Performance Measure Summary - Washington DC-VA-MD

There are several inventory and performance measures listed in the pages of this Urban Area Report for the

years from 1982 to 2011. There is no single performance measure that experts agree “says it all.” A few key

points should be recognized by users of the Urban Mobility Report data.

Use the Trends – The multi-year performance measures are better indicators, in most cases, than any

single year. Examining a few measures over many years reduces the chance that data variations or the

estimating procedures may have caused a "spike" in any single year. (5 years is 5 times better than 1

year ).

Use several measures – Each performance measure illustrates a different element of congestion. (The

view is more interesting from atop several measures ).

Compare to similar regions – Congestion analyses that compare areas with similar characteristics (for

example population, growth rate, road and public transportation system design) are usually more insightful

than comparisons of different regions. (Los Angeles is not Peoria ).

Compare ranking changes and performance measure values – In some performance measures a small

change in the value may cause a significant change in rank from one year to the next. This is the case

when there are several regions with nearly the same value. (15 hours is only 1 hour more than 14 hours ).

Consider the scope of improvement options – Any improvement project in a corridor within most of the

regions will only have a modest effect on the regional congestion level. (To have an effect on areawide

congestion, there must be significant change in the system or service ).

Performance Measures and Definition of Terms

Travel Time Index – A measure of congestion that focuses on each trip and each mile of travel. It is

calculated as the ratio of travel time in the peak period to travel time in free-flow. A value of 1.30 indicates a

20-minute free-flow trip takes 26 minutes in the peak.

Planning Time Index - a travel time reliability measure that represents the total travel time that should be

planned for a trip. Computed with the 95th percentile travel time it represents the amount of time that

shouldbe planned for a trip to be late for only 1 day a month. Computed with the 80th percentile travel time it

represents the amount of time that should be planned for a trip to be late for only 1 day a week. A PTI of 3.00

means that for a 20-minute trip in light traffic, 60 minutes should be planned.

Peak Commuters – Number of travelers who begin a trip during the morning or evening peak travel periods (6

to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.). "Commuters" are private vehicle users unless specifically noted.

Annual Delay per Commuter – A yearly sum of all the per-trip delays for those persons who travel in the

peak period (6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.). This measure illustrates the effect of the per-mile congestion as

well as the length of each trip.

Total Delay – The overall size of the congestion problem. Measured by the total travel time above that

needed to complete a trip at free-flow speeds. The ranking of total delay usually follows the population

ranking (larger regions usually have more delay).

CO2 per Commuter - represents the pounds of additional CO2 emissions generated by a commuter during a

year due to traffic congestion.

Free-Flow Speeds -- These values are derived from overnight speeds in the INRIX speed database. They

are used as the national comparison thresholds. Other speed values may be appropriate for urban project

evaluations or sub-regions studies.

Excess Fuel Consumed – Increased fuel consumption due to travel in congested conditions rather than free-

flow conditions.

Public Transportation – Regular route service from all public transportation providers in an urban area.

Operations Treatments – Freeway incident management, freeway ramp metering, arterial street signal

coordination and arterial street access management.

Congestion Cost – Value of travel delay for 2011 (estimated at $16.79 per hour of person travel and $86.81

per hour of truck time) and excess gasoline consumption (passenger vehicles) and diesel (trucks) estimated

using state average cost per gallon.

Urban Area – The developed area (population density more than 1,000 persons per square mile) within a

metropolitan region. The urban area boundaries change frequently (every year for most growing areas). The

annual change in miles traveled and lane-miles, therefore, includes both new travel and roads due to growth

and travel and roads that were previously in areas designated as rural.

Number of Rush Hours – Time when the road system might have congestion.

Inventory Measures 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006

Urban Area Information

Population (1000s) 4,613 4,536 4,454 4,375 4,330 4,300

Rank 7 7 7 7 7 7

Peak Travelers (1000s) 2,343 2,295 2,249 2,201 2,174 2,154

Commuters (1000s) 2,011 1,969 1,930 1,888 1,865 1,848

Freeway

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 40,082 39,413 38,900 38,175 39,045 38,400

Lane-Miles 2,222 2,180 2,140 2,090 2,075 2,060

Arterial Streets

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 49,729 48,899 48,900 47,000 45,500 43,900

Lane-Miles 7,099 6,800 6,650 6,500 6,380 6,250

Public Transportation

Annual Psgr-Miles of Travel (millions) 2,589.7 2,394.6 2,410.7 2,506.2 2,380.2 2,371.6

Annual Unlinked Psgr Trips (millions) 484.6 460.3 463.4 481.8 465.1 461.0

Cost Components

Value of Time ($/hour) 16.79 16.30 16.01 16.10 15.47 15.06

Commercial Cost ($/hour) 86.81 88.12 89.75 81.52 82.56 80.43

Gasoline ($/gallon) 3.58 2.86 2.36 3.50 3.15 2.79 Diesel ($/gallon) 3.74 3.11 2.86 4.13 3.48 2.93

System Performance 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006

Congested Travel (% of peak VMT) 85 84 80 78 81 81

Congested System (% of lane-miles) 69 68 65 63 63 63

Congested Time (number of "Rush Hours") 7.00 7.00 6.50 6.50 7.75 --

Annual Excess Fuel Consumed

Total Fuel (1000 gallons) 85,103 83,682 79,556 77,092 92,212 88,174

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 6

Fuel per Peak Auto Commuter (gallons) 32 31 31 31 37 35

Rank 1 1 2 3 1 3

Annual Delay

Total Delay (1000s of person-hours) 179,331 176,338 169,156 164,471 197,935 188,581

Rank 4 4 5 4 5 5

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (pers-hrs) 67 66 64 65 79 73

Rank 1 1 1 1 2 3

Travel Time Index 1.32 1.31 1.29 1.28 1.34 1.33

Rank 4 4 5 5 5 5

Commuter Stress Index 1.39 1.40 1.36 1.35 1.43 --

Rank 3 1 3 6 1 --

Freeway Planning Time Index (95th Pctile) 5.72 -- -- -- -- --

Rank 1 -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (80th Pctile) 2.56 -- -- -- -- --

Rank 1 -- -- -- -- --

Excess CO2 Due to Congestion

Congested CO2 (million pounds) 1,703 1,675 1,592 1,543 1,845 1,764

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 6

CO2 Per Peak Auto Commuter (pounds) 631 621 604 604 738 688

Rank 1 1 2 3 2 3

Truck Congestion Cost ($ millions) 656 645 635 571 702 --

Truck Commodity Value ($ millions) 97,285 95,965 94,666 93,384 92,120 --

Congestion Cost

Total Cost ($ millions) 3,771 3,708 3,502 3,440 3,995 3,630

Rank 4 4 5 4 5 6

Cost per Peak Auto Commuter ($) 1,398 1,375 1,328 1,352 1,594 1,895 Rank 1 1 1 1 2 3

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

The Mobility Data for Washington DC-VA-MD

Inventory Measures 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Urban Area Information

Population (1000s) 4,280 4,275 4,250 4,185 4,030 3,900

Rank 7 7 7 7 7 8

Peak Travelers (1000s) 2,131 2,120 2,100 2,072 1,999 1,938

Commuters (1000s) 1,829 1,819 1,801 1,777 1,715 1,663

Freeway

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 38,580 38,200 37,815 36,200 35,770 34,535

Lane-Miles 2,050 2,050 2,040 1,970 1,970 1,960

Arterial Streets

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 42,000 40,960 40,395 38,385 36,000 35,395

Lane-Miles 6,100 5,945 5,915 5,850 5,800 5,740

Public Transportation

Annual Psgr-Miles of Travel (millions) 2,194.8 2,266.7 2,193.2 2,156.1 2,055.0 1,854.1

Annual Unlinked Psgr Trips (millions) 461.5 442.9 434.3 429.8 415.0 381.1

Cost Components

Value of Time ($/hour) 14.58 14.10 13.73 13.43 13.22 12.85

Commercial Cost ($/hour) 78.05 74.17 72.23 70.86 71.38 70.47

Gasoline ($/gallon) 2.40 2.04 1.62 1.53 1.75 1.61 Diesel ($/gallon) 2.59 2.09 1.73 1.54 1.73 1.67

System Performance 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Congested Travel (% of peak VMT) 81 81 81 80 79 74

Congested System (% of lane-miles) 63 63 63 63 63 59

Congested Time (number of "Rush Hours") -- -- -- -- -- --

Annual Excess Fuel Consumed

Total Fuel (1000 gallons) 89,317 89,029 88,084 83,113 77,489 70,692

Rank 6 5 5 5 5 6

Fuel per Peak Auto Commuter (gallons) 36 35 35 33 32 31

Rank 3 2 2 1 1 2

Annual Delay

Total Delay (1000s of person-hours) 191,371 189,843 187,503 176,453 164,059 152,081

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 5

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (pers-hrs) 74 74 73 69 68 65

Rank 3 3 3 3 3 3

Travel Time Index 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.31 1.30

Rank 6 4 4 4 4 5

Commuter Stress Index -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (95th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (80th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Excess CO2 Due to Congestion

Congested CO2 (million pounds) 1,787 1,782 1,763 1,663 1,551 1,415

Rank 6 5 5 5 5 6

CO2 Per Peak Auto Commuter (pounds) 705 688 688 655 638 604

Rank 3 3 2 2 2 3

Truck Congestion Cost ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Truck Commodity Value ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Congestion Cost

Total Cost ($ millions) 3,519 3,313 3,139 2,877 2,670 2,407

Rank 6 5 5 5 5 5

Cost per Peak Auto Commuter ($) 1,845 1,739 1,657 1,543 1,488 1,385 Rank 4 3 3 3 3 4

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

The Mobility Data for Washington DC-VA-MD

Inventory Measures 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994

Urban Area Information

Population (1000s) 3,885 3,800 3,660 3,570 3,510 3,480

Rank 9 10 10 10 9 9

Peak Travelers (1000s) 1,935 1,892 1,826 1,785 1,759 1,743

Commuters (1000s) 1,660 1,624 1,567 1,532 1,509 1,496

Freeway

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 33,975 33,930 33,340 33,045 32,460 31,565

Lane-Miles 1,950 1,935 1,930 1,925 1,920 1,915

Arterial Streets

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 35,165 34,965 34,370 34,575 33,880 34,080

Lane-Miles 5,665 5,600 5,550 5,440 5,385 5,270

Public Transportation

Annual Psgr-Miles of Travel (millions) 1,702.7 1,679.0 1,499.2 1,435.4 1,701.2 1,594.8

Annual Unlinked Psgr Trips (millions) 387.0 368.6 323.2 317.6 370.2 342.7

Cost Components

Value of Time ($/hour) 12.43 12.17 11.98 11.71 11.37 11.06

Commercial Cost ($/hour) 66.76 65.76 66.83 66.20 64.27 62.23

Gasoline ($/gallon) 1.10 1.11 1.21 1.32 1.24 1.10 Diesel ($/gallon) 1.27 1.18 1.34 1.47 1.37 1.22

System Performance 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994

Congested Travel (% of peak VMT) 73 71 73 73 71 70

Congested System (% of lane-miles) 59 59 59 59 58 61

Congested Time (number of "Rush Hours") -- -- -- -- -- --

Annual Excess Fuel Consumed

Total Fuel (1000 gallons) 69,650 64,937 66,326 66,682 61,805 59,750

Rank 5 5 4 5 5 5

Fuel per Peak Auto Commuter (gallons) 31 29 31 31 30 29

Rank 3 3 2 2 1 1

Annual Delay

Total Delay (1000s of person-hours) 146,909 135,321 139,781 140,298 131,762 128,595

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 5

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (pers-hrs) 62 59 63 65 62 61

Rank 3 3 2 2 3 2

Travel Time Index 1.30 1.28 1.29 1.29 1.27 1.26

Rank 6 6 6 5 6 6

Commuter Stress Index -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (95th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (80th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Excess CO2 Due to Congestion

Congested CO2 (million pounds) 1,394 1,299 1,327 1,334 1,237 1,196

Rank 5 5 4 5 5 4

CO2 Per Peak Auto Commuter (pounds) 604 571 604 621 587 571

Rank 3 2 2 2 1 1

Truck Congestion Cost ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Truck Commodity Value ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Congestion Cost

Total Cost ($ millions) 2,181 1,984 2,040 2,021 1,835 1,730

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 5

Cost per Peak Auto Commuter ($) 1,260 1,171 1,251 1,271 1,174 1,116 Rank 3 5 3 2 2 2

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

The Mobility Data for Washington DC-VA-MD

Inventory Measures 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988

Urban Area Information

Population (1000s) 3,420 3,300 3,250 3,100 3,080 3,040

Rank 9 10 10 10 10 10

Peak Travelers (1000s) 1,717 1,660 1,638 1,566 1,540 1,505

Commuters (1000s) 1,473 1,424 1,405 1,343 1,321 1,291

Freeway

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 29,320 27,985 26,000 25,080 24,590 23,455

Lane-Miles 1,900 1,825 1,750 1,675 1,600 1,500

Arterial Streets

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 33,035 30,420 27,525 25,305 24,530 24,045

Lane-Miles 5,250 5,210 5,180 5,145 5,125 5,105

Public Transportation

Annual Psgr-Miles of Travel (millions) 1,447.4 1,558.7 1,642.0 1,713.0 1,639.6 1,607.0

Annual Unlinked Psgr Trips (millions) 353.3 354.0 382.8 376.2 369.6 354.2

Cost Components

Value of Time ($/hour) 10.78 10.47 10.17 9.75 9.25 8.83

Commercial Cost ($/hour) 60.84 59.01 57.31 55.03 52.81 50.04

Gasoline ($/gallon) 1.12 1.18 1.12 1.08 1.10 1.02 Diesel ($/gallon) 1.25 1.31 1.39 1.26 1.20 1.11

System Performance 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988

Congested Travel (% of peak VMT) 69 70 67 66 69 67

Congested System (% of lane-miles) 61 61 61 61 62 61

Congested Time (number of "Rush Hours") -- -- -- -- -- --

Annual Excess Fuel Consumed

Total Fuel (1000 gallons) 57,049 54,365 46,026 41,236 41,190 37,676

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 5

Fuel per Peak Auto Commuter (gallons) 28 28 24 22 23 21

Rank 1 2 3 3 3 3

Annual Delay

Total Delay (1000s of person-hours) 123,079 116,535 98,855 88,892 87,687 80,808

Rank 5 5 5 6 5 5

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (pers-hrs) 60 59 51 47 47 44

Rank 3 3 3 4 4 4

Travel Time Index 1.27 1.27 1.25 1.23 1.24 1.23

Rank 5 5 6 7 6 6

Commuter Stress Index -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (95th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (80th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Excess CO2 Due to Congestion

Congested CO2 (million pounds) 1,142 1,088 921 825 824 754

Rank 5 5 5 5 5 5

CO2 Per Peak Auto Commuter (pounds) 554 554 470 436 453 420

Rank 1 1 3 3 3 4

Truck Congestion Cost ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Truck Commodity Value ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Congestion Cost

Total Cost ($ millions) 1,615 1,486 1,229 1,055 992 867

Rank 5 5 6 6 6 6

Cost per Peak Auto Commuter ($) 1,060 1,011 849 764 723 640 Rank 2 3 3 4 4 4

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

The Mobility Data for Washington DC-VA-MD

Inventory Measures 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982

Urban Area Information

Population (1000s) 2,980 2,920 2,860 2,810 2,780 2,700

Rank 10 9 9 9 9 9

Peak Travelers (1000s) 1,463 1,422 1,379 1,343 1,318 1,266

Commuters (1000s) 1,255 1,220 1,183 1,152 1,131 1,086

Freeway

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 22,365 21,345 19,460 18,015 16,255 15,200

Lane-Miles 1,425 1,345 1,290 1,285 1,260 1,230

Arterial Streets

Daily Vehicle-Miles of Travel (1000s) 23,930 22,885 21,165 19,230 18,105 17,375

Lane-Miles 5,065 5,015 4,960 4,940 4,900 4,850

Public Transportation

Annual Psgr-Miles of Travel (millions) 1,455.9 1,359.9 1,258.2 1,162.6 1,162.6 1,162.6

Annual Unlinked Psgr Trips (millions) 354.1 328.5 311.3 309.4 309.4 309.4

Cost Components

Value of Time ($/hour) 8.48 8.18 8.03 7.75 7.43 7.20

Commercial Cost ($/hour) 48.53 46.57 47.83 46.47 44.23 43.08

Gasoline ($/gallon) 1.02 0.99 1.30 1.31 1.34 1.41 Diesel ($/gallon) 1.11 1.08 1.42 1.43 1.46 1.53

System Performance 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982

Congested Travel (% of peak VMT) 63 63 55 48 40 36

Congested System (% of lane-miles) 56 56 55 50 45 44

Congested Time (number of "Rush Hours") -- -- -- -- -- --

Annual Excess Fuel Consumed

Total Fuel (1000 gallons) 33,769 30,722 24,695 19,434 14,297 12,398

Rank 5 5 5 7 9 10

Fuel per Peak Auto Commuter (gallons) 19 18 14 12 9 8

Rank 4 4 4 7 11 13

Annual Delay

Total Delay (1000s of person-hours) 73,744 67,013 55,996 44,543 33,579 29,220

Rank 5 5 5 7 8 9

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (pers-hrs) 41 38 32 26 20 18

Rank 4 3 3 4 11 10

Travel Time Index 1.21 1.19 1.17 1.14 1.11 1.10

Rank 6 7 8 10 13 16

Commuter Stress Index -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (95th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Freeway Planning Time Index (80th Pctile) -- -- -- -- -- --

Rank -- -- -- -- -- --

Excess CO2 Due to Congestion

Congested CO2 (million pounds) 676 615 494 389 286 248

Rank 5 5 5 7 9 10

CO2 Per Peak Auto Commuter (pounds) 369 352 285 235 168 151

Rank 3 2 3 8 15 15

Truck Congestion Cost ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Truck Commodity Value ($ millions) -- -- -- -- -- --

Congestion Cost

Total Cost ($ millions) 768 673 570 440 319 272

Rank 5 5 5 8 8 9

Cost per Peak Auto Commuter ($) 578 518 448 351 257 226 Rank 4 3 3 4 12 13

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

The Mobility Data for Washington DC-VA-MD

Operations Strategies 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007

Freeway Ramp Metering

Percent of Roadway Miles 7 7 7 7 7

Annual Delay Reduction (1000 hours) 210 207 198 188 240

Freeway Incident Management

Cameras

Percent of Roadway Miles 70 69 69 70 70

Service Patrols

Percent of Roadway Miles 58 57 57 58 58

Annual Delay Reduction (1000 hours) 3,506 3,447 3,307 3,133 3,998

Arterial Signal Coordination

Percent of Roadway Miles 59 58 58 59 57

Annual Delay Reduction (1000 hours) 1,092 1,074 1,030 1,018 1,180

Arterial Access Management

Percent of Roadway Miles 36 35 35 36 37

Annual Delay Reduction (1000 hours) 3,276 3,222 3,091 3,054 3,539

HOV Lanes

Daily Passenger-miles of travel (1000s) 3,208 3,155 3,139 3,200 3,100

HOV User Delay Savings 6,100 5,998 5,754 5,452 6,717

Added Congestion if Operations Treatments were

Discontinued

Annual Delay Reduction (1000 hours) 14,185 13,948 13,381 12,846 15,674

Annual Delay Saved per Peak Auto Commuter (hrs) 7 7 7 7 8 Annual Congestion Cost Savings ($million) 298 293 310 307 359

Public Transportation Service 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007

Existing Service

Annual Passenger-miles of travel (million) 2,590 2,395 2,411 2,506 2,380

Unlinked Passenger Trips (million) 485 460 463 482 465

Added Congestion if Public Transportation Service

were Discontinued

Annual Increase

Delay (1000 hours) 33,810 33,245 31,893 33,044 38,795

Delay per Peak Auto Commuter (hours) 17 17 17 18 21 Congestion Cost ($million) 711 699 739 790 887

Note: Zeroes in the table reflect values less than 0.5.

Benefits from Public Transportation Service and Operations Strategies inWashington DC-VA-MD