The Congestion Management Process for Northwest Indiana

1
The Congestion Management Process for Northwest
Indiana
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Objective

• To identify, carry out and continue a congestion
  management process as a integral part of the
  metropolitan planning process.

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Definition of Congestion

• Congestion is the level at which transportation
  system performance is no longer acceptable due to
  traffic interference. The level of acceptable
  system performance may vary by type of
  transportation facility, geographic location
  (metropolitan area or sub area, rural area)
  and/or time of day.

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Definition of Congestion Management

• To use tools and other resources to identify
  congestion within an specified area (such as a
  region, corridor, activity center or project
  area) and determine an effective and feasible
  solution to reduce or regulate congestion

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Types of Congestion

• Recurring congestion
• Bottlenecks
• Nonrecurring congestion
• Accidents
• Special Events
• Weather
• Work Zones/ Construction
• Poor Signal Timing

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Essential Elements of a CMP

• Monitoring and evaluating transportation system
  performance (collection of data)
• Identifying causes of congestion
• Identifying and evaluating alterative strategies
• Evaluating effectiveness of implemented strategies

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Northwestern Indiana Congestion Management Process

• 1. Establish a Congestion Management subcommittee
  
• 2. Collect Data Data relevant to the congestion
  management process is collected within the region
  
• 3. Develop Congestion Management objectives
• 4. Identify Area of Application

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Northwestern Indiana Congestion Management Process

• 5. Define System/Network of Interest
• 6. Develop Performance Measures
• 7. Evaluate growth and development scenarios to
  identify future congestion problems in the
  context of the CRP
• 8. Institute a System Performance Monitoring Plan

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Northwestern Indiana Congestion Management
Process

• 9. Identify/Evaluate Strategies
• 10. Incorporate strategies into the TP, TIP
  and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
• 11. Implement Selected Strategies/Manage
  System
• 12. Monitor Strategy Effectiveness

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The Congestion management subcommittee may
consist of

• INDOT
• FHWA
• Local elected officials
• Transit Service Providers
• Municipal and county highway engineers
• Environmental and transportation sectors of the
  state and federal governments
• Interested Citizens

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Performance Measures

• Volume to capacity ratio by roadway segment, as
  congestion in
• Rural areas is 70 of V/C ratio.
• Urban or suburban areas is 80 of V/C ratio
• Major traffic generators- (regional shopping
  malls, sports arenas, etc.) is 90 of V/C ratio
• Travel Time by road or transit link
• Real time GPS data, expressway sensors, camera
  monitoring, floating car technique, etc.

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Alternatives Considered

• Travel Demand Management
• Transportations System Management
• Improvements for Public Transportation Growth
  Management
• Add capacity (Should only be used if all else
  fails)

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Intelligent Transportation Systems

• Committee will also discuss matters regarding ITS
• Current ITS plan will need to be updated soon
• Will work with INDOT, FHWA, Transit Operators,
  Local Governments
• Possible projects include extending the
  surveillance and management to our principal
  arterials

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Timeline for CMP
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Contact Information

• For more information about the Congestion
  Management/ ITS Subcommittee Contact
• Ryan Hicks
• Transportation Systems Planner
• Rhicks_at_Nirpc.org
• 219-763-6060 Ext. 150