Evaluating Alternative Operations Strategies to Improve Travel Time ...

SHRP 2 L11: Final Report
Institutional Challenges
To effectively manage the transportation system with a focus on reliability and to achieve the
future concept of operations, transportation agencies will need to adopt an institutional structure
that is more multidisciplinary, exercise horizontal integration across all focus areas, and facilitate
effective interagency collaboration. The critical change will be to focus on systems operations,
rather than on the historical focus of roadway expansion. A true focus on maintenance and
preservation of the existing system is also essential to maintain mobility, since a deteriorating
system could make it exceedingly difficult to manage reliability. Because it is unlikely that enough
transportation revenue will be available in the next 20 years to replace and restore all aging
infrastructure, infrastructure monitoring will be crucial. Delays due to toppled luminaire poles,
traffic signal light outages, bridge expansion, joint deterioration, potholes, and more serious
structural failures could be major contributors to reduced system reliability in the future.
Infrastructure monitoring systems are likely to be a critical part of any attempt to assure
transportation system reliability. These monitoring systems can also be used for security-oriented
transportation infrastructure protection.
Systems Management
There are good reasons for systems management to be a business practice with supporting
performance measures and outreach materials that report on the benefits of the program. Since
many highway systems of the future are likely to be greatly dependent on pricing systems for
revenue, congestion management, and data collection, it will be crucial that the system is managed
with these aspects in mind to provide value to the traveler. A motorist who pays a premium to
arrive at a destination at a specified time (i.e., who pays for a trip of a certain travel time and
reliability) will be a very disgruntled customer if the system fails to deliver and the trip takes
longer than expected. Depending on the operating policy, the toll or fee for service may need to be
refunded. Operators of systems that consistently meet motorists’ expectations and deliver the
expected value can be rewarded. Agencies may wish to consider ways to measure customer
satisfaction and reward efficient system management (possibly with more resources to further
improve operations) and penalize inefficient system management (by sending non-performers to
lower status jobs as is done in the case of non-performing sports team managers.)
Reliability will become even more crucial to freight movers. As a result, freight mobility deserves
at least as much consideration as personal mobility. Agency planning procedures will need to look
at a wider of range options, such as truck-only lanes, micro-cars, or other vehicles powered by
alternative propulsion systems.
The “Mobility” Agency
This focus on system operations means that many agencies in the future will not only be concerned
with managing the infrastructure that moves vehicles or people from A to B but also focus on the
movement of information from A to B. Providing the information needed by commuters to make
informed decisions on telecommuting based on real-time traffic and infrastructure conditions is an
example of this change in emphasis. The “mobility agency” is envisioned to support mobility of
people, things, and ideas. For some modes, it would be an infrastructure owner-operator, for others
it would be a service provider or a provider of information only. In the new world of customer
orientation, this agency is expected to be even handed in providing service and advice. Thus, it
would never be an information carrier, like a cell phone company, but it might tell people that
telecommunications is an option. It would not be a central controller of land use, but it may inform
A CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS Page 114