Investigation of Travel Time Reliability in Work Zones with Private-Sector Data

Abstract

The impact of work zones on mean travel time and travel time reliability has gained attention as agencies focus on performance measurement. Travel time reliability in work zones often has been difficult for agencies to quantify because of the time and expense required to collect travel time data. Several private-sector companies have begun to sell travel time data; this availability has created an opportunity to examine cost-effectively work zone impacts on travel time reliability on a broader basis. The Virginia Department of Transportation recently acquired probe vehicle-based travel time data for 2010 from a private-sector data provider. These data were used to calculate measures of travel time reliability at 15 work zones and to examine factors that affected travel time reliability. Travel time reliability was quantified with 95th percentile travel time, a buffer index, and a planning time index. The work zones experienced a statistically significant degradation across all measures of travel time reliability as compared with baseline conditions. Work zone mean buffer index, planning time index, and 95th percentile travel time rates were higher by 48%, 18%, and 16%, respectively. Although lane closures occurred during off-peak periods, work zones that involved lane closures experienced increases in their mean buffer index, planning time index, and 95th percentile travel time with rates of 67%, 23%, and 22%, respectively. Annual average daily traffic per lane and the number of access points per mile were found to have the most obvious relationships with declines in reliability at work zones.