Measuring Congestion for Strategic Highway Investment for Tomorrow (SHIFT) Implementation (PL-32)

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has moved toward a data-driven decision-making process, the Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow (SHIFT), to allocate funds for highway improvement projects. SHIFT requires that candidate projects be scored on five critical metrics: safety, asset management, congestion, economic growth, and benefit/cost analysis. The measure of congestion used in SHIFT 2018 was a combination of volume-to-service flow ratio (VSF) and design hourly volume (DHV). VSF is a traditional performance measure developed based on limited data, primarily for sketch planning purposes. However, it does not accurately reflect the dynamics of traffic congestion of many facilities. This report presents a framework for integrating third-party speed data (acquired from HERE Technologies) into traditional congestion performance measures for use in SHIFT 2020. The speed data came from aggregated GPS-based vehicle locations at various temporal and spatial resolutions collected from 2015 to 2017. Data assessments undertaken by the research team found these data offer adequate coverages for monitoring congestion performance on most highways in Kentucky, except for some rural low-volume roads. An automated process was developed to conflate HERE’s proprietary network, to which the speed data are attached, and KYTC’s Highway Information System (HIS) network. Spatial integration lets the Cabinet link speed data to a state-maintained inventory database, enabling additional applications beyond those addressed in this study, such as the calibration and validation of travel demand models. The research team evaluated several performance measures that could potentially be applied in Kentucky. Based on this assessment, Vehicle Hours of Delay (VHD) is recommended as the best measure for quantifying congestion on a highway section. Two other measures – Vehicle Hours of Delay Per Mile (VHDPM) and Average Hours of Delay (AHD) – may be considered alongside VHD when performing network screening to identify bottlenecks. The research team, based on feedback from Cabinet work groups, developed a procedure for estimating VHD on highway improvement projects. A white paper in Appendix A documents this procedure

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Transportation Planning and Public Policy: Towards Multimodal Demand Modeling

This report examines existing methods of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) in two areas, transportation policy and transportation planning, and suggests ways of modifying these methods to account for travel within a multimodal system. Although the planning and policy contexts differ substantially, this report shows how important multimodal impacts can be incorporated into both by using basic econometric techniques and even simpler rule-of-thumb methods. Case studies in transportation planning focus on the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), but benchmark California’s competencies by exploring methods used by other states and local governments. The report concludes with a list and discussion of recommendations for improving transportation planning models and methods. These will have immediate use to decision makers at Caltrans and other state DOTs as they consider directions for developing new planning capabilities. This project also identifies areas, and lays groundwork, for future research. Finally, by fitting the planning models into the broader context of transportation policy, this report will serve as a resource for students and others who wish to better understand BCA and its use in practice

Review of Methods for Estimating the Economic Impact of Transportation Improvements

Transportation analysts and the public decision-makers they support are confronted with a broad range of analytical tools for estimating the economic impacts of improvements to trans- portation networks. Many of the available models operate at different scales and have distinctly different structures, making them more or less appropriate for analyzing the impacts of differ- ent types of projects. Here, we review several of the economic methods and models that have been developed for analyzing the impact of transportation improvements, giving special atten- tion to types of projects that add highway capacity in urban areas. We review project-based methods, including beneÞt-cost analysis and several analytical software tools developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for economic analysis of transportation investment. We then move on to aggregate and disaggregate-level econometric methods, including regional economic models, hedonic price functions, production functions and cliometric analyses. We also devote some attention to the role of induced demand in economic evaluation, since it is of- ten one of the most uncertain and confounding factors faced by those charged with conducting economic evaluation of transportation projects.Economic Impact, Benefit-Cost Analysis

Seasonally Frozen Soil Effects on the Seismic Performance of Highway Bridges

INE/AUTC 12.0

Phase 1 of the near term hybrid passenger vehicle development program

In order to meet project requirements and be competitive in the 1985 market, the proposed six-passenger vehicle incorporates a high power type Ni-Zn battery, which by making electric-only traction possible, permits the achievement of an optimized control strategy based on electric-only traction to a set battery depth of discharge, followed by hybrid operation with thermal primary energy. This results in a highly efficient hybrid propulsion subsystem. Technical solutions are available to contain energy waste by reducing vehicle weight, rolling resistance, and drag coefficient. Reproaching new 1985 full size vehicles of the conventional type with hybrids of the proposed type would result in a U.S. average gasoline saving per vehicle of 1,261 liters/year and an average energy saving per vehicle of 27,133 MJ/year

Seismic Performance and Design of Bridge Foundations in Liquefiable Ground with a Frozen Crust

INE/AUTC 12.3

Tribal Corridor Management Planning: Model, Case Study, and Guide for Caltrans District 1, Research Report 10-01

In Northern California, tribal governments and personnel of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 1, have applied innovative context-sensitive solutions to meet a variety of transportation challenges along state highways that traverse tribal lands. This report describes and discusses the efforts under way and offer suggestions for continuing and extending these initiatives through the development of Tribal Corridor Management Plans (TCMPs). The methods employed in this project are multidisciplinary and include: (1) content analysis of existing corridor management plans; (2) literature review to identify “best practices;” (3) participant observation; (4) interviews with local stakeholders; (5) focus group interviews with Caltrans personnel; and (6) landscape analysis. This study’s authors conclude that Caltrans District 1 staff and tribal governments share common goals for highway operations; however, progress —while significant—has been somewhat hampered by geographic and administrative challenges. It is recommended that Caltrans and the tribes seek early and frequent communication and collaboration to overcome these obstacles. Further, they identify several examples of non-standard design elements that could be incorporated into highway improvements to enhance local sense of place among both residents and travelers. A preliminary TCMP for the segment of State Route 96 that lies within the boundaries of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation is presented as an example. Beyond its role as a guide for initiating tribal corridor projects within Caltrans District 1, the report should prove instructive for any efforts to enhance sense of place within transportation byways, particularly in Native communities

Roadway Alignments as Assets: Evaluating Alternatives for Valuing Major Highway Corridor Rights of Way Final Report December 2010 Sponsored

In most highway asset management exercises, real estate used in alignments is considered to be an asset class that does not depreciate. Although the treatment of right of way assets as non-depreciable real property may be appropriate as an accounting exercise, the fact is that the real estate contained in transportation corridors can in fact lose value from a traffic service point of view. Such facilities become functionally obsolete in that they no longer serve the purpose that was intended when they were planned, designed, and built. This report is intended to begin a discussion of the topic of how highway alignments ought be valued as assets as opposed to how they generally are valued, at either book value or replacement value, given it can be shown that some highway alignments do in fact depreciate in value