URBAN FREEWAY CONGESTION PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: AN UPDATE

A 1986 Federal Highway Administration study focused on the overall magnitude of the urban freeway congestion problem using 1984 data available in the Highway Performance Monitoring System database. This paper presents an update of this work and shows that the problem is responsible for more than 2 billion vehicle-hours of delay, more than 2 billion gallons of wasted fuel, and almost $16 billion in user costs annually. This study also evaluated the potential effectiveness of several types of remedial measures for addressing urban congestion, both by increasing the effective capacity of urban freeways and by reducing demand on them. It was found that demand management strategies are approximately as effective as the various supply-side improvements, and combinations are listed. This update indicates that a variety of solutions must be vigorously applied to the urban freeway congestion problem if it is to be overcome or even held at current levels.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/614107147
• Authors:
  • LINDLEY, J A
• Publication Date: 1989-12

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 21-23
• Serial:
  • ITE Journal
  • Volume: 59
  • Issue Number: 12
  • Publisher: Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
  • ISSN: 0162-8178
  • Serial URL: https://www.ite.org/publications/ite-journal/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Countermeasures; Freeways; Highway capacity; Measures of effectiveness; Traffic congestion; Travel demand; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness
• Old TRIS Terms: Remedies; Urban freeways
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00491056
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 28 1990 12:00AM