Improving Mobility Information with Better Data and Estimation Procedures (UTCM 09-17-09)

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) continues to be a national leader in providing congestion and mobility information. The information produced by TTI is used to communicate the issues of urban mobility at all levels of government in the U.S. and by both industry and non-industry professionals when discussing mobility topics. The transportation field continues to evolve with more technological advancements affecting travel on the roadways and the data collected. This project incorporates the speed data from some of these new technologies into the Urban Mobility Report (UMR) to ensure that the report remains the preeminent source on the subject. The 2009 Urban Mobility Report will utilize the current speed estimation methodology, but future reports may be able to incorporate some archived speed information in place of the current estimated speeds. With the fuel price increases of the past few years, an updated analysis of the effects of fuel price fluctuations on travel demand and congestion are being included in the UMR. TTI has developed a methodology for estimating the commodities that are flowing in trucks and the associated traffic delay throughout our nation's cities. However, at this time, it is unclear how to utilize this information in decision-making. Some analysis is being performed to determine how to utilize this truck commodity flow information.