Congestion Management Systems
The definition of congestion is relative - it actually represents the difference between the roadway system performance that users expect and how the system actually performs. People in the Mahoning Valley expect to travel at the "posted speed" during non-peak hours. To provide this level of service planners must examine everything that can be done to improve traffic flow, within fiscal constraint. Generally recognized strategies include: encouraging use of higher capacity per vehicle (i.e. rideshare and transit), incident management, advanced traffic signal control, managed lanes, managing specific vehicle types (i.e. truck routes), business access control, and real-time traveler information services, along with the more traditional approach of adding lanes and/or changing physical geometry.
2005 legislation re-emphasizes the need to test "better management" of existing transportation networks before proposing any physical improvements; sort of a 'no-build plus' alternative. This 'no-build plus' strategy attempts to squeeze a little more capacity out of the existing road system. A recent Wilber Smith and Associates "best practices" study concluded:
- better incident management (for example quick clear of accidents, spills and stalled vehicles) can reduce traffic delay by 50-60%
- providing pre-trip routing and advisories to travelers can reduce delay by 21%
- demand responsive transit can reduce wait time by up to 50%
- real-time traffic monitoring and condition reporting can reduce incident duration up to 66%
- traffic control coordination can reduce travel time up to 25% and stopped delay up to 44%
New technology is an important tool in making these alternative-to-construction strategies work. The use of technology to move traffic is referred to as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and is explained in more detail under the ITS heading on this web site. The other important technique for squeezing more out of the existing transportation system is policy formulation. This often involves integrating agency functions to more effectively coordinate priorities and clarify the chain of command. For example the policy to install red light running cameras can improve traffic flow. Together these two traffic management techniques (ITS and Policy) can contribute 10% of the overall congestion improvement and can defer construction to later years.
The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments is committed to promoting "best practices" in Congestion Management and began a Congestion Management Program in 1996. The first product, a CMS Manual of Practice adapts State and Federal practices to the Warren-Youngstown regional conditions. The November 1997 CMS report established a level of service benchmark for every arterial roadway in Mahoning and Trumbull County, and highlighted the poorly performing links. Beginning in 1998 Eastgate began studying each of the identified corridors of "congestion". Four studies have now been completed and the fifth (US224 between I 680 and SR11) is in the works.
| Corridor Studies available on request | completed |
| SR 45 in the vicinity of Kent State University - Trumbull Branch | May 1999 |
| Meridian/Salt Springs Road - Burkey Road - Ohltown Girard/ W.Liberty St. | June 2000 |
| Western Reserve Road - SR 46 to I-680 | June 2001 |
| US 422 corridor between Girard City Limits and Niles-Vienna Rd. | June 2003 |
State and Federal practices have been established to evaluate the performance of the transportation network that require calculating how efficiently traffic flows through intersections and the segments of roadway between intersections. These practices are referred to as establishing a level of service (LOS) for roadways and intersections. Calculating LOS under existing conditions gives the planner a "baseline" from which to gauge any proposed improvement.
In 2005, an update to the Congestion Management System Report was published that highlighted the dangerous corridors of Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. A lot of attention was given to the problems of 'local roads' while ODOT was recognized for the aggressive plans set for improving State Routes in the two county area.
If you are interested in learning more about Congestion Management Systems, contact Bill at bbarlow@eastgatecog.org
Pavement Management Systems
ODOT's Office of Pavement Management has committed to surveying all 13,000 miles of local roads in Ohio's federal-aid network and issuing a pavement condition rating (PCR) for each segment every two years. The expectation was for the local governments to use the PCR's to prioritize their limited roadway maintenance dollars, like the ODOT does with their own PCRs. The pavement management system in Ohio is almost 15 years old and has become a living institution for programmatic funding.
The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments saw the benefit in extending this system to local jurisdictions back in 1990. Therefore EASTGATE developed a simple method of visually inspecting the pavement that produced a uniform description of the roadway surface condition. The resultant pavement condition ratings (PCR) are a mathematical expression reflecting the composite effects of varying types, severity, and extent of distress under the expected traffic conditions. The goal is to institutionalize the pavement rating process, so that the rating could be used as a quantifiable measure for comparing projects on a local basis. PMS is not intended to be a regulatory requirement. Instead, it is an information system that is to be used as a guide in the transportation planning and programming decision making process.
During the 90's EASTGATE prepared a manual, conducted training and prepared final reports for 13 communities that opted to initiate pavement management systems. In FY2004 EASTGATE evaluated the effectiveness of the training and pavement management system. Based on the results of the analysis, EASTGATE determined that mass training was necessary to advance the PMS institutionalization. The Ohio Local Technical Assistance Program collaborated with The Office of Pavement Management to produce a series of PCR training courses specifically for the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. More than 100 individuals have benefited from this collaboration.
