Developing Simplified and Unified Planning-Level Metrics for Operational Benefits

Transportation agencies increasingly rely on Performance-Based Planning and Programming (PBPP) to make transparent, data-driven investment decisions and to evaluate and prioritize projects. In Virginia, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment have advanced PBPP through VTrans, Project Pipeline, and SMART SCALE, a recognized program for ranking investments across safety, congestion, accessibility, environmental quality, and economic development. In addition, VDOT’s Project Planning function establishes a long-term vision for the transportation system. Despite progress in Virginia’s planning framework, no rapid and transferable methodology exists to quantify operational benefits of roadway and ITS improvements. Current approaches, such as the Interstate Operations and Enhancement Program and SMART SCALE , provide valuable insights but lack standardized lightweight measures of operational benefit metrics. When VDOT needs to compare alternatives or screen early-stage concepts, analysts must rely on microsimulation, HCM procedures, or project-specific before–after studies. These methods are accurate but slow, data-intensive, and not scalable to dozens or hundreds of candidate projects. The absence of standardized, easy-to-apply operational metrics constrains Virginia’s ability to efficiently screen projects, communicate benefits, and ensure consistent decision-making within PBPP. This research will define Operational Modification Factors, a proportional before/after change derived from operational benefit metrics, and develop a reusable and transferable planning-level methodology that enables VDOT to estimate operational benefits rapidly using limited inputs (e.g., v/c ratio, facility type, AADT, geometry, improvement type).

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $249,410.00
• Contract Numbers:

  128730

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Managing Organizations:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903
• Project Managers:

  Zhao, Mo

• Performing Organizations:

  Old Dominion University

  Norfolk, VA  United States  23529
• Principal Investigators:

  Cetin, Mecit

  Xie, Kun

  Yang, H

  Tang, Qing

• Start Date: 20260301
• Expected Completion Date: 20280228
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Quantitative metrics; Transportation operations; Transportation planning
• Identifier Terms: Virginia Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01978538
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Virginia Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 128730
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 3 2026 10:42AM