CONGESTION IN THE COMMONWEALTH MANAGED LANES SCREENING STUDY 2020 MassDOT | Managed Lanes Screening Study Contents Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction/Background .................................................................................................... 1 2. Existing Managed Lanes Initiatives ................................................................................... 2 2.1. I-93 SB HOV Lane (North of Boston) ............................................................................................ 2 2.2. I-93 SB HOV Lane from Kneeland Street/Lincoln Street to the Airport and I-93 SB .................... 3 2.3. I-93 HOV Zipper Lanes (NB and SB) (South of Boston) ............................................................... 4 2.4. I-93 NB HOV/Express Lane from Southeast Expressway to TWT ............................................... 5 2.5. Bus on Shoulder Pilot(s) ............................................................................................................... 6 3. Important Factors for Implementing Managed Lanes ...................................................... 7 3.1. Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 7 3.2. DOT Interviews/Case Studies ....................................................................................................... 8 3.3. Planning Considerations for Managed Lanes ............................................................................. 11 3.3.1. Maximizing Person and Vehicle Throughput .......................................................................................... 11 3.3.2. Generating and Sharing Revenue .......................................................................................................... 12 3.3.3. Improving Transit and Increasing Ridership ........................................................................................... 12 3.3.4. Increasing the Use of Carpooling, Vanpooling, and Ride Sharing .......................................................... 12 3.3.5. Vehicle Eligibility to Use Managed Lane ................................................................................................ 13 3.3.6. Pricing Algorithms .................................................................................................................................. 14 3.3.7. Supporting Community Land Use Goals ................................................................................................ 14 3.3.8. Equity ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.3.9. Project Champions and Public Support .................................................................................................. 16 3.4. Design Considerations for Managed Lanes ................................................................................ 18 3.4.1. Traffic Modeling ...................................................................................................................................... 18 3.4.2. Civil Design Features ............................................................................................................................. 18 3.4.3. Continuous Access Lane(s) ................................................................................................................... 18 3.4.4. Buffer Separated Lane(s) ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.5. Barrier Separated ................................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.6. Ingress and Egress ................................................................................................................................ 20 3.5. Operations & Maintenance Considerations for Managed Lanes ................................................ 24 3.5.1. Back Office Establishment ..................................................................................................................... 24 3.5.2. Managed Lanes Enforcement ................................................................................................................ 25 3.5.3. Automated Toll Enforcement .................................................................................................................. 25 3.5.4. HOV Enforcement .................................................................................................................................. 25 3.5.5. Incident Management ............................................................................................................................. 26 3.5.6. Operations and Maintenance ................................................................................................................. 27 3.5.7. Additional Infrastructure/Toll Equipment Considerations ........................................................................ 27 3.5.8. Toll Pricing and Revenue ....................................................................................................................... 28 MassDOT | Managed Lanes Screening Study 3.6. Top Three Key Success Factors to Consider from Sister Agencies ........................................... 29 4. Initial Assessment of Candidate Corridors ..................................................................... 31 4.1. Tier 1 Screening .......................................................................................................................... 32 4.1.1. Access Control ....................................................................................................................................... 32 4.1.2. Baseline Congestion .............................................................................................................................. 33 4.2. Tier 2 Screening .......................................................................................................................... 38 4.2.1. Network Connectivity .............................................................................................................................. 38 4.2.2. Level of Congestion ................................................................................................................................ 38 4.2.3. Travel Time Variability ............................................................................................................................ 38 4.2.4. Person Throughput ................................................................................................................................. 39 4.2.5. Traffic Growth ......................................................................................................................................... 39 4.2.6. Bus Service ............................................................................................................................................ 39 4.3. Scoring Methodology and Results .............................................................................................. 39 5. Managed Lane Treatment Options for Candidate Corridors ......................................... 44 5.1. Managed Lane Typical Section Considerations .......................................................................... 47 5.2. HOV to HOT Lane Conversion .................................................................................................... 50 5.2.1. Existing and Available Capacity ............................................................................................................. 51 5.2.3. Feasibility ............................................................................................................................................... 53 5.3. Repurposing Existing Shoulder ................................................................................................... 54 5.4. Conversion of General Purpose Lane to Managed Lane ........................................................... 59 5.5. Major Widening for Additional Managed Lane ............................................................................ 63 5.6. Corridor Treatment Feasibility Summary .................................................................................... 67 6. Conclusions and Next Steps ............................................................................................ 70 Figures Figure 1 - I-93 SB HOV Lane Location (North of Boston) .............................................................................2 Figure 2 - I-93 SB HOV Lane entrance (North of Boston) ............................................................................ 2 Figure 3 - I-93 SB Carpool Lane terminus at Zakim Bridge .......................................................................... 3 Figure 4 - I-93 SB HOV Lane at Kneeland Street to Logan Airport .............................................................. 3 Figure 5 - I-93 SB HOV Lane at Kneeland Street ......................................................................................... 3 Figure 6 - I-93 NB/SB HOV Zipper Lane Location ........................................................................................ 4 Figure 7 - Southeast Expressway HOV Zipper Barrier Deployed ................................................................