Daniela Bremmer Director of Strategic Assessment

Daniela BremmerDirector of Strategic Assessment

Part II: WSDOT’s Experience Measuring Sustainable Transportation Practices

SSTI Community of Practice MeetingSeattle, WA

February 24, 2011

Paula HammondSecretary of Transportation

• At WSDOT, a sustainable transportation system is:– A system that preserves the environment

– Durable and takes into account how we build and the materials we use

– Managed and operated using policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs

Without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

WSDOT’s Definition of Sustainable Transportation

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Measuring Sustainable Transportation:Elements of Sustainability(AKA – FHWA’s Triple Bottom Line)

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Central to the definition of sustainability, the applicability of these three elements must be addressed by our transportation system

These areas can be both stand alone or interrelated to support sustainability

Environmental – Enhance Washington’s quality of life through transportation investments that promote energy conservation, enhance healthy communities, and protect the environment

Economic - Ensure a predictable and reliable revenue stream for transportation system investments that are affordable, operate efficiently, offer choice of transport mode, while supporting a vibrant economy

Equity – Make investments in the transportation system that provide equity, access and transportation alternatives for all Washingtonians.

Sustainable Transportation: WSDOT’s Strategic Plan defines and aligns agency priorities

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Sustainability ethic is pervasive in Washington’s six legislative transportation policy goals and is reflected in our Strategic Plan through objectives and strategies• Economic vitality: To promote and develop transportation systems that stimulate, support,

and enhance the movement of people and goods to ensure a prosperous economy;• Preservation: To maintain, preserve, and extend the life and utility of prior investments in

transportation systems and services;• Safety: To provide for and improve the safety and security of transportation customers and

the transportation system;• Mobility: To improve the predictable movement of goods and people throughout Washington

state;• Environment: To enhance Washington's quality of life through transportation investments

that promote energy conservation, enhance healthy communities, and protect the environment;

• Stewardship: To continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the transportation system.

• We are committed to performance management and measurement; building a performance-oriented business culture

• Sustainability is a mindset; a way of doing business; it is not a single practice or a separate program

• We are good at measuring a lot of things; we already measure many of our sustainable practices well and we have lots of data– The following examples of measuring sustainable

practices are organized by the six state policy goals

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Sustainable Transportation: How do we measure our practices

• As part of the WSDOT’s ITS program, the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) program helps improve the efficiency, safety, and security of truck freight movement throughout Washington

• The use of a network of weigh-in-motion scales and transponders to electronically screen trucks as a sustainable practice encourages economic vitality and efficiency by saving the trucking industry time, money, and in turn, reducing the environmental impact of freight trucks

• WSDOT Performance Measures:– Number of Trucks with Transponders – Over 1.2

million in 2009 or 21.6% of the total trucks moving through Washington

– Estimated time and money the trucking industry has saved through the use of CVISN transponders – An estimated 87,000 hours and $6.5 million in 2009 alone

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EnvironmentEconomicEquity

Sustainable Economic Vitality Performance MeasureMoving Freight Efficiently: Trucks

• Rail transportation supports economic competitiveness and economic vitality. Washington’s freight rail system serves a wide range of passenger and freight markets. Over 80% of the Counties in Washington are served by at least on freight railroad.

• Freight rail helps move goods to and from Washington's ports and serves as an sustainable, efficient, and environmentally sound alternative to truck transport for long haul routes.

• WSDOT Performance Measures:– Rail freight movement – In 2008 freight railroads in

Washington carried 116 million tons of freight over 3,604 route miles.

– Grain Train carloads – In Q3 of 2010, 495 grain train carloads were shipped, 114 more than in Q3 of 2009.

– Produce rail car utilization – The average utilization ratio for the produce rail car program is 54% (743 total shipments) since the start of the program in 2006.

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Sustainable Economic Vitality Performance MeasureMoving Freight Efficiently: Rail

• Leading development of the West Coast Green Highway (W.C.G.H.) Imitative from Canada to Mexico – the nation’s first trans-national interstate for electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles

• Helps WSDOT meet Executive Order 09-05: alternate strategies to reduce GHG other than reducing VMT

• Installation of Level 2 charging stations to be complete in 2011 at Gee Creek (Vancouver) and Custer (Blaine) safety rest areas on I-5.

• W.C.G.H. encourages adoptions in alternative vehicle technologies through visible, convenient, and safe locations along I-5

• Surveys and charging meters will record usage rates to gauge adoption

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Custer location, Blaine

Gee Creek location, Vancouver

Nissan LEAF, one of several electric vehicles available to Washington consumers in 2011

Sustainable Economic Vitality Performance MeasureWest Coast Green Highway Initiative-In Development

• WSDOT uses sustainable preservation practices to manage an inventory of over 3,600 bridges and structures throughout the state. – Bridge inspection program – WSDOT scheduled nearly 2,000

bridge inspections for 2010. This included 381 inspections requiring a UBIT truck and 74 inspections requiring underwater dive teams.

– Bridge Condition Ratings – In FY 2010, 98% of WSDOT bridges were in good or fair condition, 2% of bridges were in poor condition.

– Bridge painting – Most of the steel bridges on WSDOT’s future paint list will require full paint removal, as the current layer of paint is too old and brittle for over-coating. This requires the use of a containment system to keep old paint and the abrasive material used to remove it out of the environment.

– Scour mitigation – “Scour” is defined as the eroding away of the stream bed material from under bridge foundations and is a common cause of bridge collapse. 318 bridges and culverts longer than 20 feet in length are classified as “scour critical” and WSDOT has developed a plan of action to repair these bridges.

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SR 542 Nooksack River – More than half of the containment system required to complete the bridge painting is in place.

Sustainable Preservation Performance MeasureBridge Asset Conditions

• WSDOT uses sustainable preservation practices to maintain pavement on more than 18,500 lane miles of state highways. WSDOT has been at the forefront of pavement technology to make our roads last longer and cost less.– Lowest Life-Cycle Cost – WSDOT’s experience is that the

lowest life-cycle cost is obtained by rehabilitating pavement structures when they are “due.” This due date is an optimal timing window, a range of approximately one to three years. Repairing pavement before it reaches severe structural failure greatly reduces overall costs.

– Strategic Preservation – Maintenance activities such as crack sealing, patching, chip seals, etc. that can be used to fix or improve short sections in a longer project, so the longer project can be delayed into the future. This delay,

• Extends the life of the previous paving cycle, making it more economically efficient

• Reduces the immediate cash-flow needs of the preservation program so that funds can be released to other projects

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Pavement conditions – In 2009, 93% of WSDOT-managed pavement was in fair or better condition

Better pavement technology allows WSDOT maximize the average lifespan of pavement throughout the state. Asphalt pavement last significantly longer than it has in the past.

Sustainable Preservation Performance MeasurePavement Asset Conditions

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureBike and Pedestrian Safety- On development

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Cyclists on the Hood Canal Bridge

Safe Routes to School - crossing guard helping a family cross the street

Returning to1969 level of walking and bicycling to school means

• State VMT reduction by an estimated 60.5 million miles, which translates to an

annual savings of 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking more than

5,000 cars off the road a year.

Linking communities through ‘Safe Routes To School (SRTS)’

• Percent of children walking to school in 1969 – 50%, by 2001 this dropped to15%.

• In 2005 WA implemented SRTS program to help reverse the decline in children

walking and biking to school

• To date, SRTS program has reached 43,000 children at 123 schools with a program

average 25% increase in biking and walking since program began in 2005.

• About $17 million has been awarded to 60 projects, selected from more than $94

million in requests.

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Monitor results of various efforts to reduce VMT (for GHG and congestion)

Track HOV usage Programs such as

commute trip reduction, vanpool, GTECs

Support variable pricing for HOT lanes

Facilitate electronic tolling Implement Active Traffic

Management – Smarter Highways

Provide real-time traveler information

Apply other technologies in operations to enhance safety and system efficiency

Assess the impacts of past strategies

Customize solutions for congested corridors

Plan, prioritize, and program capital improvement projects

Assist legislature and governor in making investment decisions

Managing Demand

Operating Roadways Efficiently

Adding Capacity Strategically

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureMoving Washington

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The SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project is successfully demonstrating that variable tolling improves traffic flow.General Purpose Lanes: Average speeds increased by 21.5% (from 40.5 to

49.3 mph) Average volumes increased by 11%HOT Lanes: Average speeds increased 6% (from 57 to 61 mph) Average volumes increased by 4% NB Average volumes are stable SB

Incident Response program reduced the average incident clearance time from 33 minutes in 2001 to 12.6 minutes in 2010. On I-405 SB in Bellevue each minute of an incident can result in 2,089 veh-min of delay.

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureOperate Efficiently

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Existing and Emerging technologies for sustainable transportation

Active Traffic Management

Active Traffic Management• Smarter highways are implemented on I-5

and would be implemented in SR 520 and I-90 in Puget Sound area.

• Advanced ITS technologies enable sustainable transportation by reducing collisions which results in reduced congestion, emission, and bottle neck reductions.

Tolling for sustainable transportation• SR 520 tolling begins in spring 2011• Legislatively directed tolling studies to

consider other routes for future tolling options such as CRC, Alaska Way Viaduct, I-5 Express lanes, I-405/SR167 express lanes, SR 167 extension, SR 509 extension

Electronic TollingVisualization

Tolling

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureOperate Efficiently

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureCommunicate Performance to impact travel behavior

The Puget Sound region leads the nation in vanpooling with more than 2,000 public vanpools rolling each weekday.

CTR reduced 62 million vehicle miles traveled (vmt) annually, equivalent to 27,490 metric tons of GHG and 3 million gallons of fuel.

If CTR participants in the Central Puget Sound Region returned to driving alone to work• 22,500 additional drive-alone vehicle trips during the

morning peak commute• morning peak would increase by about 12,900

hours, an increase of about 7.6 percent.

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Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureCommute Trip Reduction (CTR)

– Operating the system more efficiently

– Advancing vehicle technology

– Improving fuels– Reducing VMT

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The Governor‘s Executive Order 09-05 directs WSDOT to lead a collaborative process to analyze statewide VMT, to develop strategies to reduce transportation sector GHG emissions.

• West Coast Green Highway Initiative—multi-faceted program promoting alternative fuels, sustainable infrastructure

• RCW 47.01.440 requires WSDOT to take on VMT reduction efforts

• Greenhouse gas reduction strategies from the transportation sector fit into four broad categories:

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureGHG Reduction through VMT Reduction

WSDOT addresses congestion by managing to maximum throughput speeds that helps to achieve maximum system efficiency

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For example:• I-405 South Bellevue

widening (November 2009)

• The project added a general purpose lane northbound from 112th Ave SE to SE 8th St and southbound from NE 4th St to I-90. It also added a southbound HOV lane from SE 8th St to I-90.

• I-405 Tukwila to Bellevue commute gained 16 minutes in 2009 (26 minutes) compared to 2007 (42 minutes) due to the South Bellevue widening project.

Sustainable Mobility Performance MeasureStrategically Adding Capacity

• IVM helps to reduce maintenance costs and

herbicide use by choosing native plants for

roadsides

• IVM plans are adaptable, and help WSDOT

forecast herbicide and re-vegitation needs.

• IVM is a core component of roadside

maintenance, not an afterthought.

• WSDOT tracks and reports the total amount of

pesticide used annually, and the amount used

at the roadside edge

• Since 2003, WSDOT has used 62% fewer

pounds of herbicide and 77% less along the

roadside edge

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Native grasses reduce the need for watering and herbicide use to control noxious weeds

Sustainable Environmental Performance MeasureIntegrated Vegetation Management (IVM)

• Removing barriers to fish and protecting these endangered species by replacing of fixing culverts

• Since 1991, WSDOT has removed 245 high-priority barriers, that block migrating fish species

• Restoring project site vegetation and landscape back to its natural state

• WSDOT has helped to create 845 miles of potential upstream habitat beyond its barrier corrections

• Connecting habitats in areas that are high priority to enhance wildlife

• At corrected locations, fish can spawn directly under the highway with no un-natural obstructions or man-made interference.

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Sustainable Environmental Performance MeasureFish Passage

Fuel Conservation• Three vessels are reduced operations to two

engines during transit and while in dock; saving approximately 45,000 gallons per month.

• Two vessels have been slowed down (lower RPM) on selected crossings. It is still too early to determine the actual savings.

Engine Retrofits to conform to latest Air Quality Standards

• One vessel has seen 62% reduction in lube oil consumption from this time last year

Conversion to BiodieselTesting positive vessel restraint

systems

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Sustainable Environmental Performance MeasureFuel innovation at the Ferries

Our Required Measures:• RCW-driven requirements that we measure VMT reduction and WSDOT’s

own GHG contributionsOur Existing Measures of Sustainable Practices:• We have some good, well-developed and defined measures of

sustainability: but not sustainable measures.– WSDOT measures the number of participants in the Vanpool Program; but not

the impacts of the Vanpool Program as a contributor to the reduction of GHG.• We do not yet know how to measure the system differences/improvements

that positively affect sustainability.• We don’t yet know what investments will produce the most sustainable

improvement for our transportation system funding “buck”.• Measuring outputs is a good beginning, but how do we measure outcomes

that define sustainability; and which outcomes should be measured.

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Sustainable Transportation: WSDOT’s Measurement Challenges

Qualitative vs. Qualitative Measures• WSDOT is Measuring Transportation Sustainability in a Multitude of Ways• Performance measures may be qualitative or quantitative• Measurement process may begin with a qualitative measure . • WSDOT strives to reach quantitative measures for outcomes. • Theoretically, data informed decision processes should be more robust and

defendable yet, policy-level decision making, may continue to be a balance of qualitative (i.e. public’s perception of ride quality ) and quantitative metrics (pavement condition assessment)

Maybe Qualitative is as good as you can do and it still tells the story!!!

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Sustainable Transportation: WSDOT’s Measurement Challenges (Cont’)

• Cooperative Effort; involves Federal, State and Local Governments, Regional Planning Organizations, Tribes, and Community Groups– Developing a common set of measures across jurisdictions?– Determine measurements for cost effective solutions?– Determine measures for systems that WSDOT controls?

• How do DOTs determine what the most important measures are without knowing the questions, outcomes or problems we’re trying to solve for?

– For example, which investments will yield the most benefits toward GHG goals

• How do we tie all of our measures together to effect positive change-while experts are still trying to define sustainability?

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Sustainable Transportation:Questions, observations and thoughts

• We have a multitude of detailed measures; but are working toward a unifying, roll-up metric

• We don’t know what the metric should be, but do know what it should not be

– It should not be• Number or an index-it has to mean something• Anecdote• Rating• Project based

• Some thoughts on what it could be– Set of metrics that provide a snapshot of sustainable practices results; like a

consumer report that has multiple indicators that combined allow an assessment of progress

Sustainable Transportation:Questions, observations and thoughts (Cont’)

Daniela Bremmer Director of Strategic Assessment

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