporting technology and transit strategies. Five metropolitan areas were selected for the first Urban Partnerships: Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. After considerable debate, the New York state legislature failed to provide the necessary tolling authority for a highly innovative cordon pricing scheme in New York City. Consequently, the funds set aside for New York City were redistributed to Chicago and Los Angeles for CRD programs. The FHWA has a comprehensive agenda underway to capture lessons learned from all of the UP/CRD programs. Peer exchanges ensure the eventual widespread deployment of congestion pricing applications. Additionally, an intensive evaluation program has been established to quantify both the benefits and costs of these pricing strategies.

FHWA realized significant success in the Operations and Technology program areas that are part of the Congestion Initiative. Almost all states are now in compliance with the Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule, with strategies for reducing crashes and congestion in work zones, and well over half of the top 40 metropolitan areas have full service incident management service patrols. Virtually all states with major bottlenecks are exploring low-cost, quick-fix operational improvements, and 48 percent of the U.S. population now has access to 511 travel information services.

FHWA is also addressing non-reoccurring congestion related to incidents and inclement weather, which contribute 40 percent to the overall congestion problem. The Traffic Incident Management program encourages the prompt clearance of traffic incidents, i.e., crashes, stalled vehicles, spilled loads, and debris on the roadway,through a cooperative effort of public safety, transportation and private sector partners. In October 2007, the National Traffic Incident Management Coalition (NTIMC) adopted a National Unified Goal to achieve “Responder Safety; Safe, Quick Clearance; and Prompt, Reliable, Interoperable Communications”. The National Unified Goal will be achieved through actions led by the 23 NTIMC coalition partner members over the next few years. The Road Weather Management program focuses on providing highway users and operators accurate real-time information to achieve better decisions for personal trip planning and more efficient maintenance activities such as snow removal.

Several projects were launched including the Clarus Initiative. Clarus (which is Latin for clear) is an initiative to develop and demonstrate an integrated surface transportation weather observing, forecasting and data management system. The objective of Clarus is to provide information to transportation managers and users nationwide to limit the fatalities, injuries, and delays that often result from adverse weather.

In addition to its activities under current authorities, DOT has also developed a comprehensive proposal for reforming the Federal surface transportation program subsequent to the expiration of SAFETEA-LU. This Reform Proposal includes a variety of provisions that would enable states and localities to more effectively pursue congestion reduction strategies-particularly in regards to implementing variable pricing on congested roadways.

The graphic below depicts work zone management with cones and construction signs; traveler information with a dynamic message sign and 511 travel information service logo sign; incident management with a tow-truck and ambulance on the highway shoulder; and bottleneck reduction with three lanes of congested highway traffic.

Visit www.oti.dot.gov/diagrammap.htm and click on any of the five operational and technological improvements in the graphic for more information. Courtesy of US Government Accountability Office, 2007

Transit Ridership
FY 2008 Enacted Funds: $8.55 Billion

With the uncertainty of gasoline prices for the foreseeable future, public transit is an attractive alternative to the automobile. Transit agencies are handling increasing numbers of passengers; ridership growth increased by only 0.7 percent in 2003 and 2004, grew by 1.9 percent in 2005, 2.1 percent in 2006, and 2.5 percent in 2007, but expanded by 4.3 percent in 2008 . Transit is one of the safest ways of traveling, relieves road congestion, and reduces air pollution. Federal investments in transit, combined with State and private sector funds, make public transportation possible for tens of millions of Americans every day saving time, providing mobility, and reducing congestion.

According to a recent Texas Transportation Institute analysis, Americans wasted 4.2 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic jams. Traffic congestion now costs motorists in our Nation's top urban areas about $78 billion a year in wasted time and fuel. Mass transit, however, saved $10.2 billion in wasted fuel and time.

Performance Measure Average percent change in transit boardings per transit market (150 largest transit agencies)
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	1.0	1.0	1.5	1.5
Actual	1.9	2.1	2.5 (r)	4.3 *
(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $8.55 billion

FY 2008 Results. For 2008, the strong increase in ridership continued at a rate more than double the performance target. Although the ridership increases of the past four years may have been affected by service improvements and fare subsidy programs, the substantial correlation with the increase in gasoline prices suggests a causal relationship (see graph).

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. DOT anticipates it will meet the 2009 ridership target.

Promoting Transit Ridership

To support this goal, FTA continued to invest billions of dollars in the Nation's transit infrastructure to ensure transit is as safe, efficient, and cost-effective as possible, thus attracting new riders. FTA also implemented several new initiatives to promote ridership and recognize transit agencies that develop innovative and successful programs to increase ridership.

As part of the Department's Urban Partnership (UP) and Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) programs, FTA is working with six metropolitan areas to implement integrated, multi-modal strategies to reduce urban traffic congestion. Each of these metro area strategies involves a combination of road and/or parking pricing, enhancements to transit service, and the deployment of innovative transportation technologies. In each case, the Department has both provided grant funding to implement the transit projects and established an intensive evaluation program to quantify the benefits and costs of the integrated pricing-transit-technology approach.

In FY 2007 and 2008, the United We Ride human service transportation initiative made strides to improve transportation delivery systems for older adults, persons with disabilities, families with low incomes, disadvantaged youth, and other populations most dependent upon public and human service transportation systems to meet their mobility needs.

FTA's United We Ride and the USDOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office launched a national demonstration program called the Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) Initiative to coordinate the 62 Federal programs that provide some level of human service transportation by using ITS technology to create a single point of customer access no matter what the trip, who provides it, or who funds it. Eight demonstration sites were selected to develop operational plans for implementing simplified customer access systems.

The goal of MSAA is to improve transportation services and simplify access to employment, health care, education, and other community activities by means of ITS through extending transportation service partnerships with consumers and human service providers at the Federal, State, and local levels.

FTA reviewed 27 proposed operational concepts for simplified customer access and reservations systems and selected 8 to develop further. After 18 months developing the concepts, seven of the 8 sites presented systems to demonstrate scalable and replicable Travel Management Coordination Centers (TMCCs). The system designs were received by the USDOT in July 2008. In Phase 2, $3.25 million will be awarded for 3 or 4 demonstration sites that will be selected to deploy their TMCC designs. Many of the sites indicated that they will implement their TMCC design regardless of whether they are selected. All of the designs are quite innovative. Technical assistance will be provided to the remaining demonstration sites.

Traffic flows on roadways during peak periods improve significantly when transit alternatives are also available to increase capacity.

Transportation Accessibility
FY 2008 Enacted Funds: $563 Million

According to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine, there are some 40 million disabled Americans and this number is expected to increase as the population ages. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the number of Americans over 85 will increase from 5.4 million to 19 million between 2008 and 2050. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that public transportation be accessible to these individuals; it is vital to maintaining independence and mobility for people with disabilities and linking them to employment, health care and their community.

Performance Measure Percent of bus fleets compliant with the ADA
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	95	97	97	98
Actual	96	98	98	98 *
* Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $111 million

FY 2008 Results. DOT met the 2008 target. Ninety eight percent of the bus fleet is compliant with the ADA. The bus fleet continues to become more accessible as older vehicles are replaced with new vehicles that are lift-equipped or have low floors to accommodate wheel chairs. The overall rate of increase in bus accessibility has slowed somewhat since many of the buses replaced were already lift-equipped.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. In 2009, 98 percent of the fleet should remain ADA compliant. While all new buses are lift equipped or have low floors, it will be difficult to reach 100 percent compliance because many transit operators retain buses for more than twenty years.

---

Performance Measure Percent of key rail stations compliant with the ADA
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	84	91	93	94
Actual	91	92	94 (r)*	95 *
(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $150 Million

FY 2008 Results. The preliminary estimate for FY 2008 indicates that the FY 2008 target will be met.

There are 681 key rail stations nationwide, designated as such by commuter, light or rapid rail operators, in cooperation with the local disability community. This revised number (down from 687 last reported in the 2007 PAR) reflects stations that have been closed or relocated. Relocated facilities are treated as new construction by DOT and are required to be fully accessible.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. DOT expects to reach the FY 2009 target.

The administration of FTA's Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program was changed in FY 2007 from a separate nationally-administered competitive program into a State-administered formula program as enacted in SAFETEA-LU. FTA is collecting data and establishing a baseline for a new measure “Jobs made accessible by JARC services”. The enacted funding for FY 2008 for this program was $156 million.

Aviation Delay
FY 2008 Enacted Funds: $4.0 Billion

Reducing delays is one of the biggest challenges facing the FAA. Commercial airline passenger delays in the U.S. amount to approximately $10 billion in delay costs each year. The problem is exacerbated by increased traffic and congestion concentrated at several major airports, particularly in the New York metropolitan area. Although a reduction in traffic of about 10 percent is expected this fall as airlines cut schedules due to high fuel prices, the large hub airports might not see significant delay reduction, because airlines tend to maintain schedules there. Along with increased congestion, adverse weather conditions are a major contributing factor to airport delays. Approximately 70 percent of flight delays are caused by weather. In the first 6 months of FY 2008, the percentage of operations conducted in severe weather increased almost 25 percent compared to the same time period in FY 2007.

Performance Measure Percent of all flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule at the 35 Operational Evolution Plan airports due to NAS-related delays
	2005	2006	2007	2008
Target	87.40	87.40	87.67	88.00
Actual	88.10	88.36	86.96 (r)	87.29 *
(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate
Associated FY 2008 Funding - $4.0 billion

FY 2008 Results. FAA did not achieve its FY 2008 NAS (National Air Space) On-Time Arrival performance target. Adverse weather conditions played a significant part in airport delays. Over 20 percent of operations at Boston, Newark, Philadelphia and Chicago were conducted during moderate to severe weather conditions. Traffic management initiatives, such as ground delay programs and airspace flow programs, were used to combat the effect of thunderstorms and maximize system efficiency as much as possible.

To help increase on-time arrival rates in the future, FAA continues to evaluate new tools and technologies to improve arrival times. These include greater collaboration with stakeholders (commercial airlines, business aviation, general aviation, military, and Congress), evaluation of separation standards, implementation of improved weather information tools, and airspace redesign where beneficial. Airspace redesign is one of the key components in optimizing U.S. airspace and allowing for increased capacity. Efficient airspace operations will require redesigning routes and changing the size and shape of airspace. This increased flexibility will help address volume, congestion, and weather in en route airspace.

The complexity of the future operating environment-with evolving fleet mixes, new aircraft, technology, and environmental constraints-must be approached in partnership with the aviation industry. The preparation for these changes is already well underway. The Federal Government's vision for meeting this challenge is called the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The concept of NextGen is a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air transportation system to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and at our airports.

FY 2009 Performance Forecast. Given the current issues in the NAS that impact on-time performance including adverse weather, runway construction, congestion at major airports, and aviation industry economic and scheduling pressures, the FAA anticipates that it will be particularly challenging to meet the current FY 2009 on-time target of 88.22 percent. In recent years, we have seen increasing impact of these factors on the ability to meet the target, as evidenced by the last 2 years of performance.

Reducing Aviation Delays

The FAA continues to work at reducing delays and meeting the anticipated demand for air travel. Implementation of NextGen is the long term solution to increasing capacity of the National Airspace System. In the meantime, FAA and the Department of Transportation have implemented a number of initiatives to reduce delays in the near term. The top accomplishments for FY 2008 included:

• New York Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). The ARC was formed in September 2007 to explore operational improvements, market-based mechanisms, and other options for addressing airspace congestion and flight delays in the New York metropolitan area. The ARC provided its recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on December 17, 2007.

  Incorporating information received from the ARC into FAA and DOT efforts to address aviation congestion in the New York area resulted in the following actions:

  • Daily planning teleconferences to provide common situational awareness for customers-such as airlines, airport operators, and the military-on planned daily operations at JFK;
  • Simultaneous runway approaches which will allow 4-6 more aircraft to land during instrument meteorological conditions;
  • Briefings and trainings to show controllers that reducing excessive spacing between aircraft on final approach can help reduce delay and does not pose a safety risk;
  • Creation of another westbound departure route to mitigate westbound delays
• O'Hare International Airport Congestion Management Rule. In June 2008, FAA announced the 2004 caps on the number of aircraft that can land each hour at O'Hare International Airport will be allowed to expire in October 2008. This is a direct result of efforts to add capacity at O'Hare and coincides with the opening of a new runway at the airport in November 2008.
• Release of Special Use Airspace. The U.S. military worked with FAA to make some of its airspace available for civilian airliners over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in 2007 and the Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends this summer. The military opened up airspace off the East Coast, which helped relieve the most congested regions-from Maine to Florida. The use of the military airspace was so successful that FAA is working with the Department of Defense (DOD) to ensure military airspace will be available for civilian use during future holidays.
• Traffic Flow Management and Route Initiatives. Two initiatives put in place in 2007 delivered substantial benefit and were again used in 2008 to reduce delays, especially during the summer months, when aviation is most affected by weather. We expanded Airspace Flow Programs (AFPs) that manage traffic adjustments to changing weather patterns. AFPs, which act like ground delay programs for a piece of airspace, saved airlines about $68 million last summer. The Adaptive Compression tool identifies unused arrival slots at airports affected by AFPs or ground delays and immediately moves other flights into those slots. This saved airlines $27 million and more than 1 million delay minutes in its first year of operation. The Western Atlantic Route
• System was redesigned to introduce 50 nautical mile separation between properly equipped aircraft-down from 90-allowing pilots flying in the western Atlantic a greater choice of routes and available altitudes.
• Area Navigation (RNAV) Routes, Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Terminal Arrivals (STARs) - Area navigation (RNAV) consists of routes and procedures that allow aircraft to fly point-to-point operations that are not restricted by the location of radar. This permits aircraft to fly optimum routes with little controller intervention. Two tools that accommodate aviation growth and improve efficiency are RNAV standard instrument departures (SIDs) and Standard Terminal Arrivals (STARs). RNAV SIDs and STARs provide instrument flight procedures for departing and arriving aircraft transitioning to and from the terminal to the en route structure, using advanced navigation technology. Using RNAV reduces pilot and controller workload and enhances the efficient and safe use of navigable airspace within the terminal airspace environment. In the en route structure, we are developing high and low altitude RNAV routes. In FY 2008, we published more than 75 RNAV SIDs and STARs and implemented more than 45 RNAV routes at specific airports. We continue to realize capacity benefits as well. For example, since the implementation of two RNAV STARs at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in October 2006, there has been a 38 percent reduction in the time aircraft remain in level flight at key step-down altitudes in terminal airspace, resulting in user benefit savings estimated at $2.4 million annually, and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 2500 metric tons annually.
• New Runways - Construction of airfield infrastructure (runways and taxiways) is a very effective method of increasing airport capacity, reducing delays, and improving efficiency. Los Angeles International Airport undertook a reconfiguration of their south runway and taxiway complex to enhance airfield geometry and reduce the potential for runway incursions. In April 2007 Runway 7R/25L was relocated 55 feet south of its previous location and re-opened. In addition, on June 26, 2008 a new center taxiway opened completing the south side reconfiguration. Chicago O'Hare also has a phased airfield reconfiguration underway. Phase 1 consists of three runway projects. The first project was completed on September 25, 2008 when the extension of Runway 10L/28R was opened. There are 6 other Operational Evolution Plan OEP airports that have airfield projects under construction (3 new runways, 1 runway extension, and 2 taxiways), as well as 10 other projects in the planning or environmental stages.

Almost 30 percent of flights nationally are cancelled or substantially delayed resulting in Americans wasting $9.4 billion a year in lost time. About 70 percent of those delays are caused by weather. While DOT certainly does not control the weather, focusing on a variety of traffic management solutions, such as limited flight schedules and modern, data-rich communications, can increase our ability to manage those weather delays and mitigate their impact on air travelers.