I-15 express lanes study, phase II : recommendations.

Details

• Creators:
  Schultz, Grant G. ; Mineer, Samuel ; Hamblin, Cody A. ; Halliday, David B. ; Groberg, Christopher C. ; Burris, Mark W.
• Corporate Creators:
  Brigham Young University. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Express lanes
  • 55 mph speed limit
  • Vehicle occupancy
  • Motor vehicles
  • Traffic volume
  • High occupancy vehicle lanes
  • High occupancy toll lanes
  • Traffic violations
  • Variable tolls
  • Recommendations
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  UT- 15.03
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Utah
• Corporate Publisher:
  Utah. Dept. of Transportation
• Abstract:
  The primary objective of this research was to recommend actions that will improve average speeds in the ; Express Lanes (ELs) such that the lanes meet Utah‘s goal of 55 mph. To accomplish this objective it was important ; to investigate the current usage of both the ELs and the General Purpose (GP) lanes along the Wasatch Front. This ; involved an evaluation of EL and GP lanes by user type (e.g., single-occupant vehicle (SOV), high-occupancy ; vehicle (HOV) 2, HOV 3+, ―C‖ decal, Express Pass user, motorcycle, bus, freight vehicle, and emergency vehicle) ; to better understand the breakdown of vehicles in the lanes and to calculate average vehicle occupancy (AVO). A ; second objective was to examine violation data to determine ways to reduce violator rates. The third objective of the ; research was to recommend ways to control Express Pass traffic and to evaluate changes to toll rates and to estimate ; the impacts on speed of specific toll increases along the corridor. The final objective of the research was to analyze ; ―C‖ decals in the state to evaluate the impacts of increasing the number of ―C‖ decal permits issued statewide. ; The data collected were examined to better understand the speed-flow relationship on the ELs and to ; estimate the impact of volume changes on speeds in the lanes. All of this information allowed the researchers to ; estimate the impact on EL and GP lane volumes and speeds under a combination of EL education campaigns, ; increased EL enforcement, increased EL peak period toll rates, and the impact of increasing the ―C‖ decal cap. ; Depending on the scenario analyzed, it was determined that the speeds in the ELs could be expected to ; increase as a result of the recommendations. The extent of the increase is dependent upon the scenario chosen and ; the response of the traffic to the increases and was projected to range from -4.7 mph (for an increase in ―C‖ decal ; vehicles) to a maximum of 7.8 mph for a combination of education, enforcement, and increased tolls.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  15-8222
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29081/dot_29081_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.61 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:89fa62ffefc5fe8dc61098e2e309e80082a15e0aaf44a846259424aac5184a76