I394 MnPASS Technical Evaluation

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I-394 MnPASS Technical Evaluation

• Doug Sallman Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

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Overview

• Objectives
• Challenges
• Approach
• Findings
• Lessons Learned

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Objectives

• Conduct an independent assessment of the
  performance impacts resulting from the I-394
  MnPASS deployment including
• Travel times/speeds
• Vehicle and person throughput
• Safety
• Investigate other issues including enforcement
  and revenue

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Approach

• Collect data representing a broad period before
  and after to control for
• Traffic growth
• Cyclical variations (day-of-week, time-of-year)
• Weather conditions
• Incident occurrence
• Other external factors
• Compare performance from like periods with and
  without MnPASS to isolate any changes

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Evaluation Challenges

• MnPASS system itself is dynamic
• Hours of operation change
• Construction of auxiliary lane in the westbound
  direction
• Closure of I-494 to I-394 ramps
• Record high fuel prices
• Changes to transit routes and fares
• Adjustment to pricing algorithm

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Findings
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Volume/Throughput

• Regional automobile travel demand has decreased
  compared to previous years, unrelated to MnPASS
• Nearly 3 decrease in peak hour volumes observed
  on other regional corridors

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Volume/Throughput

• In light of the regional changes
• I-394 MnPASS lanes peak hour volumes increased 7
  to 30
• Total I-394 peak hour roadway volumes increased
  by up to 4
• Volume changes on the fringes of MnPASS
  operational hours were less positive or even
  slightly lower

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Vehicle Speeds

• Despite increase in volume, speeds in the MnPASS
  lane have not decreased
• Travel speeds in the general purpose lanes
  increased by 2 to 15 percent
• The relative speed change is greatest when
  conditions are most congested

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Safety

• Number of corridor crashes has decreased by 12
  percent in the year following MnPASS deployment,
  compared with the previous years

Average 2003-05 560
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Enforcement

• Over 2,300 stops were made by enforcement
  officers on the I-394 corridor in the first year
  for HOV or double white line crossing violations

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HOV Violation Rates
I-35W HOV control corridor not equipped with
MnPASS
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Use and Revenue

• Average toll paid is now above 1
• Total revenue is over 2 million (Opening to
  July 15, 2006 )
• Toll revenue approximately 4,000 per week

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Evaluation Lessons Learned

• Evaluation team established early
• Robust automated data collection system
• Long-time horizon
• Use of control corridor to assess regional
  changes
• Occupancy data collection

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More infohttp//www.mnpass.org/systemstudy.ht
mldsallman_at_camsys.com