Monitoring and Evaluating Managed Lane Facility Performance
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Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA/TX-06/0-4160-23 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date MONITORING AND EVALUATING MANAGED LANE FACILITY November 2005 PERFORMANCE 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Jodi L. Carson, Ph.D., P.E. Report 0-4160-23 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Texas Transportation Institute The Texas A&M University System 11. Contract or Grant No. College Station, Texas 77843-3135 Project 0-4160 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Texas Department of Transportation Technical Report: Research and Technology Implementation Office October 2000-August 2005 P. O. Box 5080 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Austin, Texas 78763-5080 15. Supplementary Notes Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Project Title: Operating Freeways with Managed Lanes URL: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-4160-23.pdf 16. Abstract Much of the progress made in advancing the state of the practice in performance monitoring and evaluation has considered general freeway facilities and lacks specificity for managed lane facilities. Managed lane facilities are unique, typically requiring a higher degree of active (sometimes real-time) management, addressing goals and objectives that are inconsistent with the general freeway facility (i.e., revenue generation, person throughput), and accessing an exclusive set of management tools (i.e., gate closures). To address these potential differences between facilities, this investigation was conducted to isolate and document the best performance monitoring and evaluation practices and principles explicitly for managed lane facilities. Despite the novelty of managed lanes as a traffic management strategy, the diversity of managed lane facility types, and the breadth of motivating factors for managed lane implementation, some general consistency in practice was observed with respect to performance monitoring and evaluation. Common goals, objectives, and performance measures were observed across similar facility types. Significant differences were also observed across similar facility types with respect to observed performance outcomes and evaluation methodologies. Differences in observed performance outcomes are likely explained by the variety in facility design (i.e., length of facility, accessibility, etc.) and operation (i.e., eligibility requirements, toll rates, etc.), even within a similar facility type. Differences in the evaluation methodologies used to arrive at these observed performance outcomes are likely reflective of the available resources for analysis at the time of evaluation and the evolving state of analysis methodologies. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Monitoring and Evaluation, Performance No restrictions. This document is available to the Measurements, Managed Lanes, HOV, HOT, Truck public through NTIS: Restrictions National Technical Information Service Springfield, Virginia 22161 http://www.ntis.gov 19. Security Classif.(of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 168 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized MONITORING AND EVALUATING MANAGED LANE FACILITY PERFORMANCE by Jodi L. Carson, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Research Engineer Texas Transportation Institute Report 0-4160-23 Project 0-4160 Project Title: Operating Freeways with Managed Lanes Performed in Cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration September 2005 TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE The Texas A&M University System College Station, Texas 77843-3135 DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the author, who is responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. This project was conducted in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the FHWA or TxDOT. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The engineers in charge of the overall project were Beverly T. Kuhn (Texas P.E. #80308) and Ginger Daniels Goodin (Texas P.E. #64560). The engineer leading this task was Jodi L. Carson (Texas P.E. #94536). The U.S. Government and the State of Texas do not endorse products of manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer’s names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was conducted in cooperation with TxDOT and FHWA. Special thanks are extended to the following members of the Project Monitoring Committee, both past and present, for their leadership, time, efforts, and contributions: Program Coordinator Gary K. Trietsch, P.E., Houston District, TxDOT Project Director Carlos Lopez, P.E., Traffic Operations Division, TxDOT Technical Panel Mike Behrens, P.E., Executive Director, TxDOT Maribel Chavez, P.E., Fort Worth District, TxDOT Bill Garbade, P.E., Austin District, TxDOT John Kelly, P.E., San Antonio District, TxDOT Jay Nelson, P.E., Dallas District, TxDOT Mary Owen, P.E., Tyler District, TxDOT Jim Randall, P.E., Transportation Planning and Programming Division, TxDOT Steve Simmons, P.E., Fort Worth District, TxDOT Richard Skopik, P.E., Waco District, TxDOT vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 Problem Description ................................................................................................................... 2 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 4 Methodology............................................................................................................................... 4 Collective Guidelines for Overall Freeway Performance Monitoring and Evaluation ........... 5 Collective Guidelines for Managed Lane Facility Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. 6 National Practices for Managed Lane Facility Performance Monitoring and Evaluation....... 7 Report Purpose and Contents...................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2: MANAGED LANE FACILITIES ...................................................................... 9 Facility Types ............................................................................................................................. 9 High-occupancy Vehicle Lanes............................................................................................... 9 Separated Two-way or Reversible HOV Lanes................................................................ 10 Concurrent HOV Lanes .................................................................................................... 10 Contraflow HOV Lanes .................................................................................................... 11 Value-priced and High Occupancy Toll Lanes ..................................................................... 11 Exclusive Lanes..................................................................................................................... 11 Mixed-flow Separation/Bypass Lanes................................................................................... 12 Lane Restrictions ................................................................................................................... 12 Dual Facilities........................................................................................................................ 12 Facility Characteristics Affecting Performance........................................................................ 13 Motivating Goals and Objectives .......................................................................................... 13 Accessibility .......................................................................................................................... 14 Direct Merges.................................................................................................................... 14 Slip Ramps........................................................................................................................ 14 Direct Access Ramps ........................................................................................................ 15 Direct Connections from Other Managed Lane Facilities ................................................ 15 Hours of Operation ................................................................................................................ 15 Continuous, 24 hours ........................................................................................................ 15 Extended Hours................................................................................................................. 16 Peak Travel Period Only................................................................................................... 16 Eligibility ..............................................................................................................................