This project evaluated the impacts of roadway performance information delivery on freight operations in Texas. The USDOT-sponsored Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) is a collection of freight-specific applications intended to leverage connected vehicle technologies to maximize freight flow. FRATIS was deployed in the form of the I-35 Traveler Information during Construction (TIDC) system in Dallas, Texas, in association with major reconstruction work on I-35, a corridor that includes 11 of the 100 most congested roadway locations in Texas.
The Texas Department of Transportation enhanced the TIDC system to help freight operators increase productivity, improve operational efficiency, and reduce safety-related incidents. The evaluation focused on the impacts of delivering the TIDC information to trucking companies. That information included pre-construction closure notifications, delay predictions, and real-time construction delay information. One regional and one national trucking firm provided information on the performance of truck deliveries that moved through the I-35 construction zone. The evaluation was based on a year-long before/after analysis, with six months of data collected before the firms started using TIDC information (March to August 2017) and six months of data collection afterward (starting September 2017).
The evaluation found that the provision of TIDC information had little measurable impact on the trucking firms’ travel times or travel time reliability. Consequently, no significant changes in fuel use, delay, labor hours, or other benefits occurred. However, this lack of quantifiable change was due primarily to the geography of the location, as I-35 between Dallas and Austin lacks alternative routes that would help truckers avoid construction delays.
Nevertheless, both participating trucking firms reported enthusiasm for the TIDC. Both saw enough value in the construction delay information that they are seeking internal company resources to improve their ability to incorporate TIDC data into their existing business processes. The benefits they cited included the ability for drivers to prepare for unusual queues during their trips, thereby lowering their crash risk, and to pre-select when and where to stop for breaks. Both participating trucking firms also reported that they expect to obtain more quantifiable benefits from work zone delay information when such information becomes available for geographic locations where alternative routes exist and when it can be automatically fed into their existing business systems.
As a result of this evaluation, the authors recommended that the USDOT pursue the development of standard data feeds that private companies can incorporate. In addition, they recommended that the USDOT engage the companies that provide scheduling, routing, and fleet management software to trucking companies in this discussion, as well as providers of general navigation software, to ensure that these data streams can be directly absorbed into the software that most trucking companies use to determine routing and scheduling business decisions.
Authors:
Mark E. Hallenbeck
Edward D. McCormack
Dimitri Zyuzin
John Ishimaru
Washington State Transportation Center-UW
Mark
Jensen, Cambridge Systematics
Robert Campbell, LA Metro
Alice Chu, Cambridge Systematics
Sponsor: Federal Highway Administration