Transportation

Improving the operational performance of the transportation network
ITS improve the performance of a country’s transpor- tation network by maximizing the capacity of existing infrastructure, reducing the need to build additional highway capacity. Maximizing capacity is crucial be- cause, in almost all countries, increases in vehicle miles traveled dramatically outstrips increases in roadway ca- pacity (and in many countries there is either little more room to build, little political will to build, or both). For example, from 1980 to 2006 in the United States, the total number of miles traveled by automobiles in- creased 97 percent, but over the same time the total number of highway lane miles grew just 4.4 percent, meaning that over twice the traffic in the United States has been traveling on essentially the same roadway ca- pacity.³⁵

A number of ITS applications contribute to enhanc- ing the operational performance of transportation net- works. For example, traffic signal light optimization can improve traffic flow significantly, reducing stops by as much as 40 percent, cutting gas consumption by 10 percent, cutting emissions by 22 percent, and reducing travel time by 25 percent.³⁶ Applying real-time traffic data could improve traffic signal efficiency by 10 per- cent, saving 1.1 million gallons of gas a day nationally and cutting daily carbon dioxide emissions by 9,600

tons.³⁷ Ramp metering can increase vehicle through- put (the number of cars that pass through a road lane) from 8 to 22 percent and increase speeds on roads from 8 to 60 percent.³⁸ As up to 30 percent of conges- tion on highways occurs at toll stops, deploying elec- tronic toll collection systems can significantly reduce congestion. Assessing the impact of intelligent trans- portation systems, including ramp metering, incident management, traffic signal coordination, and arterial access management, a September 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that ITS deployments to date had reduced delays in 85 urban areas by 9 percent (336 million hours), leading to a
$5.6 billion reduction in annual costs due to reduced fuel consumption and hours of delay.³

Indeed, reducing traffic congestion is one of the prin- cipal benefits of ITS. American commuters spend five days per year (a full work week) stuck in traffic, a total of 4.2 billion hours per year, wasting over 2.8 billion gallons of fuel.⁴⁰ When the impacts on lost productiv- ity, unreliability, cargo delay, and safety are consid- ered, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s chief economist concludes that congestion’s toll on the U.S. economy amounts to up to $168 billion each year.⁴¹ In the United States, congestion costs have been grow- ing at 8 percent per year.⁴² Over the next 20 years, the cost of congestion could amount to $890.5 bil- lion, or 4.3 percent of the value of the entire national economy.⁴³ At current rates, congestion in the United States is expected to become so severe by 2030 that 58 urban areas will have regional congestion levels high enough to qualify as “severe” (up from 28 in 2003.)⁴⁴

European Union countries experience 7,500 kilome- ters of traffic jams every day on their roads, with ten percent of the EU’s road network affected by con-

gestion.⁴⁵ In fact, 24 percent of Europeans’ driving time is spent in traffic congestion,⁴⁶ at a yearly cost of one percent of the European Union’s GDP.⁴⁷ Aus- tralia annually suffers $12.5 billion in costs due to urban congestion. In Japan, congestion costs the na- tion 3.5 billion man-hours, worth almost ¥11 tril- lion ($109 billion) each year.⁴⁸ Deploying intelligent transportation systems has been shown to have a significant and direct impact on reducing congestion. South Korea found that in the initial cities in which it deployed intelligent transportation systems, aver- age vehicle speed increased 20 percent and delay time at critical intersections decreased 39 percent. Experts predict that, in the United States, traffic jams can be reduced as much as 20 percent by 2011 in areas that use ITS.⁴⁹

ITS-enabled variable or congestion pricing can also reduce congestion. According to recent research, a comprehensive pricing approach that incorporates variable pricing tied to travel demand levels (such as congestion pricing) could provide significant conges- tion benefits. One study estimated that region-wide congestion pricing could reduce peak travel by 8 to 20 percent.⁵⁰ A Brookings Institution study estimat- ed that congestion pricing on the nation’s Interstates and other freeways would reduce total vehicle miles traveled by 11 to 19 percent.⁵¹ And a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report looking at results from its Value Pricing Pilot Program, which imple- mented tolling on a number of facilities nationwide, found that even targeted pricing can have a number of effects on driver behavior and traffic volumes, in- cluding changes in times, routes, or modes of travel; willingness to pay for faster travel times by traveling on toll lanes; reductions in peak-period traffic vol- umes; and more-efficient use of highway capacity.⁵²