Details:

Creators:
Novak, David ; Sullivan, Jim ; Aultman-Hall, Lisa, 1968-
Novak, David ; Sullivan, Jim ; Aultman-Hall, Lisa, 1968- Less -
Corporate Creators:
Transportation Research Center
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Highways Networks Roads
Publication/ Report Number:
UVM TRC Report # 10-019
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
Vermont
Corporate Publisher:
University of Vermont. Transportation Research Center
Abstract:
In this research project, transportation flexibility and reliability concepts are extended and applied

to a new method for identifying the most critical links in a road network. Current transportation

management practices typically utilize localized level-of-service (LOS) measures such as the volumeto-

capacity ratio (V/C) (Bremmer et al. 2004, Dheenadayalu et al. 2004). The solution to congestion

planning problems is often to simply add more capacity along existing highway segments. This is a

purely localized solution. The localized V/C approach does not necessarily allow planners to identify

the most critical highway segments or corridors in terms of maximizing system-wide travel-time

benefits, or to assess the robustness of a network. For system-wide objectives, there is a need for

coincident consideration of the spatial distribution of traffic demand, the network topology and the

network capacity.

While implementing localized solutions may result in localized benefits, these solutions may have

limited, negligible or even adverse system-wide effects. Recent studies of induced travel in North

America offer strong evidence that this is indeed the case (see Scott 2002). An equal level of

investment in another location or locations may provide greater benefits to the overall network. We

argue that the localized V/C-based planning approach is inadequate and propose a comprehensive

system-wide approach to identifying critical infrastructure and evaluating network performance –

the Network Robustness Index (NRI) first introduced in Scott et al. (2006) and refined in Sullivan et

al. (2010). At the same time, the management approach must complement existing local planning

efforts. With the increased focus on ensuring that transportation infrastructure is robust from both a

security standpoint as well as for evacuation needs, reliance on localized congestion measures to

direct policy is clearly outdated.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:8361b9a22892fe5b5480dee321764f215a08c8924f01525986eb2706e0da2c31
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/20583/dot_20583_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

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