1. Broward County Congestion Assessment
FSUTMS Users Group
Peng Zhu
Cambridge Systematics
September 20, 2019

2. Outline Background and purpose Data Analysis Methodology
Screening and Verification
On-going efforts

3. Background
Purpose:
Identify existing congestion
Utilize new data sources
probe vehicle speed
Focus on arterial streets
Develop implementable projects
D/W Study, First task targeted at Broward County arterials
Roadway segments
Recurring congestion

4. Data
HERE vs NPMRDS coverage (Q1 2017)
HERE
NPMRDS

5. HERE Data Suitable and available data source for congestion assessment
Data field:
TMC (segment ID, directional)
Time interval
Speed
Reference speed (85th percentile)
Travel time
Confidence (real time -> historical)
Data unit: Traffic Message Channel (TMC) ~ roadway segment each associated with speed and travel time data

6. Methodology development
Congestion
Raster & line
Reference speed (HERE)
Posted speed
Normalized delay
Bottlenecks
Combined score w weights

7. 1 Mile Raster Analysis (6 PM)

8. Methodology Analysis period Congestion measures Ranking March 2017
Typical weekdays: Tuesday through Thursday; excluding Spring Break Days
Peak hours: 7-9 a.m.; 4-6 p.m.
Every 15-minute interval
Congestion measures
Intensity: How SLOW traffic gets, compared to posted speed
Duration: How LONG congestion lasts, also related with posted speed
Ranking
Normalization and Weighting

9. WB EB

10. Intensity Measuring “how slow” the traffic was
Peak 30 Minutes: 8:00~8:30 AM and
5:30~6:00 PM
Free Flow Speed (arterial):
~2/3 Posted Speed (LOS B+)
Mapping
First Tier: Top 5% (~70)
Second Tier: Top 10% (~140)

11. Duration Measures “how long” congestion lasts.
Time periods (counts of 15- minute slots) under LOS F:
LOS F: (~1/3 posted speed)
< 15mph for Class I streets (post spd >= 40mph)
< 10mph for Class II streets (post spd <= 35mph)
Mapping
Congestions last more than one hour

12. Most Congested by Intensity/Duration
Intensity Ranking
Ranking
Roadway Name
From To 1
Oakland Park Blvd
I-95
Andrew Ave 2
SR-7
Riverland Rd
Davie Blvd 3
Broward Blvd
NW 27 Ave
NW 7 Ave 4
Hallandale BCH Blvd
SE 1 AVE 5
University Dr
NOVA Dr
Peters
Duration Ranking
Ranking
Roadway Name
From To 1
SE 3 Ave
E LAS OLAS Blvd
BROWARD Blvd 2
Hollywood Blvd
N 21 Ave
US-1 3
SE 24 St
SW 4 Ave
NE 6 Ave 4
SR-7
Griffin Rd
Orange Dr 5
Oakland Park Blvd
I-95
Andrew Ave

13. Spread out
Interchanges
Rail Crossings
More E-W; less N-S
More Center and East; less West

14. Comparing with Surtax Projects
Overlaid with Broward County Surtax Plan projects
Dark dots: Intersection improvements
Dash lines: Road capacity improvements - 4 lanes to 6 lanes

15. Screening Interchange locations Constructions School operations
I-95 and Turnpike
Constructions
Construction logs (state and county)
Previous WP
School operations
Speed reduction zones
AM, PM
Locations with programmed efforts
Work program
LRTP/MTP
TIP
Coordination with FDOT offices, County Traffic and Highway, MPO

16. Verification Broward TMC traffic cameras LOS Report TSM&O
AM and PM conditions at high rank locations
LOS Report
subarea consistency
TSM&O
Program coverage
Monthly performance reporting
Online maps (such as google “typical” traffic, and live traffic)

17. Combined Ranking

18. Combined Ranking

19. Lessons Learned Results sensitive to posted speeds
Long TMC may “dilute” results
A1A
US-1
SE 17 St
Eisenhower

20. 2016 2017 2018 Lessons Learned Congestion pattern changes over years
Hotspot
2018

21. Some questions received
Why March?
Why Tuesday through Thursday?
Why 7-9 am and 4-6 pm?

22. Speed Profiles Area 1: West of US-441 Area 2: US-441 to US-1
Area 3: US-1 to A1A

23. Speed by Month of Year

24. Speed by Day of Week

25. Speed by Time of Day

26. Current Efforts Broward County Palm Beach and Treasure Coast
Identified high ranked locations
Conducted traffic analysis at selected locations
Developed mitigation projects
Coordinating with FDOT, County, MPO, and Cities
Palm Beach and Treasure Coast

27. Thank you!