A Program Overview Status of Planning for Operations

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A Program Overview Status of Planning for
Operations the Urban Partnership Initiatives

• Virginia ITS Conference
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• April 29, 2008

Emiliano Lopez P.E. FHWA Office of
Transportation Management Washington, DC
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Agenda

• What Is Planning for Operations?
• Where We are Headed.
• Advancing the Program.
• Urban Partnership Agreements Scope and Current
  Status.

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What is Planning for Operations?

• Planning for Operations is
• Coordination between planning and operations
• Coordination between planners and managers for
  day-to-day operations

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Planning for Operations Program Goals

• To enhance and strengthen both the planning and
  the operations functions to support regional
  operations in the 21st Century.
• To enhance the regional decision-making process
  so that operations investments are on par with
  investments in construction and system
  preservation.

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Motivation for the Program

• SAFETEA-LU Requirements
• CMP The transportation planning process shall
  address congestion management through a process
  that provides for effective management and
  operation
• Mgmt and Ops LRTPs shall contain Operational
  and management strategies to improve the
  performance of existing transportation
  facilities
• Secretarys Congestion Initiative
• Transportation is key to the productivity, and
  therefore the success, of virtually every
  business in America. Congestion and delay not
  only waste our time as individuals, they also
  burden our businesses and our entire economy with
  inefficiency and higher costs.
• - Secretary Norman Mineta, 2001

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Management and Operations (MO) Includes

• Work Zone Traffic Management
• Roadway Weather Information
• Electronic Payment (for transit, parking,
  tolling)
• Freight Management (ports and transfer areas)
• Coordination of highway, rail, transit, bicycle,
  and pedestrian operations

• Traffic Incident Management
• Travel Information Services (for roadways and for
  transit)
• Freeway Management
• Automatic Vehicle Location for Transit
• Traffic Signal Coordination

Underpinned by regional operations collaboration
and coordination
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Related Strategic Program Areas

• Congestion Management Process (CMP)
• Emergency Response and Homeland Security
• Planning for Special Events
• Regional ITS Architecture
• Data Management
• Performance Measures

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Key Issues and Challenges to Better Planning for
Operations

• Culture of Operators Planners
• Short vs Long Term Perspectives
• Organizational and Institutional Settings
• Awareness and Understanding of Issues
• Different Analysis Methods and Tools
• Funding Resource Opportunities

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Who Is Involved

• Transportation community
• State DOT Local jurisdictions (PW)
• Transit agencies Port/toll authorities
• Public safety community
• Police Fire EMS
• Freight/Shippers
• MPOs
• Business community
• Tourism Chamber of Commerce

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Where Are We Headed?A Cultural Shift
Coordination Among Day-to-Day Operations Managers
Coordination Among Decisionmakers
Linkages
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Why Coordinate Planning and Operations?

• Motivation for integrating MO in the MTP
• Rapidly increasing congestion
• Constraints on transportation capacity expansion
• Growing connectivity, interdependency and
  operational impacts across modes
• Need to develop a mix of capital projects and
  operational solutions in the plan to address
  congestion and public safety
• Address problems now make a difference in short
  term
• What gets measured gets managed

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How Do We Get There? New Thinking is Needed

• Objectives-driven, performance-based
• Linking planning and operations
• Incorporating operational strategies into plan
• Incorporation of CMP into planning process
• Deliberate and sustained Regional Transportation
  Operations Collaboration and Coordination

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Framework for New Thinking
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Objectives to Actualize the Goals

• Objectives are specific, measurable statements
  relating to attainment of goals
• An objective should be SMART
• Specific Sufficient to guide formulation of
  alternatives
• Measurable Quantitative measures
• Agreed Consensus on common objective(s)
• Realistic Within limitations of resources
• Time-bound Identified timeframe

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Objectives - Examples

• By 2020, reduce the variability in travel time on
  freeways and major arteries in the region such
  that 95 of trips (19 out of 20) have travel
  times no more than 1.5 times the average travel
  time for a specific time of day.
• By 2010, reduce the clearance time of traffic
  incidents on freeways and major arteries in the
  region from a current average of X minutes to an
  average of Y minutes.

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CMP and MO Interim Guidebooks

• Presents Best Practices for New Thinking in
  Planning for Operations
• Will Be Available Early May
• May Posted on Office of Operations Website
  http//www.plan4operations.dot.gov/
• May to October Comment Period to Seek Input
  Finalize Documents
• Fall 2008 Guidebooks Will be Finalized

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Interim Guidebooks OutreachNext Steps Scheduled

• June Web Seminars to DOTs, MPOs and Transit
  Operators
• July August Six Informational Workshops
  Across the US Explaining the Guidebooks Seeking
  Input
• Special Focus Technical Assistance to TMAs on
  Improving Quality of Their CMPs

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Locations of the WorkshopsJuly to September 2008

• Greater Boston Area
• Philadelphia
• Atlanta
• Chicago
• Denver
• Seattle

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Update on the Urban Partnership Agreements

• The Current Status of Activities

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Urban Partners
Seattle
Minneapolis -St. Paul
New York City
San Francisco
Note NYC was unable to secure tolling
authority and is no longer an Urban Partner.
Miami
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Congestion Pricing - The Options
Convert Currently Free General Purpose Lanes/
Facilities to Variably or Dynamically Priced
Build New Lanes/ Facilities to be Variably or
Dynamically Priced
HOV to HOT Conversion (Use Excess Capacity)
Cordon or Area Pricing
Minneapolis St. Paul
Miami
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Minneapolis St. Paul Urban Partner

• Create 15 miles of continuously priced lanes on
  I-35W between downtown Minneapolis and the
  southern suburbs
• Existing HOV lanes converted to
  dynamically-priced HOT lanes
• Existing HOT lanes extended
• Convert narrow bus-only shoulder lanes to wider
  Priced Dynamic Shoulder Lanes

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Miami Urban Partner

• Create 21 miles of HOT lanes on I-95 from Fort
  Lauderdale to downtown Miami
• Raise HOV limit from HOV2 to HOV3
• Expand 10-lane highway to 12 lanes (by reducing
  the width of the existing lanes from 12 to 11
  feet and using a portion of the shoulder)

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Congestion Pricing - The Options
Convert Currently Free General Purpose Lanes/
Facilities to Variably or Dynamically Priced
Build New Lanes/ Facilities to be Variably or
Dynamically Priced
HOV to HOT Conversion (Use Excess Capacity)
Cordon or Area Pricing
Minneapolis St. Paul
Miami
Seattle
San Francisco
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Seattle Urban Partner

• Variable pricing on the State Route 520 floating
  bridge.
• King County crossing that currently carries about
  160,000 people per day between Seattle and its
  Eastside suburbs.
• Tolls on the existing bridge are intended to help
  pay for the new bridge.

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San Francisco Urban Partner

• Variable pricing on Doyle Drive, the 1.5 mile
  elevated roadway leading to the Golden Gate
  Bridge
• Will charge an extra one-way-fee above the 5
  toll on the Golden Gate Bridge
• Revenues will help pay to
  reconstruct the 70-year old
  Doyle Drive

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Congestion Pricing - The Progress
Convert Currently Free General Purpose Lanes/
Facilities to Variably or Dynamically Priced
Build New Lanes/ Facilities to be Variably or
Dynamically Priced
HOV to HOT Conversion (Use Excess Capacity)
Cordon or Area Pricing
Minneapolis St. Paul
Seattle
Miami
San Francisco
New York City
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New York City Urban Partner

• Cordon/area pricing
• Will charge drivers 8 and trucks 21 a day to
  enter or leave Manhattan below 86th Street on
  weekdays during the workday
• Those who drive only within the congestion zone
  would pay 4 a day for cars, 5.50 for trucks

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New York City Proposal

• Status
• Commission Plan approved by City Council
• State Legislature did not have votes for passage
• Observations
• Started significant National dialogue
• USA not ready for aggressive congestion pricing
  such as cordon pricing
• Points to importance of HOT projects as a way of
  increasing the publics comfort level
• Funds will be re-allocated

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Congestion-Reduction Demonstration (CRD) Program

• Los Angeles (announced April 25th)
• 213.6 million
• HOV-to-HOT Conversion on I-10 I-210
• Chicago (anticipated to be announced April 29th)
• On-Street Parking Pricing using a Public-Private
  Partnership
• Off-Street Parking Pricing at Employer Sites
• Transit Improvements in the Downtown area

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For More Information onUPAs and CRDs

• Visit
• www.fightgridlocknow.gov
• www.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion/index.htm
• www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/