BlueTOAD Application and Google Traffic Maps for Congestion - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

BlueTOAD Application and Google Traffic Maps for Congestion Management

MPO Congestion Management Committee

Prepared by: Lexington Area MPO Lexington-Fayette UCG

Where is Lexington KY?

• Lexington KY

KY and Lexington Area MPOs

• Lexington Area

MPO is one of the 9 MPOs in the State of Kentucky.

Lexington Area MPO and LFUCG

• Lexington Fayette Urban

County Government (LFUCG)

• Jessamine County

Population – 2015: 314,488 (Fayette Co.) 50,815 (Jessamine Co.) 489,435 (Six Co. MSA)

Purpose and Preview

• Traffic Congestion measures and travel-time reliability
• BlueTOAD application introduction and overview
• BlueTOAD data collection and processing capabilities
• How can Google live and typical traffic maps help
• Other data sources, tools, and present/future work

What is Traffic Congestion?

“The level at which transportation system performance is unacceptable due to traffic interference and excessive travel times/delays.” The level of system performance deemed acceptable by State and local officials may vary by type of transportation facility (major or minor arterial), geographic location (urban or rural area), and/or time of a day. Source: 23 CFR Sec. 500.109

Types of Congestion

• 1. Recurring
• 2. Non-recurring

Recurring Congestion

 Causes of Congestion

• Bottlenecks, lack of

lane/road capacity

• Excess Demand
• Commuters & SOVs
• Seasonal
• Long-term

construction

Non-Recurring Congestion

 Causes of Congestion

• Crashes/Incidents
• Disabled Vehicles
• Special Events
• Weather
• Utility Work / Maintenance /

Short-term Construction

• Goods and Service Deliveries

What are the congestion statistics?

Source: www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

How to measure congestion and travel time reliability?

Three (3) indices and formulas have been recognized by FHWA to measure congestion and Travel Time (TT) reliability.

• Travel Time Index (TTI):

TTI = Average Travel Time (TT) / Free Flow TT

• Buffer Time Index (BTI):

BTI = (90th or 95th TT – Average TT) / Average TT

• Planning Time Index (PTI):

PTI = 90th or 95th TT / Free Flow TT Source: www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

BlueTOAD (Bluetooth Travel-time Origination And Destination)

 Reliable data using MAC address pairing  Cellular and/or Ethernet communications  Real-time network and device monitoring  For use on arterials and freeways

How BlueTOAD system works?

Hardware Web based

Hardware: Filters/Algorithms: Web based Backend:

BlueTOAD Report System Dashboard

BlueTOAD Lexington KY Speed Map

BlueTOAD System Device Pairs

BlueTOAD Benefits

• Transportation Planning
• Collect data for transportation planning and traffic modeling
• Help identify, develop and prioritize projects
• Collect data for before & after studies to report the

effectiveness of improvement projects

• Congestion Management
• Identify congested roadway segments and intersections
• Determine congested time of a day and duration
• Quantify congestion levels using congestion indices
• Monitor congestion changes over time and trends.

BlueTOAD Benefits

• Signal Timing
• Testing of coordination plans to ensure effectiveness
• Ability to collect data in order to measure construction

impacts.

• Ability to compare time of day coordination plans in order

to choose most appropriate plan.

• Emergency Services
• BlueTOAD can be use to measure accident clearance

times.

• Can be used to measure lasting affect that a collision may

have on traffic before returning to normal.

BlueTOAD Information Comparisons

Bluetooth Technology Pros and Cons

Advantages:

Mobile Units allow for

flexibility with data capture.

Customize Sample Periods Compare multiple

traffic events.

Calculate Congestion and

reliability Indices

Publish travel times

to the public Disadvantages:

Monthly Costs Possible Coverage Issues Maintenance

Man O War Blvd Monthly & Annual TTI Comparisons Using BlueTOAD Data (Monthly Weekdays)

Rout Name: Man O War Blvd. - Eastbound (EB) Start: MOW/Nicholasville Rd TTI = Average Travel Time / Free Flow Travel Time End: MOW/Sir Barton Way Route Length: 8.70 miles A = AM Peak (From 6 a to 9 a) BlueTOAD Devices: 7 pairs Free-flow Speed: 45 mph P = PM Peak (From 4 p to 7 p) AM Peak PM Peak 2014A 2015A 2014P 2015P J 1.33 1.27 1.41 1.46 F 1.38 1.34 1.52 1.57 M 1.66 1.37 1.94 1.58 A 1.38 1.38 1.52 1.60 M 1.29 1.31 1.49 1.65 J 1.24 1.26 1.47 1.53 J 1.25 1.27 1.44 1.54 A 1.26 1.36 1.46 1.55 S 1.28 1.35 1.48 1.52 O 1.34 1.39 1.57 1.64 N 1.27 1.37 1.54 1.67 D 1.29 1.33 1.64 1.69

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 J F M A M J J A S O N D 2014A 2015A 2014P 2015P

National Travel Time Index

Source: http://governing.typepad.com

When are the worst AM and PM peaks in a week?

 Worst AM Peaks: Tue and Wed from 7 am to 8 am  Worst PM Peak: Fri from 4 pm to 6 pm

Typical Traffic: Wed, 7:50 AM, 2015 Record

Typical Traffic: Fri, 5:00 PM, 2015 Record

National Travel Time Index

Source: FHWA 2015 Urban Congestion Trends

Annual Congestion Trend Monitoring Sunny, 47F. Wind:6mph Wed 7:50 am 14Oct2015

Annual Congestion Trend Monitoring Fair, 64F. Wind:15mph Fri 5:10 pm 16Oct2015

Present and Future Work

• BlueTOAD TTI data monthly & annual comparisons
• BlueTOAD corridor pair and route studies
• BlueTOAD data to study lane blockage impacts
• Google live / typical traffic map screen-shots
• BlueTOAD and Google traffic map comparisons

Other data sources and tools

• LexingtonKY.gov: TMC and “Real-time” Traffic Ticker
• LexingtonKY.gov: Video Distribution Mgmt. System
• Lane Blockage Reporting to Waze via Accela Software
• Kentucky 511 Traffic and Travel Information
• MapQuest, TomTom, and Waze live traffic maps/cams

Review and Summary

• Traffic Congestion measures and travel-time reliability
• BlueTOAD application introduction and overview
• BlueTOAD data collection and processing capabilities
• How can Google live and typical traffic maps help
• Other data sources, tools, and present/future work

Lexington Area Congestion Management Process (CMP) Contacts

Key Contacts: Sam Hu – MPO Senior Planner shu@lexingtonky.gov David Filiatreau – LFUCG Signal Systems Mgr. dfiliatreau@lexingtonky.gov Max Conyers – MPO Planning Manager Barry House – CM Committee Chair Questions and Comments?