ITS Heartland 2012 Annual Meeting Kansas City, MO Please visit our Vimeo site to access voice narrated presentations: https://vimeo.com/matc/review/42290283/7cd8d5982f Presented by Nicole Oneyear, Ph.D. Student, Iowa State University, Skylar Knickerbocker, Graduate Research Assistant, Iowa State University, and Nick Hinnerichs, Graduate Student, INTRANS Iowa State University

1. Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering
ITS Heartland 2012 Student
Competition
Nicole Oneyear, Skylar Knickerbocker, and Nick
Hinnerichs

2. Study Purpose
• To evaluate real world ITS operations data
• Demonstrate uses of the data
• Give recommendations on how the data
can be used

3. Data Prep
• Queried metrics using MYSQL Database to
output smaller .csv files
– Day of the week
– Location
– Peak Hour

4. Data Analysis
• Considered speed a direct correlation of
congestion
• Standard deviation was used as a reliability
indicator
• 85th percentile speeds were used as
indicators when examining speed limit
compliance
• Mean speed was used as a congestion
indicator

5. Scope of Study
• How has travel time and reliability changed
from 2009 to 2011?
• How reliable is the network for commuters?
• Do users tend to comply with the speed
limits in the area?
• Do major events have a large effect on
travel time within the corridor?

6. CHANGES TO RELIABILITY
OVER TIME
Picture from: http://www.floridaits.com

9. Standard Deviation
Std Dev
4.5
6
8
9
10
11
12
Standard Deviation (in mph) for links in 2011
Std Dev
4.5
6
8
9
10
11
12

10. Results
• Small changes on various routes within the
corridor
• Mean speeds appear to be in accordance
with their speed limits
• Major routes overall appear to have less
variance
• Reliability appears to have improved from
2009 to 2011

11. HOW RELIABLE IS THE
NETWORK FOR COMMUTERS

12. Background
• Congestion has increased impacts on
commuters
• For this study
AM Peak = 6AM to 9AM
PM Peak = 3PM to 6PM

13. AM Peak
I-435 I-635 I-70
2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011
Mean Speed 64.85 65.10 64.90 64.64 64.79 64.47
Monday
Standard Dev 1.06 2.06 0.95 1.95 1.70 2.51
Mean Speed 64.83 65.02 64.80 64.50 64.53 64.17
Tuesday
Standard Dev 1.28 1.98 1.57 1.82 2.52 2.47
Mean Speed 64.90 64.94 64.83 64.44 64.51 64.01
Wednesday
Standard Dev 1.02 1.90 1.20 2.19 2.15 2.76
Mean Speed 64.91 65.04 64.73 64.51 64.51 63.98
Thursday
Standard Dev 0.89 2.00 2.34 1.91 2.48 2.40
Mean Speed 64.83 64.96 64.86 64.43 64.52 64.19
Friday
Standard Dev 1.54 1.88 1.09 2.16 2.31 2.58

14. PM Peak
I-435 I-635 I-70
2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011
Mean Speed 63.81 66.40 63.05 64.80 64.09 64.95
Monday
Standard Dev 5.71 4.94 4.60 3.43 4.02 2.97
Mean Speed 63.40 66.60 62.92 64.58 63.86 65.23
Tuesday
Standard Dev 7.03 4.11 4.75 3.17 5.23 3.06
Mean Speed 63.83 66.78 63.16 64.19 64.07 64.73
Wednesday
Standard Dev 5.57 3.26 4.54 3.48 4.26 3.77
Mean Speed 63.98 66.72 62.93 64.17 62.25 64.55
Thursday
Standard Dev 4.67 3.16 4.40 3.38 4.20 3.97
Mean Speed 64.31 66.74 62.74 64.20 64.36 65.09
Friday
Standard Dev 4.58 3.32 4.84 3.35 4.18 3.25

15. AM Peak Hour 2009 – Std Dev of Speeds and Difference from Mean Speed
Average Std Dev
0
AM Peak
7
10
12
AM Peak Hour 2011 – Std Dev of Speeds and Difference from Mean Speed
Average Std Dev
0
7
10
12

16. PM Peak Hour 2009 – Std Dev of Speeds and Difference from Mean Speed
Average Std Dev
0
7
PM Peak
10
12
PM Peak Hour 2011 – Std Dev of Speeds and Difference from Mean Speed
Average Std Dev
0
7
10
12

17. Results
• Mean speeds are similar for AM and PM
Peak
• Standard Deviation in speeds is larger in
PM
• Congestion appears to have decreased
from 2009 to 2011
• The entire network displays similar results

18. DO USERS TEND TO COMPLY
WITH THE SPEED LIMITS?

19. Speed Limit Compliance - 2009 & 2011
80
70
Number of Links
60
50
40
30
20
10 2009
0 2011
Difference between 85th Percentile Speed and Speed Limit

20. Results
• Speed limit compliance was reasonable
• Majority of speeds less than 5 mph over
the speed limit
• Distribution is shifting towards a higher
speed from 2009 to 2011 and therefore
compliance is decreasing

21. PLAZA AT
THE
SPEEDWAY
Parallel Parkway 40,000 car’s per day
CERNER
18 ACRE OF F ICE PARK
SOCCER
COMPL EX
DO MAJOR EVENTS HAVE A LARGE
EFFECT ON TRAVEL TIME WITHIN THE
CORRIDOR?

22. 67
66
65
Mean Speed (mph)
64
I70-2011
63 I70-June 5th
62
61
60
8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm

23. 67.5
67
66.5
66
Mean Speed (mph)
65.5
65 I435-2011
I435-June 5th
64.5
64
63.5
63
62.5
8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm

24. Results
• Not much effects compared to other
Sunday’s before the race event
• I-70 showed increased congestion the hour
after the race
• I-435 showed increased congestion after
the race

25. Summary
• Travel time reliability seemed to improve
from 2009 to 2011
• The PM peak appears to be less reliable
than the AM peak
• Speed limit compliance is quite good, but
has been decreasing from 2009 to 2011
• Major events do have some effect on
congestion, however it was not as bad as
expected.

26. Recommendations
• Use of DMS which display travel
times are helpful in giving
commuters options for rerouting
• Data can be used to help
determine where traffic
enforcement is necessary
• Use DMS or CMS to inform
drivers of routes to take during
major events
Photo: