Details:

Corporate Creators:
United States. Federal Highway Administration. Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory
Contributors:
Bared, Joe G. ; VanGorder, Randall
Bared, Joe G. ; VanGorder, Randall Less -
Corporate Contributors:
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Bottlenecks Traffic Congestion Traffic Flow Travel Demand
Publication/ Report Number:
FHWA-HRT-13-082
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
United States
Corporate Publisher:
United States. Federal Highway Administration. Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory
Abstract:
Often entire regions are overwhelmed by increasing traffic demand and limited ability to implement expensive systemic improvements to mitigate congestion. In 2010 alone, the estimated cost of congestion was $101 billion.1

In recent years, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has led research efforts and produced publications related to congestion identification, diagnosis, and mitigation. Through these efforts, FHWA has found that a large percentage of traffic congestion results from recurring causes, including bottlenecks. Due to rising costs related to congestion, it is important to diagnose and identify cost-effective bottleneck solutions; however, the current body of knowledge surrounding traffic congestion is dated and in need of updating and revision. Some recurring congestion occurs at specific locations on the highway system, where periodic volume surges coupled with roadway geometrics overwhelm the physical capacity of roadway segments, creating traffic bottlenecks. Transportation agencies have observed that traffic bottlenecks can be alleviated using low-cost and cost-effective solutions, resulting in a better benefit-cost ratio than more expensive infrastructure investments. Therefore, research and analysis efforts toward developing and evaluating low-cost and cost-effective traffic bottleneck solutions are promising.

The existing research does not clearly separate causes of recurring congestion into categories needed to identify causalities. This project aims to provide guidance on the characteristics of congestion and bottlenecks that occur on a facility level; to investigate existing innovative and cost-effective solutions to bottlenecks; and to disseminate information to researchers and practitioners for practical use in combating traffic congestion and bottlenecks.


Content Notes:
Distribution number: HRDO-60/07-13(200)E
Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
Federal Highway Administration
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:dc92105e49360e420ca313d28baf8bcbd2bf15ac47c6dfed15680c8a8e7a2a63
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/38209/dot_38209_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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