Pilot application study of corridor performance indicators

The need for effective multimodal performance indicators (or measures) is becoming increasingly important for adequate planning in all sizes of transportation environments, including small and medium-size communities. These measures are essential for several reasons. First, an initial determination of performance by measuring existing conditions indicates the degree of needed improvements. Second, after improvements are implemented, measurement of their performance is often required. Third, such measures are beneficial for measuring roadway improvements examined within the context of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21). Finally, multimodal measures can be used tomonitor the performance of the transportation system over time by examining changes in performance from an established base year. The purpose of this paper is to report on the testing of selected multimodal corridor performance measures for a small and medium-size area, including an evaluation of the amount and cost of required data. These measures are either based on corridor volume to indicate quantity of travel, or on time to indicate quality. Measures of corridor quantity include person throughput, vehicle miles of travel, and average vehicle occupancy. Measures of quality include average travel time, average travel speed, density, and percent time heavily congested. The measures are developed and tested within a 5-mile segment along I-95 in the City of Hollywood (population of 127,000 in 1997), located in Broward County in southeast Florida.