Notice:
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof.

Recently, the Federal Highway Administration carried out a number of surveys of American citizens to understand what customers thought of their everyday roadway systems, and what they felt needed to be improved. The results are instructive not only at a national level, but for state and local elected officials as well as their appointed transportation executives.

Some Very Good News

A large majority of citizens believe the physical aspects of our roadways, such as pavement surface and bridge conditions, have substantially improved in the last five years. The percent of people who report themselves satisfied or very satisfied with the roads they use most frequently has grown from 50% in 1995 to over 65% in 2000 (see Exhibit 1).

When asked about the many individual elements of the physical infrastructure, citizens showed similar patterns in satisfaction rates (see Exhibit 2). In virtually every category — bridge condition, pavement condition, lane width, shoulders, etc. — the public perceives that the quality of their infrastructure has improved.

Some Growing Concerns

While Exhibit 1 shows satisfaction overall has grown, it also demonstrates growth in the group that expressed dissatisfaction. In all of the surveys, citizens reported growing concerns with traffic and its impact on their lives and communities. Exhibit 3 is typical, showing growth in satisfaction with many of the physical amenities of the system (between 60% to 80%), but no growth in satisfaction levels associated with traffic flow (below 50%).

Congestion Is A Problem

This isn’t surprising. Over the last two decades, the amount of travel has grown at almost the same rate as our booming economy — 140% in the 80’s and 147% in the 90’s. Growth in roadway capacity, however, has almost flat-lined at 0.3% a year in the last decade (see Exhibit 4).

Analysis done at Texas Transportation Institute has shown that the costs of congestion are beginning to add up:

• Within major U.S. urban areas, over 32% of our daily travel occurs within congested conditions, and the trend continues to climb. In small urban areas alone (<500,000 population), congested travel increased 300% between 1982-1997.
• On average, it takes 26% longer to make a trip during peak periods than in off-peak hours. Interestingly, in the surveys people reported that they perceived it took from 30% to 60% longer to drive in the peak vs. the off-peak.
• The result of the congestion is urban drivers are spending one week per year stuck in traffic. In large urban areas, it is as much as two weeks!
• The individual cost of congestion exceeded $900 per driver in 1997, resulting in over $72 billion in lost wages and wasted fuel.

Congestion Affects Where to Live and Do Business

As these statistics impact daily lives and local communities, people are becoming increasingly concerned. In the surveys, congestion topped the list of transportation issues that people reported as affecting their communities (see Exhibit 5).

When asked to what extent various transportation issues affected where they chose to live, uncongested roads were the dominant factor. A little over 75% reported that it was an important or very important consideration in choosing a place to live (see Exhibit 6).

Congestion is also becoming a key consideration in where businesses choose to locate. Today, with business operating at the speed and precision of electrons, congestion and the resulting unreliable travel times are becoming disproportionately costly. The last decade has seen companies cut costs and streamline their operations by cutting back or eliminating warehousing. They rely, instead, on precisely timed arrival of parts for assembly lines, or products for retail shelves. Sure, that two-hour backup on the expressway has always had a cost in time lost and irritated drivers – but now, it reverberates to assembly lines that are forced to shut down, and retailers who lose sales because products have not arrived. In the eyes of an executive making a location decision, regional congestion adds up to higher operating costs, higher costs of living, and a lower quality of life for prospective recruits.

What Citizens Want

While citizens are concerned with congestion, they have matured in their response to what they want done about it. Improving both traffic flow and safety top their list of highway characteristics that should receive the most attention (see Exhibit 7).

Improving highway safety is a national priority. Almost 42,000 people each year still die on the highways. The survey results show safety is still a primary public concern. They also show that the public sees traffic accidents as a congestion issue — and rightly so. Twenty-seven percent responded that accidents are the main reason for traffic delay in their communities, compared to only 10% five years ago (see Exhibit 8). Indeed, highway accidents and incidents consume as much as 1/3 of the roadway capacity during peak hours in U.S. metropolitan areas. And, they are the primary culprits in system unreliability.

Citizens appear to be recognizing the ever-higher price tags associated with new capacity construction. Not only do they realize the expense in tax dollars, but in time. New capacity takes a long time to deliver — perhaps well beyond the time citizens might actually benefit from it! It also entails the double negative of seemingly endless traffic delays associated with construction zones and worse, the potential of having the new construction “in my backyard.”

When citizens were given a long list of possible solutions, and asked how much they thought each option would help, the top three responses suggested that we should do everything we can to minimize the pain of necessary maintenance and rehabilitation. Putting in more durable pavement, working in non-rush hours, and finding ways to reduce repair time (see Exhibit 9) were among the top preferred improvements. Next, we need to focus on better system operation with improved traffic signals and quicker response to accidents. Only then should we consider more travel lanes (Priority #6). A similar question as to how we might improve community transportation echoed the theme of making our existing system function better. There, suggestions included providing more sidewalks and bikeways, and promoting greater use of public transportation.

Is this a case of our citizens wanting the impossible? Or, can we really solve congestion without the adverse impacts of constructing added lanes or new routes?

The truth probably lies somewhere in between. While better operation of the existing system cannot “solve” congestion by magically turning bumper-to-bumper traffic into free-flow, there is solid evidence that aggressive, fully integrated, real-time, and full-time operations can make things a lot more livable. It can substantially improve traffic flow. It can reduce traffic delays. It can improve the reliability of the system. It can reduce the number of accidents and fatalities as well as the cost associated with responding to them. Perhaps, most important, it can restore a feeling of “control” to citizens as they try to cope with crowded roads.
That’s what we hope to demonstrate to you in these remaining pages.

How We Can Respond

Over the last three decades, a number of techniques have been developed to help solve particular operating problems, some of which are highlighted here:

Work Zones:

Issues associated with work zones are cited as two of the top five complaints of travelers across the country. People are frustrated both by the number of work zones they encounter, and the delays that they cause. While there is no single solution, there are meaningful solutions that come from looking at the issue holistically, beginning with project and program financing and continuing through the planning and construction phases. The key to minimizing the impact of construction and/or maintenance is to recognize the effect of the proposed work in sufficient time to develop and implement the appropriate cost-effective traffic management measures – prior to the delays occurring.

One example where work zone practices benefited customer mobility was in Illinois. The Illinois DOT (IDOT) recently completed an innovative reconstruction project using methods that reduced construction time and minimized motorist delays. Typically, Illinois interstate projects are limited to five miles of construction per project. With 18 miles of heavily traveled interstate needing rehabilitation and safety upgrades, IDOT combined multiple projects into one continuous segment. Through brochures and real-time information signs, motorists were advised of delays and alternative routes. These efforts greatly reduced the effect on businesses, local communities, and the 35,000+ motorists using this stretch of I-57 each day. The I-57 project was originally estimated at 3-4 construction seasons but through innovative operations it was completed in 4 months!

Additionally, research continues on new ways to improve work zone safety by development of longer-wearing materials (that require roads to be shut down less often for maintenance), aiming for shorter construction times, and providing better traffic management and consumer information when work zones occur.

Local Roads:

Studies have shown that regular signal re-timing can be the single most effective tool for keeping local traffic flowing smoothly. The Institute of Transportation Engineers estimates the reduction in travel time from traffic signal re-timing alone ranges from 8% to 25%. Many cities are now installing dynamic traffic control systems that respond, minute-by-minute, to changing traffic conditions not only by regulating particular intersections, but also by balancing traffic across a number of intersections.

Freeway Management:

Ramp metering on freeways has increased vehicle throughput from 8% to 22%, and reduced accidents from 15% to 50%. The citizens of Minneapolis/St. Paul can attest to these dramatic benefits. They turned their ramp meters off for six weeks to see if they were making that much of a difference. Within three weeks, citizens were begging to end the experiment and turn the ramp meters back on. The study’s results illustrate why. Without ramp meters there was:

• A 9% reduction in freeway volume
  
• A 22% increase in freeway travel times
  
• A 7% reduction in freeway speeds
  
• A 26% increase in crashes

In some areas, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes can double the people-carrying capacity of a freeway lane. By contrast, High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes provide congestion relief for a price. On days when a parent is late picking up a child from daycare — many parents believe the extra price is well worth it! Some traffic conditions lend themselves to effective use of reversible lanes, or peak hour use of shoulder lanes.

Incident Management:

Daily incidents, ranging from a flat tire to a jack-knifed tractor-trailer, can significantly reduce a substantial amount of freeway and local road capacity. They can also result in delayed medical attention, numerous secondary accidents and enormous economic costs that are never tallied. Consider, for example, the cost of sending too many or too few medical, traffic or law enforcement personnel. Add to this the delays for business, factory assembly and retail sales, and a relatively small incident can have major cost implications.

The rule of thumb is, for every one minute it takes to clear an accident, it will take four minutes to clear the resulting traffic tie-up. This turns a simple 30-minute incident into a two-hour backup. When it comes to reducing response and clearance time, the payoffs are high. For example, roving “good Samaritan” trucks — vehicles that help with the minor problems like flat tires to speed up clearance — are reaping rewards and citizen applause.

In Minnesota, the Highway Helper Program has reduced the duration of vehicle stall times by eight minutes.

Studies show good incident detection (cameras, loops, and other technology) coupled with good response protocols is extremely effective in combating congestion, promoting safety, and reducing costs. Incident Management Programs can reduce delay associated with congestion caused by incidents by 10–45%. In San Antonio, TX, the use of the TransGuide System has:

• Reduced total accidents by 35%
• Reduced average response time by 20%
• Decreased the average fuel consumption per incident by 2600 gallons
• Generated yearly savings of $1.65 million

Weather Response:

Appropriate and timely response to snow, ice and other weather conditions can make the difference between a simple slowdown and a highway disaster. In Maryland, the State Highway Administration is employing the use of multiple technologies and approaches, including GPS, electronic sensors, and cameras. These methods provide critical roadway condition information to the agency’s operations center, which can then deploy the right equipment at the right time to the right place, saving thousands of dollars.

Agency spokesman David Buck states, “If they can say it’s going to start snowing at 5 a.m.,but it’s not going to start sticking until 8 a.m., it saves us $10,000 to $15,000 per hour by not having people sitting on the side of the road.” Precise application of the right treatment at the right time can preserve a riding surface that would otherwise cut rush hour capacity by one-third to one-half, as well as eliminate hundreds of accidents!

Demand Management:

Many metropolitan areas have encouraged employers to sponsor carpooling programs. During special events, they have asked employers to use flextime, telecommuting, or staggered work hours to spread out peak demand — with remarkable effectiveness for those one-time events. In addition, employers implement various combinations of demand management approaches on a daily basis. The results have been very positive, i.e., reducing the number of vehicle trips by 10% to over 40%. For example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) implemented a management plan that included specialized transit services, ridesharing programs, staggered work hours — to name a few. Together, the NRC claimed a vehicle trip reduction of 41.6%, i.e., 582 daily one-way vehicle trips were averted from an employee population of 1400.

Traveler Information:

The demand for traveler information by both the general public and media continues to grow. Citizens find the information valuable and they act on it. Today, over 300 separate traveler information telephone numbers exist in the U.S. The percent of total freeway miles where freeway conditions are disseminated to the public increased from 12% in 1997 to 22% in 1999 and is projected to reach 42% in 2005. Moreover, the use of the internet to obtain critical traveler information is increasing rapidly.

In Phoenix, AZ, the use of the Trailmaster website increased over 50% during the review period of May 98 – February 99. Customers indicated their use will continue to increase as additional information is added to the site, e.g., including real-time local roads information and camera views.

In Seattle, WA, traffic web site customers consult the web site 5 times a week on average — primarily for the return trip from work/school. Customers use the traffic information to make changes in their commute route to reduce the amount of time they spend in traffic congestion, e.g., 70% left work later, 65% take a different route, 51% left earlier, and 35% added stops. To quote one customer, “The traffic page is absolutely wonderful. It is a phenomenal service and really demonstrates Washington DOT’s commitment to its customers.”

One example of traveler information is the newly designated traffic information telephone number, or “511.” On July 21, 2000, in response to USDOT’s petition, the Federal Communications Commission designated “511” as the single traffic information telephone number to be made available to states and local jurisdictions across the country. The number was designated so travelers across the country could have access to instant traffic reports via one simple phone number. This access will provide travelers with route alternatives, and other travel information, giving them the ability to make informed transportation decisions.

Implementation of Transportation Management Centers:

The benefits derived from Transportation Management Centers (TMCs) are quickly being realized around the country. TMCs utilize a number of different strategies and tools to address street and highway congestion. The contents of TMC “toolboxes” vary depending upon their environment’s needs.

One effective example that demonstrates the use of many strategies and tools is the TMC in Sacramento County, California. In Sacramento, traffic congestion was increasing 10% a year — equating to $10 million a day in delays to travelers and truck drivers. In response, the state Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol (CHP) worked together to complete a Transportation Management Center in early 2000.

“This really is the nerve center for the collection and dissemination of transportation information,” said David Anderson, a Caltrans public information officer. “We use state-of-the-art technology to collect the information about an incident, and we’re able to respond more quickly and get people moving more quickly. It also means the movement of goods isn’t stalled any more than necessary.”

By co-locating the organizations, California is saving an estimated $660 million a year in reduced traffic congestion and fuel consumption, while Sacramento is reducing taxpayer cost by approximately $35 million per year. To do this, the TMC receives reports about traffic hazards from people using freeway call boxes or 911, cell phones, or from CHP/Caltrans crews. Moreover, the center processes computerized information from electronic sensors in the pavement, ramp metering sensors, and Caltrans closed-circuit televisions. The TMC works directly with local television stations. They notify the media about accidents and other incidents as well as provide information proactively about known lane and ramp closures, or work zone projects. Many other areas around the country are implementing similar centers with equally dramatic results.

Haven't We Been Doing This Already?
What's New?

It’s true — many county, city, and state transportation agencies are actively using some of these operating techniques. Many areas have synchronized their signals. Many states have the beginnings of effective incident management programs. Others have learned to use their street and freeway systems flexibly with reversible lanes and HOVs.

What states and regions haven’t done is to make the daily, smooth operation of their transportation systems a core mission.

A Challenge of Olympic Proportions

Smooth transportation operations were a sink-or-swim issue for elected officials in Atlanta in l996, when almost overnight, the number of people using the transportation system increased dramatically — with the whole world watching!

It was sink-or-swim for elected officials in Los Angeles in l984, when the world press predicted gridlock of massive proportions with the opening of the ’84 summer Olympics.

Certainly, it was sink-or-swim for officials in Sydney, who managed transportation demands for record levels of people by train, bus, and ferry — over 5.5 million!

Right now, state, local and county officials from numerous walks of life in Salt Lake City are learning what it means to make transportation operations a core mission as they prepare for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Because of a special event, each of these cities faced the reality of handling transportation demands their areas probably wouldn’t have faced for years. And they did it, in most cases, without massive construction of new facilities. Of course, some construction was necessary, but the primary load was borne by new transportation operations entities that took responsibility for making the system work – every day, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Whether actual or de facto, temporary or permanent, these transportation teams were composed of the many functions that could contribute to making the system run smoothly under a variety of conditions: weather, terrorism, traffic accidents, surge loads of visitor demand, and regular commuter demand, including:

• State, County, and City or Town Transportation Agencies
  
• State, County, and City or Town Enforcement Agencies
  
• State, County, and City or Town Public Safety Agencies (such as paramedics, fire and others)
  
• State, County, and City or Town Transit Properties
  
• Parking Operators
  
• Event Facility Representatives
  
• Transportation Media
  
• Towing and Wrecking Operators
  
• Weather Response Teams

Jointly, those teams simulated numerous scenarios, watched them fall apart with overwhelming traffic backups or transit loads, and then worked through what each entity could do to streamline, optimize, or “help make it work.” It might have been a change in signal timing, alternative freeway use, faster emergency response, or aggressive demand management by communicating with the public or employers. Usually, it involved many or all of the representatives around the table to contribute to a part of the solution. It always required open lines of real-time communication — whether telephone, fax, or digital information — hardwired into every agency. And, yes, it did involve money. Sure, more money was spent than ever before on transportation operations — but this was the Olympics. Was there an alternative?

When the big event finally arrived, every one of those agencies was focused on one mission: delivering service to thousands of people with hundreds of different transportation objectives.

Each agency knew its role in the big picture. Each knew what to expect from its sister agencies, and what it had to deliver to make the system work. Diverse agencies worked “hand in glove” through constant communications. And they did it.

For two weeks, transportation officials in each of the Olympic cities provided transportation at demand levels they will most certainly face on a daily basis just a few short years from now.

Making Every Day a Special Event

There are many that would argue that the Olympics and other special events are different. There is a clear objective, a deadline, and the reinforcement of the media who will bring the performance, good or bad, to living rooms all over the world. True — a big event does rivet the imagination. It helps people and institutions think and behave “outside the box.” As for the whole world watching — it is! But just think of who is watching every day, on the way to the grocery store, on the way back from a family vacation, or on the commute to work. The volume loads of a big event are coming, and will be here to stay.

So how do we make the smooth operations we are capable of under extreme pressure an everyday core mission of transportation agencies in the area?

It may be worth beginning with the question, why don’t we operate that way now? For many agencies — smooth operations is not a core mission. Success for state, and some county DOTs, is commonly defined as completing projects — whether it is new construction, rehabilitation, or having the infrastructure in a good state of repair. Parking operators focus on full lots, preferably with high turnover. Enforcement agencies may be primarily concerned with lowering crime statistics. Even within the traffic units, the focus may primarily be on enforcement, rather than on smooth operations. Similarly, public safety teams are focused on lifesaving, with little attention as to how their actions could also contribute to overall transportation system operations. Transit agencies are unique in having operations as a core mission but the mission is often narrowly focused. These are all important, even vital, missions within each agency. But the public looks at the transportation system as a whole, and they want the whole system to operate smoothly. There are few, if any, places where one agency is “in charge” of smooth operations for the whole system. Institutions and budgets that could contribute to this goal tend to be set up to optimize other objectives. Right now, it usually takes a special event to focus each of the contributing agencies on an overall mission of making the system operate smoothly. But does it have to be this way?

The first major step for senior elected and appointed officials is having the faith that it can be done. To ensure success, officials must:

Communicate the expectation that it will be done as surely as if a major event were coming to their area two years from now; and enable it to happen by providing resources, as well as institutional and organizational underpinning, so that there will be a group or entity accountable for the core mission of smooth system operations.

Just as there has been no one way to prepare for a special event, there is no single approach to developing a core mission of smooth operations in your area. There are many ways to begin — many organizational structures, many budgeting approaches, and many operational procedures. It is up to each individual area to develop the approach that best suits their needs. There is, however, help in the transition from planning special events to planning everyday transportation operations.

The Federal Highway Administration has begun a National Dialogue on Transportation Operations to exchange information, develop a research agenda and discuss whether federal policies, legislation or funding strategies need to be changed or developed. Based on this early dialogue, the following suggestions may be helpful to getting started in your area:

Commit the Money needed to implement effective operations.

Define Measures of Success in concrete terms, and make sure each contributing agency or organization’s efforts can be linked to those measures of success. In fact, there may be several measures. To help you get started, Exhibit 10 shows measures that some areas have used in the past.

Communicate Expectations of performance to all contributing agencies and organizations.

Communicate System Performance to the Public — find a measure of system performance that the public can relate to, and communicate it regularly via media, Internet and changeable message signs. This process is a great opportunity to bring all the stakeholders to the table to begin planning for effective operation.

Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure is a key enabler of real-time information, response, and institutional integration. These new technologies allow for continuous tracking of vehicles; monitoring of traffic, weather, bus load, and road surface conditions; instantaneous adjustments to signals and ramp meters; and flexible use of roadway facilities. ITS technologies allow areas to respond to actual conditions — minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day — as situations warrant, compared to being stuck in operating designs and protocols that are months, if not years, old. More importantly, these technologies enable public and private organizations across many jurisdictions (each of which has a piece of the operations puzzle) to share information instantaneously. Thus, they can act cooperatively, on a real-time basis, without encroaching on each other’s turf. The final rule/policy on ITS architecture and standards requires the development of a local implementation plan referred to as an ITS Regional Architecture. This is another tremendous opportunity to establish a long-term plan for effective operations with all applicable stakeholders.

Establish a Permanent Operations Task Force or Organization that has accountability for delivering smooth operations on a daily basis. Such a group does not necessarily have to carry out all of the operational functions itself, but it needs to have sufficient authority, budget and resources to be held accountable to the public and to elected officials.

Involve All Current and Potential Players. Pull the group together as if you were hosting a special event of enormous proportions. You can’t do it without having the best collaborative efforts from public safety officials, parking lot operators, public and private transit operators, state and local traffic engineers, and towing equipment operators. In short, everyone should plan on doubling the number of people to be moved in the worst conditions!

Redefine Public and Private Sector Roles. As you talk through how to carry out the mission in your area, you may find that the private sector can do some or all of it — better, cheaper, and faster. Don’t let traditional roles box in your solution. It wouldn’t matter if an event deadline were hanging over your head! It may be that there is a revenue stream in some of the functions. Others will require public funding — but that shouldn’t necessarily determine what entities carry out the function. Go where the solutions take you.

Employers, Shippers, and Carriers are Important Players. They each have a lot to gain and/or contribute to smooth operations. Real-time information on travel time can help carriers and shippers plan their own operations better — and give others a better understanding of the dollar costs and benefits associated with reliable transportation. The shift in employment from manufacturing to service, coupled with the power of the Internet to support telecommuting, has enabled employers to collaborate with transportation operators in responding to unusual (or even usual) conditions. It is not unreasonable to think that when a rush hour rainstorm is predicted, employers might follow a preplanned protocol in gradually dismissing some employees early to respond to the sudden reduction of roadway capacity.

Media Are Partners. The media, in all their diverse formats of TV, radio, Internet, and messaging services, are vital partners in giving the public a sense of control when using a complicated and crowded system. Through the media, people learn what’s going on right now, what’s expected, and what they need to do to plan for and accomplish their objectives. Make media relationships a priority. Understand their business and what they need to succeed.

Create an Event. Sometimes it takes a special event to create the necessary sense of urgency — so go ahead and search for one! It may be hosting the state basketball championship, a World Cup Soccer event, or three major conventions at once. Or, you can simply focus on a big reconstruction project that will throw the road system into chaos. Whatever it is, plan for it in such a way that the operations last a lifetime.

Plan for the Future. Charge your taskforce with developing operating plans for the volume expected 10 years from now. What is the maximum capacity that could be handled with the existing system? What construction would be necessary in order to succeed? Start implementing the recommendations now.
Why wait?

Design for the Future. As transit and roadways are being constructed and rehabilitated, build in operating capability. Design in an ability to use the system flexibly.

Institutionalize A Process for Continuous Improvement. Regardless of where your area of jurisdiction starts, the organizational approach it employs, or even how well the first attempts go — find a way to institutionalize the many organizations involved by engaging in a continuous conversation. Focus on improving the operations of the entire system, as measured by the customers.

Join Us in A National Dialogue on Operations

We know that the public wants us to provide smoother operations. Our experience with special events tells us we can do much better than we are doing today. As more and more areas begin “Making Every Day a Special Event,” we need to learn from each other’s experiences.

We need to understand which institutional structures are working best, under what circumstances, and which protocols are most effective. Models and decision-making tools need to be developed to help those involved in planning and carrying out operations. And, there needs to be serious discussion about how we begin expanding and transforming national policies and funding structures. A process that was built to support construction and rehabilitation missions now needs to underpin a mission of continuous improvement in daily operations.

There are many ways to get involved:

The Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the American Public Transportation Association, in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, are engaging numerous stakeholders to expand the commitment to transportation operations. A number of key organizations have joined as partners in the National Dialogue. They are working with their staff and/or members through task forces, focus groups, meetings or issue papers to identify how to enhance transportation operations now and in the future.

These associations include:

• American Public Works Association
• American Road & Transportation Builders Association
• American Traffic Safety Services Association
• Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
• Federal Transit Administration
• International City/County Management Association
• National Association of City Transportation Officials
• Public Technology, Incorporated

You can also join the e-Dialogue, established by ITE, that is currently taking place on the World Wide Web. Since August 2000, hundreds have joined and are already part of continuing dialogue on a broad range of transportation operations topics. To add your voice, go to www.ite.org.

We look forward to you joining our efforts through professional associations or discussions on the Web, to share what you are learning.