Understanding Travel Behavior Impacts of Transportation Systems Management and Operations Strategies

Transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) strategies (e.g., 511, work zone speed management, smart work zones, ramp metering, managed lanes, real-time travel information, etc.) are playing an increasing role in supporting transportation agencies’ strategic goals of improved equity, mobility, reliability, safety, and sustainability. Many evaluations of the effectiveness of TSMO deployments have been performed over the last few decades, but most have focused on the system performance outcomes, namely the impacts on performance metrics such as travel speed, travel time, delay reduction, and crash rates. The impacts of TSMO strategies on traveler behavior, such as mode choice, departure time, and route choice, are not well known. In addition, the impact of traveler behavior (due to TSMO deployments) on the overall transportation network performance is not well established. By better understanding how deployed TSMO strategies affect both the tactical and strategic behavior of travelers, more effective combinations of TSMO approaches can be designed to help agencies meet their goals. Research is needed to evaluate the impacts of TSMO deployment on traveler behavior and corresponding network performance using data from active TSMO deployments. There are typically five stages in an immediate trip chain where travelers make choices. These include destination choice, time of day choice, mode choice, route choice, and lane/facility choice. When comprehensively applied, TSMO strategies can influence many stages of the trip chain and thus influence both the supply and demand sides of transportation management. Different TSMO strategies can influence different parts of the trip chain, and the focus is more on the influence of TSMO in making short-term, real-time changes to traveler behavior based on prevailing conditions than on long-term, habitual, and static changes to traveler behavior. Understanding how deployed TSMO strategies affect the dynamic decisions travelers make and how network performance changes because of these choices is key. The objective of this research is to develop a guide to help public agencies evaluate how various TSMO strategies affect traveler behaviors (pretrip, en route, or holistically) and how these behavior changes affect transportation system performance.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5494
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 08-175

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Deng, Zuxuan

• Start Date: 20240528
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Handbooks; Network analysis (Planning); Transportation departments; Transportation operations; Transportation system management; Travel behavior
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01898268
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 08-175
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 6 2023 4:29PM