Traffic congestion is as familiar as bluebonnets on the roadside for anyone who’s traveled I-35 in the last 20 years.

The interstate route — which in Texas stretches south from the Red River all the way to the Rio Grande at Laredo — has carried commerce and commuters across the Lone Star State for nearly 150 years. Before the modern highway was christened I-35 in 1959, much of it was known as the Chisholm Trail.

Once crowded with cattle in long drives north to Kansas, today’s I-35 has a similar reputation for being tightly packed — only now it’s bumpers, not bovines, causing the slowdown. In an innovative approach to improving the roadway’s capacity, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) created MY 35, a citizen-driven effort to expand a 96-mile stretch from Hillsboro to Salado of I-35 in the Waco District. At an estimated total cost of $2.5 billion, the overall effort is made up of 17 smaller construction projects and targeted for completion in 2017.

TxDOT Teams with TTI

Commuters and businesses alike will soon benefit from the expansion of I-35 in TxDOT’s Waco District. Due for completion in 2017, the project is widening corridor capacity and improving safety to better meet the traveling needs of Texans.

A project of this size is a huge undertaking, and not just when it comes to coordinating the construction itself. TxDOT is reconstructing nearly 100 miles of roadway in a relatively short amount of time, and that affects hundreds of thousands of citizens living nearby, tens of thousands of businesses, and millions of travelers over the life of the project.

TxDOT engaged the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to provide independent technical support for the effort. One way TTI is helping is by providing mobility coordinators to keep citizen groups and businesses informed and lessen any negative impact of construction.

For example, TxDOT is converting many two-way access roads along the interstate to one way to improve safety. To business owners situated beside I-35, the change can seem threatening because, in the short term at least, it potentially changes customer access to their stores.

“Our job is to talk through the entire process with the business owner,” says TTI Research Engineer Jim Dale, lead mobility coordinator on the project. “We let them know we understand their concerns and help them see the longer-term benefits of the changes.”

Helping TxDOT get the word out is one of two major jobs for TTI on the project. The Institute developed a communications plan for the department and has done everything from designing flyers, truck stop signs and email alerts to organizing public meetings and writing, editing and distributing My 35 Central Texas News, a monthly newsletter aimed at keeping interested parties informed.

“Whatever means we use, our main goal is to get information into the hands of citizens and business owners so they can make the best decisions possible for their travel needs,” says Dale. “And very soon we’ll be getting the word out in a whole new way.”

Getting the Word Out in Real Time

http://my35.org

What Dale is referring to is a first-of-its-kind traveler-information system developed by TTI for the I-35 project. The system integrates several methods for capturing data, forecasts congestion along the construction route, and provides that information to everyone who wants it. The system, currently being refined, is a primary example of how TxDOT and TTI are working together to improve transportation in Texas.

“The purpose of the system is two-fold,” explains TTI Research Scientist Bob Brydia, principal investigator on the traveler-information project. “First, it’ll give reliable traffic forecasts for I-35 travelers while the expansion project is under construction. Second, after construction is finished, it’ll form the basis for a comprehensive traffic management system for TxDOT’s Waco District.”

The traveler-information system is similar in concept to modern traffic management systems used in urban areas. The unique aspect is combining construction data and corridor travel data for a long interstate highway passing through rural and urban areas. Put simply, the system marries three data-gathering methods together to create reliable forecasts for travelers:

1. Bluetooth® technology — Travelers’ devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops and the GPS systems in newer cars) are anonymously pinged at point A and point B, giving a reliable estimate of travel time between the points.
2. Wavetronix sensors — Placed strategically along the corridor at 17 points of high traffic interaction, such as where a state highway crosses I-35, these sensors capture traffic volume.
3. End-of-queue warning systems — Radar detectors mounted in orange barrels around work zones measure speeds of approaching vehicles as they near the work zone, and patterns of slowing traffic (indicating a backup in traffic flow) are noted.

TTI has developed computer algorithms to integrate this information together to create reliable traffic forecasts, which are then passed on to travelers. Once the system is fully up and running, travelers will be able to access reliable forecasts via the Internet of what traffic on I-35 in Waco will be in an hour, before they ever leave Hillsboro, some 40 miles away.

It sounds simple enough in theory, but gathering and analyzing the data and creating reliable forecasts are incredibly complex tasks. And different information systems have to talk effectively with one another to make sure the information stays accurate and useful by the time it reaches travelers.

“From our perspective, a real success story of this project is how effectively we’ve been able to interface with TxDOT’s LoneStar traffic management system,” says Brydia. “Using their data protocols, we feed our information to them, and that helps drive the messages you see on the portable changeable message signs [PCMSs].” PCMSs display traffic forecasts along the roadway.

While congestion can be inconvenient for travelers, it can also be costly — in very real terms — for big business. Knowing where work zones are, what lanes will be closed, and when to expect slower travel is vital for companies like Walmart and H-E-B. They rely on I-35 to get their goods via truck from major distribution hubs to their brick-and-mortar stores. When you’re talking perishables, traffic backups can mean the difference between fresh and spoiled milk — and that can translate into lost revenue for the company and higher prices for consumers.

Similarly, with better information on hand, emergency management services personnel can get to the scene of an accident sooner. The life-saving potential there really needs no further explanation.

“Right now, the main way for alerting travelers is via PCMSs and daily email alerts,” explains Brydia. “Very soon we hope to take advantage of social media, including Twitter, and supply real-time information to TxDOT’s My35.org website in the form of a dynamic traffic map.”

Jodi Wheatley, Waco District’s information specialist for the project, acknowledges that without TTI’s help, the I-35 expansion effort would have been much tougher.

“Reconstructing almost 100 miles of interstate is a massive job for the department, and at the end of the day we at TxDOT want to be as responsive and helpful as we can to our fellow Texans,” Wheatley says. “Because of the scope of the project, that would be much more difficult without TTI’s logistical support and technical know-how. Maybe even impossible.”

Since the early 1980s, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has estimated congestion in hundreds of urban regions across the country. Published annually, the resulting Urban Mobility Report has been the most reliable source of congestion information available.

Although Institute researchers will continue publishing this report, the way they received their congestion data dramatically changed two years ago.

“Up until recently, congestion data were gathered from public sources,” Shawn Turner, head of TTI’s Mobility Division, explains. “Cities and state departments of transportation gathered that information themselves using sporadic traffic counters, a limited number of roadway sensors and a lot of estimations.”

Those methods seem primitive today compared to what is available from the private sector — real-time data thanks to global positioning system and Bluetooth® devices that are contained within many vehicles, cell phones and mobile devices. Traffic-monitoring companies receive data from the devices and can monitor actual speeds and travel times with ever-increasing accuracy on any major highway across the country — not just in urban areas. The data they collect are sold to auto manufacturers, fleet management companies, vehicle navigation firms and, now on a limited basis, government agencies.

TTI has just completed a report for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that examines this new technology — the growing number of companies that collect the data, how the data are collected, the products used in collecting the data, who’s buying the data and how much the data cost, how the data are being used, and the legal issues surrounding use of private-sector data by the public sector. Private Sector Data for Performance Management will act as FHWA’s guide in assisting states and the federal government in using this information to manage/reduce congestion.

“FHWA really wanted to know everything it could about these new, private data sources,” Turner says. “It has been charged with knowing what the congestion problems are and where they are, and recommending where the money should go to help fix it.” Turner adds that the next transportation authorization bill will likely require a much more detailed level of congestion data for performance monitoring.

In addition to TTI, the University of Maryland and attorneys from the law firm of Nossaman, LLP, helped with the report.

“It’s clear that the technology is changing dramatically, and there are numerous questions about its use and application. The report is a starting point for FHWA,” Turner says. “It’s an exciting time because it’s entirely possible that a newer technology will emerge that will make this data collection method obsolete within a few years.”

• Growing volumes of harmful truck emissions foul the air and threaten our health.
• Increasing amounts of cargo on an already-congested network mean costly delays for shippers and higher costs for consumers.
• Declining levels of transportation funding make it increasingly difficult to repair the roadway wear and tear caused by heavy trucks.

Most experts agree: the problem has become so severe that nothing short of a game-changing development can make a meaningful difference. Fortunately, that development may be on the horizon.

Picture a system in which transporters powered by electric motors carry trailers from trucks and containers from ships on an elevated track above existing highway right-of-way, safely separated from passenger traffic. Picture a system that produces less air pollution, less traffic congestion, less wear and tear on the roads, and less noise. Clearly, it’s a more sustainable scenario, one that would add an essential new link in the transport chain of a trucking industry suffering from a severe nationwide shortage of drivers.

The Freight Shuttle System will make freight transportation safer, cleaner and more economical through innovations like raising the system itself up on guideways to take advantage of vertical space in existing rights-of-way.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It’s a system currently in development by Freight Shuttle International (FSI), applying technology developed at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) by Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop. Financed entirely from private sources and requiring no public funding, the system would provide low-cost, time-certain delivery of freight, and at the same time answer the state’s need for safe and efficient transportation.

The guideways carrying the freight could be built on existing right-of-way that would be leased by the state to FSI. The lease would produce new revenue for the state at a time when available public funding for highways is diminishing.

“The Freight Shuttle System is going to address three urgent needs we now have in freight movement,” Roop says. “It’s going to make it safer, cleaner and more economical.”

The system promises safety benefits by removing thousands of trucks from the highways, thereby reducing the chance of fatal crashes involving those trucks (one in nine traffic fatalities results from a collision involving a large truck). The system will also eliminate the pollution created by the exhaust from those trucks, and be more economical by sharply reducing the cost of moving goods.

“And the benefits don’t stop there,” Roop continues. “The system will create thousands of jobs, it will reduce highway congestion, and it will make millions in new revenue for the state — all without costing taxpayers a single dime.”

To become more sustainable, the freight transportation industry needs a game-changing development. And if plans in Texas come to pass, it’s a whole new game.

Sustainability — a popular, emerging concept — has become a key consideration in the delivery and operation of transportation infrastructure, and at all levels of government. Sustainability deals with meeting human needs in the present and future, while preserving and restoring the environment, fostering community health and vitality, promoting economic development and prosperity, and ensuring equity among population groups and over generations.

“At this time of fiscal constraint, the New York State Department of Transportation [NYSDOT] must make some tough choices. To guide our decisions, we have incorporated the ‘triple bottom line’ of economic competitiveness, social equity and environmental stewardship into our programming and investment guidance. NCHRP’s A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies provided NYSDOT with a much-needed methodology and comprehensive list to develop our sustainability performance measures.”
Debra Nelson,
NYSDOT assistant to the director of operations

“Sustainability is a way of looking at other costs that don’t always get considered in the decision-making process. Thinking about these costs should be broader than just the tangible dollars,” says Tara Ramani, assistant research scientist with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). “The question is less ‘how can we implement sustainable transportation?’ but really more ‘how can transportation support the principles of sustainability?’”

Ramani, along with the international team led by Joe Zietsman, head of TTI’s Environment and Air Quality Division, produced a sustainability guidebook that teaches transportation practitioners the principles of sustainability, how to develop goals and objectives based on sustainability, and how to apply performance measures for these goals.

A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies provides a generally applicable framework that transportation agencies can adapt and use, either in their existing performance measurement programs or as a part of a new sustainability initiative. The guidebook provides a practical approach to understanding sustainability, and identifying and applying sustainability-related performance measures. It discusses linkages to an agency’s mission and strategic plan, and the integration of these sustainability measures into other programs and agency business practices. The guidebook also contains a compendium of sustainability performance measures, with a menu of goals, objectives and performance measures that agencies can use as the basis for their performance measurement applications.

Part of the concept of sustainability involves choices: walking, biking, commuting. Making multiple modes work in harmony with environmental needs and economic realities — without losing the human factor from the equation — is the real challenge.

“Working with performance measures can be a daunting task due to the large number of possible measures, extensive data required and complexity involved in applying the measures,” Zietsman said. “Moreover, a first step in developing performance measures for sustainability is to understand what sustainability means, and how it applies to transportation networks, systems, facilities, projects and activities at different stages, scales and time frames.”

The guidebook incorporates real-world examples from departments of transportation and private industry in both the United States and Europe. It’s designed to be flexible so that any division in any agency can apply, refine and modify it based on the specific context for planning, programming, project development, construction, maintenance or operations. The framework can be used in many different ways, such as to evaluate progress, assess current conditions, forecast the future, make decisions or communicate with stakeholders.

“The guidebook provides a wealth of information and resources for departments of transportation to use to understand the concept of sustainability and apply performance measures for their sustainable transportation goals,” Zietsman said.

Published by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) in November 2011, the guidebook has been well received across the country. Zietsman plans on leading TRB webinars to help transportation officials learn how to use the guidebook.

“This guidebook should be of immediate use to those who are familiar with their own agency’s performance measurement program but need to provide useful information to agency leadership on how effectively their organization is meeting sustainability goals,” said Lori L. Sundstrom, a senior program officer with TRB. “The examples included illustrate how sustainability can be successfully added to an agency’s existing performance measurement system.”

Since the early 1980s, TTI has estimated congestion in hundreds of urban regions across the country. Published annually, the resulting Urban Mobility Report has been the most reliable source of congestion information available.

Although Institute researchers will continue publishing this report, the way they received their congestion data dramatically changed two years ago.

“Up until recently, congestion data was gathered from public sources,” Shawn Turner, manager for the Mobility Analysis Program, explains. “Cities and state departments of transportation gathered that information themselves using sporadic traffic counters, a limited amount of roadway sensors and a lot of estimations.”

Those methods seem primitive today compared to what is available from the private sector — real time data thanks to GPS and Bluetooth® devices that are contained within many vehicles, cell phones and mobile devices. Traffic monitoring companies receive data from the devices and can monitor actual speeds and travel times with ever-increasing accuracy on any major highway across the country — not just in urban areas. The data they collect is sold to auto manufacturers, fleet management companies, vehicle navigation firms, and, now on a limited basis, government agencies.

TTI has just completed a report for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that examines this new technology — the growing number of companies that collect the data, how it’s collected, the products used in collecting it, who’s buying it and how much it costs, how it’s being used and the legal issues surrounding use of private-sector data by the public sector. Private Sector Data for Performance Management will act as FHWA’s guide in assisting states and the federal government in using this information to manage/reduce congestion.

“FHWA really wanted to know everything it could about these new private data sources,” Turner says. “It has been charged with knowing what the congestion problems are, where they are and recommending where the money should go to help fix it.” Turner adds that the next transportation authorization bill will likely require a much more detailed level of congestion data for performance monitoring.

In addition to TTI, The University of Maryland and attorneys from the law firm of Nossaman LLP helped with the report.

“It’s clear that the technology is changing dramatically, and there are numerous questions about its use and application. The report is a starting point for FHWA,” Turner says. “It’s an exciting time because it’s entirely possible that a newer technology will emerge that will make this data collection method obsolete within a few years.”

Researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) recently concluded a three-year project that produced a prototype design for an evacuation model for urban areas to use in the event of a threatening hurricane.

Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and the Texas Department of Transportation, the research was performed cooperatively with the University of Houston.

“We had a large, diverse panel that was very helpful in assisting us with our case study of the Houston-Galveston region,” says TTI Senior Research Engineer Russell Henk. “This region represents the most complex evacuation scenario. If we can make our model work here, we can make it work along the entire Texas coast.”

According to Henk, one of the more notable challenges is the decision-making process related to calling for contraflow operations on strategic evacuation routes. (Contraflow operations convert all roadway lanes into a single direction to facilitate evacuation.)

“Implementing contraflow operations is an expensive, resource-intensive undertaking,” says Henk. “Consequently, key operating agencies (and decision makers) involved in such deliberations are understandably hesitant to call for contraflow operations unless there’s strong evidence of the need to do so.”

The prototype model involves a number of inputs such as strength and size of the storm, human factors, and traffic conditions (both real time and predicted).

“The traffic simulation model we developed was the largest of its kind anywhere to date and essentially modeled the eastern portion of Texas, from the Houston-Galveston coastal area all the way inland to San Antonio, Austin and Dallas,” says Henk. “Running a simulation model that size takes a full day to run a scenario. It’s obviously a massive undertaking.”

Even though Henk says the goals of the project were met, there is still work to be done. “While this was a good starting point, and several scenarios (such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike) were selected to simulate past hurricane-evacuation scenarios, these events are rarely similar,” says Henk. “A much broader range of scenarios will need to be developed and examined before there’s a reasonable level of confidence that the new tool can be used on a widespread basis.”

Rural communities like Eustace, Texas, face unique mobility challenges in the 21st century as they continue to grow and their resident demographic continues to skew upward in age.

The United States continues to face population increases and changing demographics. This trend is particularly true in Texas, where the population boom of the past 10 years has resulted in a rapid urbanization of rural areas. At the same time, some rural parts of the state have experienced population decreases.

This trend has become a hot topic for transportation planners seeking to find proactive solutions for transit in rural America, the theme of a recent presentation by Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) Transit Mobility Program Manager Linda Cherrington. On Aug. 17, Cherrington spoke to representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) about challenges and opportunities for transit in rural America. The lecture was sponsored by the U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration as part of the Transportation Innovation Series. The opportunity was facilitated by Melissa Tooley, director of TTI’s University Transportation Center for Mobility.

“There is still a two-pronged challenge to transit in rural America,” says Cherrington. “One is that there are parts of rural America that are growing in population, particularly around metropolitan areas. Transportation planners face a new set of challenges in meeting their needs. The other side of the coin is that there are areas that are not increasing in population, but where the population continues to age. People in these areas tend to become more isolated but still have travel needs for basic activities. Rural transit providers have to deal with both issues.”

Rural transit in isolated communities helps the elderly, often unable to drive themselves, get where they need to go.

According to Cherrington, Texas is an ideal case study because the state’s recent population trends match that of the United States.

“Texas has rapidly growing urban centers such as the I-35 corridor, and then we have large areas that are losing populations,” says Cherrington. “We have done a lot of research that is Texas focused but can be applied on a national level.”

In her presentation, Cherrington noted the opportunities for transit, which include:

• providing basic mobility options — increasingly important for an older population,
• providing a link between workers and rural-area industries,
• pooling resources to more efficiently serve a given region and prevent service duplication, and
• using transit to provide access to the diverse array of opportunities found in urban areas to those living in rural communities.

To view a webcast of Cherrington’s presentation, visit http://mediasite.yorkcast.com/webcast/Viewer/?peid=40833c39bea6443a997901e6b8315de01d.