TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE BOSTON REGION: BEYOND THE DAILY COMMUTE Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region Beyond the Daily Commute Project Manager Ryan Hicks Project Principal Mark Abbott Data Analysts Ryan Hicks Paul Reim Julian Chen Ben Erban Graphics Jane Gillis Kenneth Dumas Cover Design Jane Gillis Kim DeLauri The preparation of this document was supported by the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration of the US Department of Transportation through MPO Planning Contracts #101725 and #105757, and MPO Transit §5303 Contracts #102694 and #106374. Central Transportation Planning Staff Directed by the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. The MPO is composed of state and regional agencies and authorities, and local governments. March 2019 IPSWICH TOPS- ROCKPOR HAMILT ESSEX GLOUCESTER MIDDLE- ON TON WENHAM NORTH MANCHESTER READING DANVERS WILMING- BEVERLY TON LYNNFIELD LITTLE- READING PEABODY TON CARLISLE WAKE- BUR-LING SALEM MARBLEHEAD BOX- BEDFORD STONEHA FIELD TON SAUGUS BOR- ACTON LYNN OUGH LEXINGTON SWAMPSCOTT CONCORD WOBURN MELROSE WINCHESTER NAHANT BOLTON STOW MAY- MALDEN ARLINGTOMEDFORD NARD LINCOLN REVERE BELMONT EVERETT SOMERVILLE CAMBRIDGE CHELSEA HUDSON WALTHA SUDBURY WESTON WINTHROP WATERTOW MARLBOROUGH FRAMINGHAM NEWTON WAYLAND SOUTH-B WELLESLEY BROOKLINE OROUGH BOSTON HULL NATICK NEEDHAM ASHLAND DEDHAM SHERBORN WESTWOOD QUINCY DOVER MILTON COHAS HOPKINTON SET SCITU MEDFIELD HINGHAM HOLLISTON RANDOLPHBRAINTREE -M ATE NORWOOD OUTH MILLIS WEY CANTON NORWELL MILFORD ROCKLAND MEDWAY HOL-BR WALPOL OOK NORFOLK MARSHFIELD SHARON FRANKLIN FOXBOROUGH BELLINGHAM WRENTHAM To request additional copies of this document or copies in an accessible format, contact: Central Transportation Planning Staff State Transportation Building Ten Park Plaza, Suite 2150 Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (857) 702-3700 (617) 570-9192 (fax) (617) 570-9193 (TTY) [email protected] www.bostonmpo.org Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region: Beyond the Daily Commute March 2019 Abstract Traffic conditions in the Boston region are monitored through the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Congestion Management Process (CMP). The purpose of the CMP is to identify locations where congestion occurs and the factors that contribute to it, and to develop strategies to alleviate the congestion. While most of the CMP’s traffic monitoring focuses on congestion caused by the recurring travel of the daily commutes residents in the region take to and from work in the morning and afternoon and evening peak travel periods, this study examined incidents when congested roadway conditions developed during times other than the traditional commuting hours or because of traveling associated with special events or holidays. Seven case studies are included in this report detailing roadway congestion levels, times when congestion occurred, and specific roadway locations where congestion was the worst. The report discusses strategies that could be implemented in the future to address congestion when similar events occur. When events affected roadways on which MBTA buses operate, bus on-time performance was evaluated. Page 3 of 133 Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region: Beyond the Daily Commute March 2019 Page 4 of 133 Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region: Beyond the Daily Commute March 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Executive Summary ............................................................................. 11 Chapter 1—Congestion in the Boston Region ............................................ 13 Chapter 2—Selection and Analysis of Available Data Sources ....................... 15 2.1 Data Selection .........................................................................15 2.2 Dataset Recommendations ..........................................................16 Chapter 3—Performance Measures .......................................................... 17 3.1 Highway Performance Measures ...................................................17 3.1.1 Congested Time.............................................................17 3.1.2 Average Travel Speed .....................................................17 3.1.3 Corridor/Segment Delay ...................................................18 3.1.4 Bottleneck Factor ...........................................................18 3.1.5 Travel Time Index ...........................................................18 3.1.6 Planning Time Failure Index ..............................................18 3.1.7 Minutes of Planning Time Failure ........................................19 3.2 Safety Performance Measure .......................................................19 3.2.1 Number of Crashes during the Day of Event ...........................19 3.3 Transit Performance Measure .......................................................19 3.3.1 On-Time Performance .....................................................19 3.4 Freight Performance Measure ......................................................20 3.4.1 Level of Travel Time Reliability...............................................20 Chapter 4—Methodology ....................................................................... 21 4.1 Selection of Events for Study ........................................................21 4.2 Selection of Bottlenecks ..............................................................21 4.3 Content of the Case Studies .........................................................21 Chapter 5—Case Study: New England Patriots Regular Season Games ........... 25 5.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................25 5.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................26 5.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................26 5.2.2 Safety .........................................................................34 5.2.3 Findings ......................................................................35 Page 5 of 133 Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region: Beyond the Daily Commute March 2019 5.2.4 Strategies and Recommendations .......................................35 Chapter 6—Case Study: Red Sox Weekday Games ..................................... 37 6.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................37 6.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................38 6.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................38 6.2.2 Safety .........................................................................45 6.2.3 Findings ......................................................................48 6.2.4 Strategies and Recommendations .......................................48 Chapter 7—Case Study: Saturdays .......................................................... 49 7.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................49 7.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................49 7.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................49 7.2.2 Safety .........................................................................56 7.2.3 Bus Service ..................................................................59 7.2.4 Findings ......................................................................60 7.2.5 Strategies and Recommendations .......................................60 Chapter 8—Case Study: Super Bowl Parade .............................................. 63 8.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................63 8.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................64 8.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................64 8.2.2 Safety .........................................................................70 8.2.3 Findings ......................................................................70 8.2.4 Strategies and Recommendations .......................................71 Chapter 9—Case Study: Wednesday before Thanksgiving ............................ 73 9.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................73 9.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................73 9.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................73 9.2.2 Safety .........................................................................89 9.2.3 Findings ......................................................................90 9.2.4 Strategies and Recommendations .......................................91 Chapter 10—Case Study: Fridays ............................................................ 93 10.1 Description of Event and Location ..................................................93 Page 6 of 133 Traffic Congestion in the Boston Region: Beyond the Daily Commute March 2019 10.2 Performance Measure Summary ...................................................93 10.2.1 Roadways ....................................................................93 10.2.2 Safety ....................................................................... 102 10.3 Findings ............................................................................... 103 10.4 Strategies and Recommendations ............................................... 103 Chapter 11—Case Study: Black Friday ....................................................105 11.1 Description of Event and Location ...............................................