Modeling the Effect of Developments and Road Construction Projects on Transportation System Performance 

Motorists observe significant variations in travel times due to congestion and delay on existing transportation facilities. Both, developments and road construction projects have a significant effect on the operational performance of the neighboring links leading to congestion and delays. The effect on travel time variation due to a development or road construction project decreases as the distance from the location increases. It also depends on traffic conditions and time-of-the-day. Therefore, one needs to consider spatial dependency and the effect on links within the proximity (based on distance decay effect) over time to compute travel time variability or reliability. Findings from such research will help make improved land use planning decisions and proactively implement solutions to mitigate mobility and congestion problems. Therefore, the goal of this research project is to model the effect of developments and road construction projects to improve mobility of people and goods through more accurate data models and advanced application of analytical tools. The objectives of the proposed research project are: 1) to compare before and after travel times and travel time variations on neighboring links of new developments, 2) to evaluate the effect of new developments by land use type and area type on the travel times and travel time variations on neighboring links, 3) to examine travel time and travel time variations before, during and after the construction of a road project along a given route, 4) to examine the effect of length of the construction activity along a route on travel time and travel time variations, and, 5) to examine the effect of road network characteristics along a route with construction activities on travel times and travel time variations, over space and time. Data gathered from local agencies and private data sources will be processed and analyzed to illustrate the working of proposed methods, examine the effects, make recommendations and contribute to the body of knowledge. Deliverables will include two final reports. Also, all data files built for research and analysis will be made available to the public in an open access data repository.