Jeffrey F. Paniati Executive Director Federal Highway Administration

Jeffrey F. Paniati Executive Director

Federal Highway AdministrationUS Department of Transportation

Washington, DC 20590

Reducing CongestionTools of the Trade

Maryland Transportation Operations Summit

Maritime InstituteLinthicum Heights, MD

May 1, 2008

Strategy for Reducing Congestion

Congestion on I-95 in Northern Virginia

Crisis of Congestion: A Tax on the Nation

• Commuting costs: Each motorist stuck in traffic wastes on average 47 hours and 30 gallons of fuel every year – at a cost of $800 per person annually.

• Quality of life: Reduced air quality, less time with family and friends.

• Productivity: Delays to trucks and unreliability of delivery times increase costs for businesses and reduce economic competitiveness.


• Congestion has increased dramatically over the past 20 years in the 85 largest U.S. cities. During this time the number of hours lost each year by an average driver to congestion increased from 17 to almost 50.*

•

• In the 13 largest cities, drivers now spend the equivalent of almost 8 work days each year stuck in traffic.*

Annual Hours Lost to Congestion Per Peak Hour DriverVery Large Metro Areas, 1983 v. 2003*

Phila

delp

hia

Ho

urs

100

80

60

40

20

0

19832003

Atla

nta

Was

hing

ton

Dal

las

LA/L

ong

Beach

Chi

cago

San

Fran

cisc

o

Det

roit

Mia

mi

Bost

onN

ew Y

ork

Phoe

nix

Hou

ston

City

Aver

age

* Texas Transportation Institute, 2005 Urban Mobility Report

Crisis of Congestion: Wasted Hours Across America


1. Relieve urban congestion.

2. Unleash private sector investment resources.

3. Promote operational and technological improvements.

4. Establish a “Corridors of the Future” competition.

5. Target major freight bottlenecks and expand freight policy outreach.

6. Accelerate major aviation capacity projects and provide a future funding framework.

USDOT Congestion Initiative


Congestion on I-95 in Northern Virginia

Congestion Pricing: Bringing Supply and Demand into Alignment

• Failure to properly price travel on highways is a root cause of congestion.

– The price of highway travel (gas taxes, registration fees, etc.) bears little or no relationship to the cost of congestion.

– Unlike other public utilities, the public expectation is that the “service” is free or does not change with changes in demand.

• Allocating transportation services via pricing is more efficient than rationing by delay


Miami

Minneapolis -St. Paul

San Francisco

Seattle

Congestion Pricing: UPAs/CRDs

Los Angeles

Chicago


Congestion Pricing: UPA/CRD Highlights

• HOV – HOT Lane Conversions-Minneapolis-Miami-Los Angeles

• Dynamically Priced Shoulder Lanes-Minneapolis

• Moving from Fixed to Variable Bridge Tolls

-San Francisco

• Pricing of Existing Free Lanes-Seattle


Congestion Pricing: UPA/CRD Highlights

• Active Traffic Management Systems-Minneapolis-Seattle-Miami

• Parking Pricing-San Francisco-Chicago

• Express Transit Services / Bus Rapid Transit

-All Sites


• Provides choice of reliable trip.

• Uses excess capacity on HOV facilities.

• Demonstrates value of pricing.

Congestion Pricing: HOV to HOT Conversions


• Implemented in 2005.• 11 miles.• Converted pre-existing HOV facility.• Dynamic pricing to ensure 50 mph to 55 mph flows (tolls range from $0.25 to $8).• Congestion on corridor’s non- MnPASS lanes down by half.• 2:1 public approval.

Congestion Pricing: HOT to HOV Conversions

MnPass


HOV and HOT Lanes in the U.S.

HOV Lane Locations

HOT Lane Locations


Technology and Operations

Source: “ Traffic Congestion and Reliability;” FHWA (September, 2005)

Sources of Highway Congestion



• 25 percent of all congestion.• 1-minute closure = 4-minute

delay.• Key elements of a

comprehensive incident management program.

• Service patrols with incident management capabilities.• Policies with performance goals.• Move It / Clear It laws.

Reduce Incident Delay


Some Jurisdictions have Realized the Promise – We Know It Works

Traffic Incident ManagementAtlanta, Georgia

• TIME Task Force (over 6 Agencies represented).

• HERO - Full Function Service Patrols Operating 24/7 (Across country, B/C up to 36:1).

• 90 Minute Clearance Goal.• “Steer It and Clear It” Law.



• 511 accessible to 47 percent of USA

• Travel times on DMS• 38 cities nationwide• 28 of top 40 metro areas

Improve Traveler Information


Some Jurisdictions have Realized the Promise – We Know it Works

DMS Example• Houston –

• 85% of respondents to a Web survey said they have changed their route in response to a DMS message.• Travel time messages are the 2nd

most cited type of message causing users to change their route.

• Traffic incident alerts are 1st• 66% said the route change was to save time.



• Of 330,000 traffic signals in USA, about 75 percent could operate more efficiently – National Report Card score of “D”.

• Low cost approach to congestion reduction – BCRs as high as 40:1.

Improve Traffic Signal Timing


Some Jurisdictions have Realized the Promise – We Know It Works

Signal TimingDenver Regional Council of Governments

• Partnership between the MPO and 30 traffic signal operating agencies to coordinate signals on major roads.

• Reduced delay by more than 41,000 vehicle hours/day.


“Congestion is not a fact of life. We needa new approach, and we need it now.”

Former Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, May 2006

“Mobility is one of our country’s greatest freedoms, but congestion…limitspredictable and reliable movement ofpeople and goods and poses a serious threat to continued economic growth.”

Secretary Mary Peters, October 2006

Closing

Jeffrey F. Paniati Executive Director Federal Highway Administration

Documents

Transcript of Jeffrey F. Paniati Executive Director Federal Highway Administration