Nick Wood

Factors influencing walking in small urban region

With a population of about 145,000 people, Chittenden County, Vermont, has a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) that oversees approximately

Examination of Paid Travel on I-85 Express Lanes

30 million annually in transportation investments. Despite the countys small size, nonmotorized travel is an important element of the MPOs transportation planning efforts, as it is for many small and medium-sized communities across the United States. The objective of this research was to identify factors associated with nonmotorized travel, specifically walking trips, within the context of a small urban area. The research used survey, census, and geographic information systems (GIS) data to represent Chittenden County travelers in an analysis of personal, regional, and environmental factors. The results of the research suggest that Chittenden County travelers are represented by both spectrums of the populations income and education. These results contribute to a relatively scarce literature base and provide additional information that, when combined with tools developed previously for small urban areas, may provide planners with insights as they identify and prioritize infrastructure investments to meet the needs of their communities. More research is needed to capture better the travel and built environment effects on walking within a small urban area as well as to determine how to best integrate the demographic characteristics into nonmotorized planning efforts.

Technological and Human Factor Considerations for Priced Managed Lane Traveler Information Systems

The implementation of the I-85 express lanes in Atlanta, Georgia, was the first conversion of a high-occupancy vehicle lane to a high-occupancy toll lane that simultaneously increased the occupancy requirement (from two or more persons to three or more persons) and implemented tolls without the creation of additional lanes. This paper presents the findings of an analysis of tolling data collected during the first year of operation as part of the National Evaluation of Urban Partnership Agreement and Congestion Reduction Demonstration programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. This analysis found the median willingness to pay for express lane travel time savings to be

Application of Traffic Thermostat for I-30 Managed Lanes in Dallas, Texas

19.45 per hour across all time periods and

Integrating Automated Toll Discounts into a Real-Time Ridesharing Program

33.17 per hour for southbound a.m. peak travel. There was little difference in the willingness to pay between frequent and infrequent travelers of the express lanes. This analysis was based on actual tolls paid by travelers and therefore represents the minimum these travelers were willing to pay.

Katy Freeway : an evaluation of a second-generation managed lanes project.

Travelers have many unique informational requirements to be able to navigate priced managed lanes. These demands often relate to specific managed lane features (e.g., access points, toll price) in addition to information about major traffic incidents and lane closures. Accommodating these needs with traditional roadway signage is a particular challenge given concerns about overloading and distracting drivers. This paper summarizes an investigation into traveler information systems for managed lanes, by considering a national review of current agency practices, a traveler survey, and an assessment for integrating advancing technologies. The national review found that many agencies vary considerably in pricing structure, number, and placement of priced destination points, and online availability of real-time toll information. A travel survey of 866 Texas-based respondents indicated that drivers prioritize information about traffic incidents and lane closures over toll price data (94% and 88% versus 41%, respectively). A higher share of respondents wanted to see travel time and incident alerts on in-vehicle devices, compared with a more statistically significant desire for destination and toll rate information on roadway signs. Most respondents use smartphone applications and mapping websites for pre-trip planning purposes (79% and 65%, respectively) compared with TV and radio reports (13%). Comparatively, prior research published 5 years earlier found that radio was a highly influential media in influencing behavior. This paper suggests a pathway for agencies to adopt a flexible approach for sharing essential data with third-party entities, based on the general transit-feed specification used for transit.

The impact of HOT lanes on carpools

Managed lanes have historically experienced an evolution in operational policies. Over time, speeds on a managed lane may degrade because of oversubscribed demand. Operators have strategies to mitigate problems and maintain optimal performance; these strategies include changing the occupancy requirement, varying tolls (if the facility is priced), and altering transit service. Assessing the potential impact of operational strategies is a challenge. The traffic thermostat tool is a software-based guide that helps select specific strategies projected to influence the metrics for each goal. This paper reports on how the tool was adapted for use on the I-30 managed lanes in Dallas, Texas, a high-occupancy-toll lane with reduced toll rates for qualifying carpools. An example scenario shows the consideration of travel speed and throughput goals, with acceptable performance thresholds of 50 mph and 5,700 persons per hour for the entire facility. The thermostat estimated values of projected speed and throughput for selected operational fixes by using the calibrated speed–flow relationship from the regional travel demand model. Results from a quantitative travel survey helped to derive mode shift elasticities for use by the tool. Overall, the dynamic nature of demand, diversity of user groups, ambiguity with exogenous factors (e.g., regional unemployment and fuel prices), and need for extensive data on the lanes led to uncertainty and difficulty with prediction capability. However, use of the traffic thermostat can show policy makers and others the inherent challenge of performance management for managed-lane facilities.

Findings from Third National Symposium on Mileage-Based User Fees

A pilot program in Austin, Texas, tested the practicality of integration of a real-time ridesharing application with a toll operator to process toll discounts for carpools. The toll discounts appeared on monthly toll transaction statements. The program lasted for almost a year on the 183A Toll Road and the US-290 Manor Expressway. Travelers used a smartphone application to track, record, and submit their trips for discounts. Two-person carpools that used the application received a 50% discount, and carpools of three or more people could travel toll free. The program was a partnership between the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the local toll system operator, and a private ridesharing vendor. Back-office processes matched trip data from the smartphone application to transactions recorded by the toll systems. A total of 95 unique drivers were provided toll rebates for 2,213 trips during the 10.5-month period of the pilot program. During the pilot program, rebates were provided for most trips by two-person carpools. Individual driver behavior varied considerably. A select few drivers had a high number of carpool trips, whereas others took a sporadic trip or infrequent trips. Drivers took a median of seven trips during the pilot program. Future ridesharing programs should consider showing higher-dollar-value rebates that represent annual savings to incentivize ridesharing behavior. Timely feedback to users was found to be an important goal for success. In addition, program sponsors should provide positive customer service and engage users when problems that are not under their direct purview exist.