Developing Simplified and Unified Planning-Level Metrics for Operational Benefits

About the project:

Transportation agencies increasingly rely on Performance-Based Planning and Programming (PBPP) to make transparent, data-driven investment decisions and to evaluate and prioritize projects. In Virginia, VDOT and the Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment have advanced PBPP through VTrans, Project Pipeline, and SMART SCALE, a recognized program for ranking investments across safety, congestion, accessibility, environmental quality and economic development. In addition, VDOT’s Project Planning function establishes a long-term vision for the transportation system.

Despite progress in Virginia’s planning framework, no rapid and transferable methodology exists to quantify operational benefits of roadway and ITS improvements. Current approaches, such as the Interstate Operations and Enhancement Program and SMART SCALE , provide valuable insights but lack standardized lightweight measures of operational benefit metrics.

When VDOT needs to compare alternatives or screen early-stage concepts, analysts must rely on microsimulation, HCM procedures or project-specific before–after studies. These methods are accurate but slow, data-intensive and not scalable to dozens or hundreds of candidate projects. The absence of standardized, easy-to-apply operational metrics constrains Virginia’s ability to efficiently screen projects, communicate benefits and ensure consistent decision-making within PBPP. This research will define Operational Modification Factors, a proportional before/after change derived from operational benefit metrics, and develop a reusable and transferable planning-level methodology that enables VDOT to estimate operational benefits rapidly using limited inputs (e.g., v/c ratio, facility type, AADT, geometry, improvement type). 

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