Smart Congestion Relief

How traffic congestion is evaluated can significantly affect transport planning decisions. This report describes various factors that affect congestion cost estimates and the evaluation of potential congestion reduction strategies, including analysis scope, baseline speeds, travel time valuation, accident and emission impact analysis, induced travel analysis, and consideration of co-benefits. It discusses how these factors influence planning decisions and describes best practices recommended by experts. It applies these methods to evaluate various congestion reduction strategies including roadway expansion, improve space efficient modes, pricing reforms, Smart Growth policies and demand management programs. Summaries of this research were published as: Smart Congestion Relief, Paper P12-5310, Transportation Research Board 2012 Annual Meeting “Smarter Congestion Relief In Asian Cities: Win-Win Solutions To Urban Transport Problems,” Transport and Communications Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific, No. 82, December 2013 (www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1581) Congestion Evaluation Best Practices, Paper 12, presented at the International Transportation Economic Development Conference (https://tti.tamu.edu/conferences/ited2014), 12 April 2014, Dallas, Texas (www.vtpi.org/ITED_congestion.pfd) Smart Congestion Relief: Comprehensive Analysis Of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Strategies Victoria Transport Policy Institute