This project proposes to provide analytical assistance and data to various WSDOT offices to support their freeway performance monitoring and evaluation activities for FY 09.

Tasks performed include the following (A1, A2, etc. refer to the task list described in the project work plan):

Annual FLOW GP and HOV performance reporting (A1, A2):
Compute travel times of several GP trips for the 2008 Gray Notebook that were not completed in the first half of the year. This task was performed and completed in July. This work supports GP performance data requests from HQ, NW Region, UPO, and Strategic Assessment Office.

Complete annual 2007 HOV analyses of all vehicle occupancy and person throughput data, and generate HOV performance measures. This work supports HOV performance data requests from HQ, NW Region, UPO, and Strategic Assessment Office.

Gray Notebook support (congestion analyses) (A3):
Developed several new products to support new sections of the 2008 Gray Notebook (Requested by HQ Traffic and Strategic Assessment Office):

• Perform updated GP travel time analyses for selected trip routes using the first six months of 2007 and 2008 loop data, as part of an analysis of recent gas price trends, congestion relief strategies, and travel demand, congestion and travel times. Produce a white paper of recent travel trends, for use in the GNB and as part of a WSDOT folio of recent trends. This task was performed and completed in July.

• Develop 2005 and 2007 HOV travel time data for trips that parallel each of the Gray Notebook GP travel time routes. This required design and analysis of new mixed HOV-GP trips that match each of the existing “famous commute� GP routes, based on expected HOV route selection. The goal was to be able to compare an HOV traveler’s travel time to that of an SOV for the same route, and thus quantify the nature of the travel time difference when using the HOV lanes. This analysis was described in a new section of the Gray Notebook.

Perform an analysis of the effect on travel times when using or not using data collected during the I-5 repaving project (August 2007), for use in the Gray Notebook.

Prepare data and analyses for the HOV performance discussion section of the Gray Notebook.

Prepare 2005 and 2007 volume and speed data for the productivity impacts section of the Gray Notebook. This includes data quality reviews.

Review draft analyses that were prepared by WSDOT for various sections of the Gray Notebook.

HOV/ Urban Planning Office support (A5) :
Respond to requests for HOV throughput and occupancy data. Requested by Urban Planning Office.

Other WSDOT requests (A6) :
Participate in discussions with HQ Traffic staff on potential new measures of effectiveness associated with “worst� traffic days, and roll-up summary values. Requested by WSDOT (HQ, SAO, NWR).

Methodology and software enhancements and maintenance (B1):
As requested by NW Region, develop interim enhancements to the TRACFLOW analytical software (Auto/Analyst) to accommodate the new NW Region cabinet naming system that was implemented beginning in mid-2008. This interim update, developed in August 2008, allows NW Region to continue using the software to perform analyses, until the full software update (that fully recognizes both old and new naming conventions) is completed in 2009.

Methodology and software enhancements and maintenance (B2):
Implement new software methods and tools to better handle data quality issues at all types of cabinet locations, and to formalize and speed up the process. Document procedures for performing updated data quality analyses.

Discussions are now in progress to develop priorities for activities to be performed during the balance of the biennium, in light of limited funds. (See Problems section below.)

Perform the most critical (high priority) tasks. Potential tasks that fit this category include 2008 GP travel times for the 2009 Gray Notebook, travel time output modifications to support supplementary congestion threshold analyses, and completion of the updates to the TRACFLOW analytical software (Auto/Analyst) to accommodate the new NW Region cabinet naming system that was implemented beginning in mid-2008.

With concurrence by WSDOT HQ, other tasks will either be deferred to the next biennium, or performed in partnership with WSDOT HQ Traffic staff. They include six-month analyses (e.g., second half of 2008 vs. 2007), 2008 vs. 2006 HOV travel times, 2008 vs. 2006 productivity data for the Gray Notebook, 2008 HOV performance evaluation and survey analyses, and congestion threshold and day of week sensitivity analyses.

Provide additional analytical, software and data support as requested (subject to funding and staff)

Continue to provide coordination, management assistance, and technical support for border system and trucking projects.

Because of additional tasks assigned to us to support new sections of the Gray Notebook (six-month 2008 analyses, HOV travel time analyses), and a budget reduction, the budget is projected to be exhausted prior to the end of the biennium if we perform the tasks we were tentatively tasked to perform during the first half of 2009. We are working with WSDOT HQ Traffic to prioritize those tasks, so that the most critical tasks can be completed first. Some tasks that would normally be performed during the first six months of 2009 might need to be deferred to the next biennium.None at this time.

None at this time.