Using Real Time Transportation System Performance Measures to Fuel a Regional Congestion Management System Robert L. Bertini Portland State University Jonathan Makler City of Portland and Metro ITE District 6 Annual Meeting Honolulu, Hawaii June 26, 2006

2 Outline  Introduction  SAFETEA-LU  The Cost of Congestion  Managing Congestion  Performance Measures  Reliability  Transportation System Management and Operations  Conclusion

3 Introduction Portland, Oregon  METRO regional government  Progressive transportation planning  Shared decision making  Regional Congestion Management System (CMS)  FHWA admonishment

4 A New Day for Congestion Portland, Oregon  New university transportation center  Government and business collaborate: Cost of Congestion  METRO CMS roadmap  RTP update  “New Look:” 1 million people by 2030  LRT and streetcar additions

5 SAFETEA-LU A National University Transportation Center for Oregon  60 new university transportation centers  Research on critical national transportation needs and expand transportation workforce.  $16 million for Oregon  Research, education and technology transfer  Advanced technology, integration of transportation/land use and healthy communities  Multidisciplinary, statewide, multimodal

6 SAFETEA-LU A National University Transportation Center for Oregon  Provide relevant research to assist local, state, and regional agencies in their work;  Expand the pool of highly talented students who choose transportation planning and engineering;  Build upon our collective efforts to make Oregon a place where innovation, creativity, and collaboration lead to sustainable communities.

7 The Cost of Congestion METRO/Portland Business Alliance  Region’s economy is transportation dependent  Action needed to remain competitive  As a trade hub, Portland largely dependent on efficient transportation  Businesses report congestion costs  Failure to invest will bes costly  Additional regional investment will pay off  Has generated community conversations

8 Managing Congestion Congestion Management Process (CMP)  MPO over 200,000 population (ISTEA, TEA-21, SAFETEA-LU)  Systematic process for managing congestion that provides information on transportation system performance and alternative strategies for alleviating congestion and enhancing mobility.

9 Managing Congestion Congestion Management Nework

10 Managing Congestion Congestion Management System (CMS)  Monitor and evaluate system, identify congestion causes, evaluate alternative actions, and evaluate benefits of implemented actions;  Measure extent of congestion and evaluate congestion reduction and mobility enhancing strategies;  Data collection and system performance monitoring;  Benefits of traditional/non-traditional congestion management strategies;  Implementation schedule, responsibilities, and funding; and  Periodic assessment of implemented strategies, in context of established performance measures.

11 Managing Congestion METRO’s CMS Roadmap  Planning-oriented performance measures  Planning for operations  Roadmap: 1.Measure transportation system performance 2.Identify the causes of congestion 3.Identify and evaluate alternative actions 4.Implement cost-effective solutions 5.Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of implemented actions

12 Congestion Management Plan Regional Policy Making Finance Travel Alternatives Public Expectations CMS Policy

13 Congestion Management Plan Regional Planning and Programming MTIPCMSRTP Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 CMS Data Existing Conditions Report CMS Data Collection Refinement RTIP Update Systems Analysis Project List Updated CMS Policy MTIP Update MTIP Update CMS Data Collection

14 PORTAL: PSU Regional ITS Data Archive Center  98 CCTV Cameras  19 Variable Message Signs  485 Inductive Loop Detectors  135 Ramp Meters  Weather data  Extensive Fiber Optics Network 

15 Portland Monthly Congestion Reports

16 Data Analysis and Visualization Grouped Data Plots: Travel Time Reliability

17 Performance Reports I-5 Weekday Travel Time and Congestion

18 Mapping and Spatial Analysis Travel Time Reliability Point to Point Off-Peak Travel Time Reliability (I-5 N) Point to Point Peak-Hour Travel Time Reliability (I-5 N)

19 Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO)  Optimize performance of existing infrastructure  MPOs can plan, promote and prioritize but not operate  METRO collaborates with city, county, state and transit operating agencies  2005 FHWA grant to demonstrate Regional Concept of Operations (RCTO)  Shared regional vision of operations  First RCTO: traveler information

20 Next Steps and Concluding Remarks  Continue development of CMS Road Map  Add data sources to PORTAL  Freight/classification data  Transit AVL data  Arterial performance  Freeway incident data  Improve data quality  Provide decision support for transportation officials in the region  Involve stakeholders and FHWA

21 Acknowledgments  PORTAL Team: Kristin Tufte, James Rucker, Spicer Matthews, Jessica Potter, Sue Ahn, Sirisha Kothuri, Andy Delcambre, Tim Welch, Steve Hansen, Andy Rodriguez, Andrew Byrd  National Science Foundation  Oregon Department of Transportation  City of Portland  TriMet  Portland State University  METRO  FHWA Visit PORTAL online at:

22 Thank You! Questions?