Congestion Analysis Clause Samples
Congestion Analysis. The Seattle/LWC local partners and the U.S. DOT are currently negotiating revisions in the UPA agreement (“term sheet”) related to the specific congestion reduction targets of the UPA deployment. The development of this Congestion Analysis has been informed by the September 30, 2009 version of the Term Sheet that includes the following congestion reduction objective: implement variable pricing (based on the level of demand) on SR 520 between I-5 and I-405 to the extent necessary to maintain free flow traffic in the through-lanes, on all collectors and distributors for SR 520 between I-5 and I-405. The purpose of the congestion analysis is to assess the extent to which the UPA projects collectively were able to achieve this objective or whatever similar final congestion reduction objectives may be identified. Following the evaluation principles outlined in NCHRP Guide to Effective Freeway Performance Measurement, the congestion analysis is designed to assess the following impacts of the Seattle/LWC UPA deployment on SR 520 and alternate routes: Travel time and travel speed Travel time reliability and variability Spatial and temporal extent of congestion Vehicle and person throughput Users’ perceptions of congestion on SR 520 and the adjacent alternate routes. The congestion analysis will specifically evaluate the cumulative effect of all the UPA projects on travel time and travel speed on SR 520 and other parallel facilities. Table 4-1 summarizes the hypotheses, measures of effectiveness and data associated with this portion of the congestion analysis. For the purposes of the Seattle/LWC UPA evaluation, both travel time and travel speed will be used in the congestion analysis—travel time permits comparisons across all the UPA deployment sites, whereas travel speed is the local performance objective. Travel time and travel speed are closely related and will be derived from WSDOT traffic detector data. Travel time is the average time consumed by vehicles traversing a fixed distance, defined by a specific origin and destination. On their website,10 WSDOT provides real-time travel time on 10 Seattle Area Travel Times. Washington State Department of Transportation. Available at ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇.▇▇▇/traffic/seattle/traveltimes. Accessed May 26, 2009. typical commuter routes in the Seattle region. These same origin-destination pairs will be used in this analysis. Deploying the UPA projects reduced travel times and increased speeds on SR 520 over Lake ...
Congestion Analysis. The purpose of the congestion analysis is to determine what the combined impact of all the individual UPA projects were on congestion. Specifically, the congestion analysis is designed to answer the following question: How much was congestion reduced in the area through the collective deployment of the tolling, transit, technology, and telecommuting strategies? The Congestion Analysis utilizes the basic principles for monitoring freeway performance discussed in NCHRP’s Guide to Effective Freeway Performance Measures.7 Specifically, the Congestion Analysis will attempt to quantify the following as a result of deploying the tolling, technology, transit, and telecommuting strategies in the San Francisco area: The amount of reduction in travel time on selected routes in the downtown area, The amount of improvement in travel time reliability on selected routes in the downtown area, The amount of improvement in vehicle and passenger throughput on selected routes in the downtown area, and Changes in travelers’ perception of congestion in the downtown area. Because parking pricing is expected to change every four to six weeks, the performance measures will be computed after each major parking price change in a parking management zone. Performance measures will be computed for each parking management zone and the overall impact will be computed by summing the effects across each parking management zone. Table 4-1 shows the hypotheses, measures of effectiveness and data that will be used to conduct the congestion analysis. In this case, the data that will be used to conduct analysis will be collected primarily through automated data collection equipment deployed specifically for this project and through use of transit vehicles as surrogates when data for other modes aren’t available. These data requirements are discussed more fully in the test plans for traffic system and transit system data in Section 4.2.