Developing a Regional Signal Performance Measurement Methodology in the 2021 Urban Mobility Report

The Urban Mobility Report (UMR) has been providing information on urban congestion levels in the U.S. for more than three decades. The UMR uses private-sector crowdsourced speed data combined with traditional public-agency roadway inventory data to measure mobility conditions. The current UMR statistics describe overall congestion levels, but do not discriminate between causes of congestion. With the advent of improvements in the third-party provider data stream, it is now possible to quantify aspects of the mobility contribution provided by enhanced traffic signal systems. This project will use detailed crowdsourced travel time data collected by a private-sector vendor (INRIX) to report on the performance of traffic signal systems. Researchers will review and rank signal operations for urban areas by evaluating signal operations metrics obtained from crowdsourced data, such as arrivals on green and split failures. These metrics will enhance the evaluations that can be obtained from traditional metrics such as arterial street delay. Urban areas will be categorized using factors such as congestion levels, population and population density to ensure that any comparisons include contextual elements that are key to decision-maker understanding and messaging strategies. These traffic signal metrics will provide an approach to measure signal system contributions. For example, improved efficiencies on the streets will result in less delay and/or higher traffic throughput while the signal systems are improving performance. The 2021 Urban Mobility Report website will include an analysis of urban area signal performance. In subsequent years, the methods will be honed with feedback following the release of the information on the 2021 UMR website. NICR will be shown as a 2021 Urban Mobility Report sponsor on the UMR website.

• Record URL:
  https://nicr.usf.edu/2021/05/18/1-7developing-a-regional-signal/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $100540
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551947136

  79075-00-B

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Institute for Congestion Reduction

  University of South Florida
  Tampa, FL  United States  33620
• Managing Organizations:

  National Institute for Congestion Reduction

  University of South Florida
  Tampa, FL  United States  33620
• Project Managers:

  Li, Xiaopeng

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI)

  400 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South
  Suite 300
  College Station, TX  United States  77845-4375
• Principal Investigators:

  Schrank, David

  Lomax, Tim

• Start Date: 20211001
• Expected Completion Date: 20220331
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crowdsourcing; Performance measurement; Traffic congestion; Traffic signals; Travel time; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: Urban Mobility Report
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01784708
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Institute for Congestion Reduction
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551947136, 79075-00-B
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 14 2021 12:36PM