Office of Operations
photos of traffic merging onto congested highway, congestion in snowstorm, variable message sign, cargo, variable speed limit sign in a work zone, and a freeway at night
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Operations - Did You Know?

Did You Know? - Archive


Operations Current News is now available Via RSS Feed. The FHWA Office of Operations homepage now features an RSS feed feature for the "Current News." RSS enables users to subscribe and keep up with newly-posted information without having to browse or continually check back to a favorite web site. - 8/11/2009

The Interim Final Rule revising the Worker Visibility rule (23CFR 634) (published in the Federal Register November 21, 2008 and went into effect on November 24, 2008) was issued to create an exemption for the firefighting community. This interim Final rule allowed firefighters or other emergency responders working within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway and engaged in emergency operations that directly expose them to flame, fire, heat, and/or hazardous materials to wear. The FHWA decided to issue this interim final rule to address safety concerns raised by fire fighting community. Three comments were submitted to the Interim Final Rule. Those have been addressed and it was issued as a Final Rule on June 15, 2009. (Federal Register Notice, June 15, 2009 - Worker Visibility - Final Rule) - 6/26/2009

Congestion pricing - sometimes called value pricing - is a way of harnessing the power of the market to reduce the waste associated with traffic congestion. Congestion pricing works by shifting some less critical or more discretionary rush-hour highway travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods, taking advantage of the fact that the majority of rush-hour drivers on a typical urban highway are not commuters. By removing a fraction (even as small as 5%) of the vehicles from a congested roadway, pricing enables the system to flow much more efficiently, allowing more cars to move through the same physical space. Similar variable charges have been successfully utilized in other industries, for example, airline tickets, cell phone rates, and electricity rates. There is a consensus among economists that congestion pricing represents the single most viable and sustainable approach to reducing traffic congestion. (Source: Congestion Pricing - A Primer: Overview (FHWA-HOP-08-039)) - 5/11/2009

Work Zone is an area of a highway with construction, maintenance, or utility work activities. A work zone is typically marked by signs, channelizing devices, barriers, pavement markings, and/or work vehicles. It extends from the first warning sign or high-in-tensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights on a vehicle to the END ROAD WORK sign or the last temporary traffic control device. - 4/1/2009

The Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) program was established under Section 1301 of SAFETEA-LU to provide grants to States for critical, high-cost transportation infrastructure facilities that address critical national economic and transportation needs. The Federal Highway Administration released its final rule on PNRS Evaluation and Rating that establishes the required evaluation and rating guidelines for proposed projects. The final rule was published in the Federal Register October 24, 2008. This rule is effective November 24, 2008. - 1/13/2009

On November 21, 2008, the FHWA issued an interim final rule revising the Worker Visibility rule (23CFR 634) to create an exemption for the firefighting community. This interim Final rule allows firefighters or other emergency responders working within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway and engaged in emergency operations that directly expose them to flame, fire, heat, and/or hazardous materials to wear retroreflective turn-out gear that is specified and regulated by other organizations, such as the National Fire Protection Association. Firefighters or other emergency responders working within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway and engaged in any other types of operations shall wear high-visibility safety apparel as defined in this rule. The FHWA decided to issue this interim final rule to address safety concerns raised by fire fighting community. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register November 21, 2008 and went into effect on November 24, 2008. - 12/11/2008

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) approved by the Federal Highway Administration is the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, or bicycle trail open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a). For the purpose of MUTCD applicability, open to public travel includes toll roads and roads within shopping centers, parking lot areas, airports, sports arenas, and other similar business and/or recreation facilities that are privately owned but where the public is allowed to travel without access restrictions. Military bases and other gated properties where access is restricted and private highway-rail grade crossings are not included in this definition. - 11/13/2008

Congestion means the level at which transportation system performance is unacceptable due to excessive travel times and delays. Congestion management means the application of strategies to improve system performance and reliability by reducing the adverse impacts of congestion on the movement of people and goods in a region. - 10/10/2008

The primary purpose of an HOV lane is to increase the total number of people moved through a congested corridor by offering two kinds of incentives: a savings in travel time and a reliable and predictable travel time. Because HOV lanes carry vehicles with a higher number of occupants, they may move significantly more people during congested periods, even when the number of vehicles that use the HOV lane is lower than on the adjoining general-purpose lanes. In general, carpoolers, vanpoolers, and transit users are the primary beneficiaries of HOV lanes. - 8/25/2008