Arterial Roadway Travel Time Reliability and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 preventive orders on arterial roadway travel time reliability (TTR). A comparative analysis was conducted to examine average travel time distributions (TTD), and their associated TTR metrics, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel time data for four urban arterial corridors in Nebraska, disaggregated by peak period and direction, were analyzed. It was found that in 2020, the average TTD mean and standard deviation values for all 16 scenarios were reduced by an average of 14.0% and 43.4%, respectively. The travel time index, the planning time index, the level of travel time reliability (LOTTR), and the buffer index metrics associated with these TTDs were reduced, on average, by 14.0%, 19.7%, 3.5%, and 35.0%, respectively. In other words, whether the test corridors were more reliable during the pandemic was a function of which TTR metric was used. The paper concludes by arguing for a fundamental change in how arterial TTR is measured and reported to different user groups.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party, including the INRIX travel time data. Direct request for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Omaha Office of HDR for making INRIX travel time data for Lincoln, NE and Omaha, NE readily available. This research was made possible through the funding of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Department of Transportation [DPS-STWD-118 and DPS-STWD-118(a)], as well as the Nebraska Transportation Center. This support is gratefully acknowledged. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the information presented herein and are not necessarily representative of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, the City of Lincoln, or the City of Omaha.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147 • Issue 7 • July 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 4, 2020
Accepted: Mar 26, 2021
Published online: May 13, 2021
Published in print: Jul 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Oct 13, 2021
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