Overview
More and more, transportation system operators are seeing the benefits of strengthening links between planning and operations. A critical element in improving transportation decision-making and the effectiveness of transportation systems related to operations and planning is through the use of analysis tools and methods. This brochure is one in a series of five intended to improve the way existing analysis tools are used to advance operational strategies in the planning process. The specific objective of developing this informational brochure series was to provide reference and resource materials that will help planners and operations professionals to use existing transportation planning and operations analysis tools and methods in a more systematic way to better analyze, evaluate, and report the benefits of needed investments in transportation operations.
This particular case study focused on using Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) procedures in long-range transportation planning for arterial signalization strategies. To better estimate link capacity, this case study developed an automated methodology to 1) transfer demand volumes from a regional model to software implementing the HCM Urban Streets procedure, 2) combine the volumes with known traffic signal timings to calculate a link-specifi c capacity, and 3) transfer that capacity back to the regional model for the next iteration.