Evaluation of the Operational and Safety Effects of the I-66 Active Traffic Management System

About the project:

The Virginia Department of Transportation began a project to install an Active Traffic Management (ATM) system on Interstate 66 between US 29 in Centreville (exit 52) and Interstate 495 in early 2013. Estimated completion is early 2015. Since ATMis still a relatively new approach to reduce highway congestion in the U.S., there is a need to analyze the safety and operational effects on I-66.

This project will define, examine, and analyze appropriate operational performance and safety measures to conduct a before-and-after study to quantify ATM’s effectiveness on I-66. Operational measures will include: average travel time, travel time reliability, congestion duration, queue length, delay and throughput. Safety measures will include: speed compliance, crash characteristics, and incident frequency. After completing the before-and-after studies, a preliminary benefit-cost ratio will be calculated to show the ATM system’s value relative to the cost of construction and maintenance.

Project Team

Principal Investigators

Other Investigators