Based on monitoring and performance outcomes, CMP staff recommends the funding of certain studies in the UPWP to analyze existing conditions and needs in detail and recommend improvement strategies for implementation. Subsequently, recommendations are considered for funding during development of the MPO’s LRTP, TIP, and Clean Air and Mobility Program. For the Boston metropolitan region, appropriate congestion management strategies fall into seven categories.
The following section lists, for each category above, potential specific congestion management strategies that may be in the interest of this region to implement. Each strategy is accompanied by a description of the strategy and a discussion of its advantages, disadvantages, and current status, and the performance measures that should be used for evaluating a strategy’s effectiveness after the strategy has been implemented.
Programs for encouraging modes of transportation other than single-occupant-vehicle travel, such as ridesharing, transit, bicycling, and walking. These programs usually involve public outreach efforts focused on encouraging a single mode. Methods include providing information to the public (for example, maps and schedules to encourage transit use, and “rules of the road” brochures to encourage legal bicycle use) and, in the case of ridesharing, matching people who have similar commuting patterns so that they can travel together.
These programs can be effective in reducing single-occupant-vehicle travel. Increasing the number of people who bicycle and walk also has benefits for public health due to the associated increase in daily exercise.
Some programs, if not effectively planned or managed, may not achieve their goals and may not have a significant impact on commuting patterns.
There are currently several TDM programs in the Boston Region MPO area.
Mode shares (percent of commuters walking, bicycling, using transit, or ridesharing)
Alterations of employees’ work hours and/or locations so that an employee does not have to commute during peak periods. These strategies would move some peak-period work trips into the off-peak period. Telecommuting eliminates some work trips altogether. Remote work centers can shorten a worker’s commute by having the worker commute to the work center closer to home rather than to an office that is farther from home.
These programs would eliminate demand on the roadways and therefore have an impact on peak-period congestion.
There no cons with these strategies. In this MPO region, they are important for employers to implement with the assistance of MassRIDES.
The Transportation Management Associations work together to implement and promote these strategies.
The metrics used are the percent of commuters who enroll in programs that implement flextime, telecommuting, and staggered work hours and that have access to remote workstations.
Improvements to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure can help to encourage a higher proportion of people to walk or bike for their transportation needs, thus reducing automobile congestion.
Improvements to pedestrian infrastructure may include:
Improvements to bicycle infrastructure may include
Improvements in the quality of life.
There are no cons for “complete streets,” although many may feel differently due to fiscal reasons. “Complete streets” concepts deal with roadway design improvements for all users in roadway design and should be implemented where feasible.
The Boston region has a complex and varied network of pedestrian and bicycle facilities. An assessment of current facilities and needs for improvement is available in the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, Paths to a Sustainable Region.3 A “complete streets” approach (www.completestreets.org), already being implemented in parts of the Boston region, is designed to provide safe access to all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders.4
Mode shares (percent of commuters walking or bicycling to work), number and rate of crashes that involve pedestrians or bicyclists.
Surveillance, response, and clearance of traffic incidents, including developing and managing plans for the diversion of traffic from roads affected by the incident.
Having a well-defined and well-managed multidisciplinary incident management program to respond to incidents can alleviate congestion and prevent secondary crashes or incidents.
Funding must be secured.
Massachusetts State Police, MassDOT, all MPO transportation agencies, and municipal police and fire departments participate in existing programs.
Detection time, response time, clearance time, hours of congestion, and person-hours of delay related to incidents.
Improved, faster response to road problems caused by weather (for example, snowfall) and to road surface problems such as potholes.
Makes roads safer (for example, by reducing crashes) and reduces congestion related to road problems.
Funding must be secured.
MassDOT, police and fire departments, and utility services have response programs.
Pavement conditions, case-by-case reporting.
Intelligent transportation systems that monitor traffic remotely and respond to traffic patterns, events, and incidents by adjusting factors such as utilizing signal-timing and variable-message signs.
A technological solution with high potential for reducing congestion by adjusting traffic flows.
Regionwide traffic monitoring requires cooperation among multiple jurisdictions, which can be a challenge.
Several traffic monitoring and management systems are in place in the Boston region, and interagency communication is in need of improvement.
Travel speed, speed index, delay, traffic volume, volume-to-capacity ratio, level of service, hours of congestion, and number of incident-related crashes.
This strategy involves integrating the payment methods for transit fares, parking fees at park-and-ride lots, and roadway tolls into a single system, so that users of the transportation system could pay all of these fees with a single electronic card or other device, similar to the CharlieCard system currently in operation for MBTA rapid transit and bus service.
Facilitates travel, especially intermodal travel (for example, car-to-train commuting) by making payment faster and easier.
Would require the implementation of a regionwide payment system; much cooperation among agencies would be required, and the cost would be substantial.
Not yet implemented.
The metric used is the mode share (for transit), park-and-ride lot utilization, toll revenues.
Through various avenues, real-time travel information would be provided to travelers using all modes; outreach would be conducted to ensure that the information reaches as many people as possible. Avenues may include variable message signs, audible announcements, mobile phone apps, and Internet applications.
Has the potential to make travel more efficient for many people by assisting with travel planning, including planning alternative routes; likely to reduce congestion.
If the effort to provide real-time information is concentrated in high-tech avenues such as smartphone apps, lower-income and less technologically inclined populations may not benefit.
Real-time information is already available—for example, MassDOT’s 511 system and variable message signs are operated on major roadways.
Hours of congestion, travel speed, and person-hours of delay before and after the implementation of a regionwide comprehensive traveler information system.
Modify traffic signal timing so that traffic flows as smoothly as possible. Typically applied on a corridor basis (along an arterial).
Reduces delay at traffic signals. May reduce the number of crashes.
May increase delay at cross streets due to longer green lights on the main corridor. May increase delay for pedestrians trying to cross the main corridor.
There are proposals to study signal timing at several locations throughout the region on a corridor basis.
Level of service, intersection delay, crash rate.
A strategy for increasing capacity on a roadway in one direction by borrowing underutilized capacity from travel lanes that normally go in the opposite direction. Typically, a lane that is normally outbound is rededicated to inbound traffic during the AM peak period; a lane that is normally inbound is rededicated to outbound traffic in the PM peak period. This may be accomplished by traffic signals (a large red X indicates that a lane is closed to approaching traffic, while a green arrow indicates the lane is open) or by movable median barriers.
May reduce congestion and improve travel times. Requires less space than adding two permanent lanes.
Reversible commuter lanes without median barriers may present a safety hazard in some cases (for example, if motorists do not notice the traffic signals).
A reversible HOV lane, separated by a movable median barrier, is in operation on I-93 south of downtown Boston.
Travel speed, speed index, delay, traffic volume, volume-to-capacity ratio, hours of congestion.
A set of techniques to control access to roadways. May include access spacing (increasing the distance between access points, including driveways on non-limited-access roads), separated turning lanes, and median treatments.
Reduces congestion and travel times. Improves safety. These strategies often relieve a bottleneck without the need of roadway expansion.
Relatively expensive. On commercial arterials, removal of access driveways may be met with opposition by business owners.
Currently being implemented by MassDOT and communities as part of project implementation.
Travel speed, speed index, delay, traffic volume, volume-to-capacity ratio, hours of congestion, level of service.
Lanes restricted to vehicles occupied by two or more persons and motorcyclists.
May improve road capacity by reducing the total number of vehicles on the road. Benefits ridesharing commuters by allowing them to bypass congested single-occupant-vehicle traffic.
Generally expensive. Requires concerted enforcement efforts to discourage violations. Will require either extra space for new lanes or the conversion of existing lanes to HOV lanes.
Currently, the only HOV lanes in the region are on I-93 and I-90. However, there is a possibility of adding new HOV lanes in the future.
Travel speed, speed index, delay, traffic volume, volume-to-capacity ratio, hours of congestion, vehicle occupancy (number of persons per vehicle).
Modifications to roads and intersections, such as restriping of paint lines, modification of signage, improvement of sight lines, and traffic-calming measures.
Reduces crashes, can reduce congestion, and can make roads and intersections friendlier to all users.
Impacts on congestion can vary.
Many current TIP projects involve geometric improvements to roads and intersections.
Level of service, intersection delay, crash rate.
This strategy can shift capacity to a different time of day, which would reduce the frequency of service during off-peak times and provide more frequent service during the peak when passenger loads are higher.
Minimal cost, and can fix passenger load problems for many transit lines.
Not generally effective on transit lines where the passenger loads are excessive throughout the day. This could cause the quality of service to drop during off-peak hours.
The MBTA is constantly adjusting the schedules of all of its transit lines.
Passenger load factor.
Increase the frequency with which transit vehicles run and the span (the number of hours throughout each day) that transit service operates.
Reduces wait time for transit, making it a more attractive option for people who would otherwise drive; therefore reduces traffic congestion. Also alleviates crowding on transit vehicles.
Requires additional funding, if new equipment is required.
Current focus is on maintenance and modernization.
Change in transit route frequency; change in transit route span; change in transit ridership, passenger load factor.
A system in which transit vehicles on a shared roadway (buses and sometimes light rail trolleys, such as the Green Line) have the ability to send electronic requests to a traffic management system that can extend the green phase of a signal cycle, or make a traffic signal turn green sooner than it otherwise would, as the transit vehicle approaches.
Has the potential to improve transit vehicle efficiency and travel speeds.
May cause traffic congestion on cross streets along a transit corridor— something to watch for and avoid implementing strategy in those cases.
Transit signal prioritization is used for Silver Line buses on the SL1 and SL2 routes and is also considered for other roads where MBTA buses operate.
On-time performance of transit vehicles, the number of crashes involving transit vehicles.
Provides service similar to bus service, but with a variety of modifications to traditional bus transit that improve speed and efficiency, approaching the service quality of rail transit. Methods include signal prioritization, expedited fare collection, stop consolidation, and separate busways that eliminate competition from other traffic modes.
Increases the efficiency of bus transit. Marketing efforts may make BRT attractive to populations who would otherwise only want to use rail transit, not bus transit.
May sometimes require additional right-of-way for infrastructure. There may be challenges in establishing coordination between municipalities for the implementation of features such as signal prioritization.
The MBTA’s Silver Line routes (SL1, SL2, SL4, and SL5) are considered a form of BRT.
On-time performance of transit vehicles, seating capacity.
Facilitates travel by making transit use easier and more efficient for users. Examples: Many rapid transit systems provide transit arrival times on variable message screens at platforms or via applications for mobile devices. A pilot program in San Francisco has extended this technology to predict bus arrivals at certain bus stops (variable message signs are powered by solar power).
Encourages more people to use transit; makes it more convenient; may reduce roadway congestion.
Accuracy is important; therefore, systems that predict transit arrival inaccurately may reduce the credibility of the transit provider and lead the public to consider the system a waste of resources.
On the bus system, Silver Line 4 and 5 buses have real-time variable-message signs. There are also variable-message signs for buses at Ruggles, Back Bay, and Bellingham Square in Chelsea, and there are plans to install them at the Dudley and Forest Hills stations. For heavy rail, variable-message signs were recently installed at South Station, and there are plans to install variable-message signs on the rest of the heavy rail system by the end of 2012. The MBTA has partnered with Next Bus to provide AVL data available for smartphones.
Transit mode share.
Bicycles take up a relatively small amount of space, but provide the opportunity to travel much faster than on foot. Therefore, the linking of bicycle use to transit use has a great deal of potential to improve travel efficiency for many users of the system. The two main strategies involved are providing bicycle parking at transit stations (typically facilitating bike-transit-walk trips) and allowing bicycles on transit vehicles (typically facilitating bike-transit-bike trips).
Encourages transit use and bicycle use for those inclined to use transit and bikes; may provide a convenient option for a large number of commuters.
Loading bicycles onto the front bike racks on buses may cause delays at bus stops and negatively affect on-time performance. Bikes on trains may cause an obstruction and a safety hazard, if the transit operator has not made specific accommodations for them.
There are several provisions for linking bicycle and transit use in the MBTA system:
On-time performance of transit vehicles, transit mode share, bicycle mode share, number of linked bicycle-transit trips.
Focus investments on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on routes that lead to transit stops, in order to encourage more bike-transit and walk-transit linked trips.
Increases multimodal travel.
Such investments are fairly expensive if constructing new bike paths would be required.
Many TIP projects include bicycle and pedestrian improvements around transit stations.
Number of linked trips combining transit with biking or walking,7 overall increase in transit ridership.
Updating signal equipment and other transportation infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the transit network.
May have a significant impact on on-time performance.
Can be expensive, with some projects costing over $100 million. May sometimes be a temporary solution rather than a permanent one, depending on the situation. For example, repairing railway ties, ballasts, and rail line can be a short-term solution versus replacing the railway entirely.
There are several projects in the region that are implementing this strategy, including many references in the Boston Region MPO’s Fiscal Year 2013–16 TIP. This includes plans to modernize the commuter rail and subway right-of-way, the modernization of railyards where railway cars are repaired, the renovation of Blue Line stations to make six-car train service possible, and improvements to the Government Center, Copley and Arlington Green Line stations.8
On-time performance.
Implement this service in areas that are determined to have a market for shuttle bus ridership. Employers or transportation management associations can be solicited to introduce a for-profit or nonprofit bus service to shuttle commuters to a transit stop. This strategy is recommended for operation by a private company because the MBTA is currently focusing on efficiency and maintenance, not service expansion.
Will provide transit service to commuters that otherwise might not receive it. Minimal cost to local governments, as this service would be run and paid for by private entities.
Privatized services’ prices and quality can depend on the private entities’ interests. This strategy would also be dependent on companies’ assuming responsibility for implementing and running the new service.
There are several employers and transportation management associations that already offer this type of service in the Boston metropolitan area.
Shuttle ridership.
Adding lanes, or building new roads, to increase capacity.
May reduce congestion.
May have impacts on land takings or the environment.
Several expansion projects are currently underway in the Boston region.
Travel speed, speed index, delay, traffic volume, volume-to-capacity ratio, hours of congestion.
Table 6-1 was developed in order to provide some examples of types of congestion, mobility, and safety problems and indicate how they could be addressed by applying one or more of the identified strategies above.
TABLE 6-1
Congestion, Mobility, and Safety Problems and Potential Strategies
Problem |
Strategy |
Congested limited-access or partially limited-access roadways |
Reversible commuter lanes and movable median barriers |
New HOV lanes |
|
Expansion, when no other solution is possible |
|
Real-time traffic monitoring and management systems (including incident management and work zone management) |
|
Provide and market real-time information on travel conditions, alternate routes, and alternate modes |
|
Congested interchanges |
Real-time traffic monitoring and management systems |
Geometric improvements |
|
Provide and market real-time information on travel conditions, alternate routes, and alternate modes |
|
Optimization of traffic signal timing |
|
Courtesy patrol programs |
|
Congested arterials |
Access management |
Optimization of traffic signal timing |
|
Provide and market real-time information on travel conditions, alternate routes, and alternate modes |
|
Geometric improvements to roads and intersections |
|
Congested intersections |
Optimization of traffic signal timing |
Geometric improvements to roads and intersections |
|
Provide and market real-time information on travel conditions, alternate routes, and alternate modes |
Decreasing travel time savings in HOV lanes |
HOV lane expansion |
Change the occupancy requirements of the HOV lanes |
|
Low vehicle occupancies |
Programs to encourage ridesharing, transit use, bicycling, and walking |
Congestion at toll booth approaches |
Integration of the payment system for tolls, park-and-ride lots, and transit |
Provide and market real-time information on travel conditions, alternate routes, and alternate modes |
|
Congestion approaching a transit station |
Integration of the payment system for tolls, park-and-ride lots, and transit |
Provisions for bicycles at transit stops and on transit vehicles |
|
Improvements to bicycle and pedestrian routes that lead to transit stops |
|
Transit routes with high levels of passenger crowding |
Increase transit frequency and span, and improve on-time performance |
Transit routes with poor on-time performance |
Transit signal prioritization, modernization of infrastructure |
Integration of the payment system for tolls, park-and-ride lots, and transit |
|
Improve accessibility to the transportation system for individuals with disabilities |
|
Bus rapid transit |
|
Park-and-ride lots that fill before the last peak-period transit vehicle leaves |
Provisions for bicycles at transit stops and on transit vehicles |
Improvements to bicycle and pedestrian routes that lead to transit stops |
Park-and-ride lots that fill before the last peak-period transit vehicle leaves (cont.) |
Implementation of suburban shuttle buses |
Expansion of parking areas |
|
High crash rates |
Geometric improvements to roads and intersections |
Optimization of traffic signal timing |
|
Real-time traffic monitoring and management systems |
|
Weather-related diversion plans |
1 “Complete streets” is a design concept for designing or retrofitting roadways for multimodal use to promote quality of life, mobility, and safety for all users.
2 MassRides, Employers-TMA, available online at http://www.commute.com/employers/tma (accessed October 26, 2011).
3 The Boston Region MPO’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, Paths to a Sustainable Region, September 22, 2012.
4 For information on “complete streets,” see www.completestreets.org.
5 MBTA, “Bikes and the T,” available on the MBTA’s website, www.mbta.com (accessed June 6, 2012)
6 TRIMET, “How to Load Your Bike on MAX,” http://trimet.org/howtoride/bikes/bikesonmax.htm (accessed July 28, 2011).
7 Number of linked trips is measured by composite impedance from the transportation model. Common factors are considered for each trip, including travel time, travel distance, and cost per trip. This analysis is done by Traffic Analysis Zone.
8 Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, Transportation Improvement Program and Air Quality Conformity Determination: Federal Fiscal Years 2013–2016, Transit Element (accessed October 26, 2012).