I-394 MnPASS Technical Evaluation Doug Sallman – Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Overview Objectives Challenges Approach Findings Lessons Learned

Objectives Conduct an independent assessment of the performance impacts resulting from the I-394 MnPASS deployment including: –Travel times/speeds –Vehicle and person throughput –Safety Investigate other issues including enforcement and revenue

Approach Collect data representing a broad period before and after to control for: –Traffic growth –Cyclical variations (day-of-week, time-of-year) –Weather conditions –Incident occurrence –Other external factors Compare performance from like periods with and without MnPASS to isolate any changes

Evaluation Challenges MnPASS system itself is dynamic Hours of operation change Construction of auxiliary lane in the westbound direction Closure of I-494 to I-394 ramps Record high fuel prices Changes to transit routes and fares Adjustment to pricing algorithm

Findings

Volume/Throughput Regional automobile travel demand has decreased compared to previous years, unrelated to MnPASS –Nearly 3% decrease in peak hour volumes observed on other regional corridors

Volume/Throughput In light of the regional changes… –I-394 MnPASS lanes peak hour volumes increased 7 to 30% –Total I-394 peak hour roadway volumes increased by up to 4% –Volume changes on the fringes of MnPASS operational hours were less positive or even slightly lower

Vehicle Speeds Despite increase in volume, speeds in the MnPASS lane have not decreased Travel speeds in the general purpose lanes increased by 2 to 15 percent –The relative speed change is greatest when conditions are most congested

Safety Number of corridor crashes has decreased by 12 percent in the year following MnPASS deployment, compared with the previous years Average =560

Enforcement Over 2,300 stops were made by enforcement officers on the I-394 corridor in the first year for HOV or double white line crossing violations

HOV Violation Rates LocationPre- MnPASS With MnPASS I-394 Reversible Section 7%4% I-394 Diamond Lane Section 20%9% I-35W HOV Control Section 23%33%* * I-35W HOV control corridor not equipped with MnPASS

Use and Revenue Average toll paid is now above $1 Total revenue is over $2 million (Opening to July 15, 2006 ) Toll revenue approximately $4,000 per week

Evaluation Lessons Learned +Evaluation team established early +Robust automated data collection system +Long-time horizon +Use of control corridor to assess regional changes -Occupancy data collection

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