Dynamic Part-Time Shoulder Use Triggers · What is Part-Time Shoulder Use? 3 • Various names...

Office of Operations

Federal Highway Administration

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20590

Dynamic Part-Time Shoulder Use Triggers

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Transportation System Operations

Atlanta, GA

August 27, 2018

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What is Part-Time Shoulder Use?

What is Part-Time Shoulder Use?

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• Various names

– Shoulder running

– Hard shoulder running

– Temporary shoulder use

– Part-time shoulder use

• Same meaning: use of the left or right shoulders of an existing roadway for travel during certain hours of the day.

– Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) strategy for addressing congestion and reliability issues

– Preserves shoulder as shoulder during most hours of day

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What is Part-Time Shoulder Use? (continued)

• It adds capacity only when needed

• It keeps the shoulder intact for most hours of the day

• Do what is physically and financially possible

– Support decisions with analysis

• A decision to use the shoulder part-time may defer major and costly widening.

Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation

Source: Pace Bus

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Types of Part-Time Shoulder Use

• Bus-on-Shoulder (BOS) – open only to buses, usually at driver’s discretion

• Static part-time shoulder use – open to passenger vehicles during predetermined hours of operation

• Dynamic part-time shoulder use – open to passenger vehicles based on need and real-time conditions

Shoulder use typically implemented on freeways; but can be applied to arterials

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Bus On Shoulder (BOS) in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Source: Metro Transit

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Left-Shoulder Bus on Shoulder (BOS) in Chicago

Source: Pace Bus

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Bus on Shoulder (BOS) on US 9 Arterial in New Jersey

Source: TCRP Report 151

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Static Shoulder Use – US 2 in Washington State

Source: Google Maps

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Static Shoulder Use – I-66 in Virginia (Made Dynamic in 2015)

Dynamic signs over shoulder; but fixed hours of operation.

Source: Virginia Department of Transportation

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Dynamic Shoulder Use – I-66 in Virginia

Source: Virginia Department of Transportation

Source: Virginia Department of Transportation

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Shoulder Use on I-70 Mountain Corridor, Colorado

Source: Colorado Department of Transportation

Source: Colorado Department of Transportation

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Dynamic Shoulder Use – I-35W in Minneapolis

Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation

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Where is Part-Time Shoulder Use?

There are many international applications as well.

Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc.

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2016 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Guide

• There is a new resource to assist State DOT’s considering part time shoulder use.

• It is a guide, not a standard, directive or policy.

• Comprehensive– Limited information on

operations: when to open and close shoulder

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop15023/index.htm

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Current Research: “Triggers” for Dynamic Shoulder Use

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Project Objectives

• Guide agencies to implement Dynamic Part-Time Shoulder Use (D-PTSU)

• Prepare internal FHWA white paper synthesizing current practices (complete)

– Domestic and International

• Prepare document with “Triggers” for D-PTSU

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Potential Triggers

• Existing and future traffic performance metrics (e.g. speed, volume, occupancy)

• Air quality and noise impacts and potential benefits

• Facility characteristics, including upstream/ downstream (lane drops, ramps, etc.)

• Typical daily traffic patterns/ composition

• Noise and air quality impacts and the timing of peak noise levels versus when the shoulder might be open to traffic

• Public acceptance, traveler expectations, and avoiding confusion with frequent opening and closing patterns

• Maintenance considerations

• Incident and emergency response scenarios

• Enforcement considerations

• Left vs. right shoulder considerations

• Availability of Advanced Traffic Management (ATM)/Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)

• Safety considerations and the importance of returning a shoulder use lane back to a traditional shoulder when not needed as a traffic management strategy

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Concept of Operational-Based Trigger

Uncongested Conditions

Predict Breakdown

Open Shoulder*

Prevent Congestion

Historical Data

Predictive Models

Best Practices

Facility-specific needs

* Assuming there are no issues with maintenance, law enforcement, environmental conditions, etc.

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Levels of D-PTSU

• Low level – D-PTSU with core hours of operation and planned deviations scheduled in advance, such as opening on a weekend, special events, etc.

• Medium level(s)

• High level – D-PTSU purely in response to roadway and traffic conditions

• Increasing real-time responsiveness to traffic

• Increasing agency capabilities/maturity

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Conceptual Application of Speed-Based Trigger

• Low-level D-PTSU: Use historical data

• High-level D-PTSU: Use real-time data

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Process to Determine Triggers

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Initial Outline of Project Report

• Chapter 1: Introduction and Dynamic Shoulder Use Installation Summary.

• Chapter 2: Decision Support Framework for Dynamic Shoulder Use.

• Chapter 3: Considerations for Opening the Shoulder.

• Chapter 4: Considerations for Closing the Shoulder.

• Chapter 5: Maintenance, Incident and Emergency Response, and Other Considerations.

• Appendix A: Fact Sheets for Dynamic Shoulder Installations Worldwide.

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Project Timeline

• Technical work completed by end of 2018

• Webinar in April 2019

• Publication in mid-2019

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QUESTIONS?

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Contact Information

• Jim Hunt jim.hunt@dot.gov

• Greg Jones GregM.Jones@dot.gov

• Pete Jenior pjenior@kittelson.com

• David Hale david.k.hale@leidos.com