Overview
This guidebook provides step-by-step procedures for designing and conducting empirically based (i.e., observational) before-and-after studies for operations strategies. While the focus is on operational strategies, the same procedures may be applied to any highway congestion mitigation strategies, including capacity expansion and demand management. Because the method is empirically based, the user must have a variety of data compiled and must be familiar with their structure and limitations. Because travel time reliability is a key component of the guidebook’s analysis procedure, continuously collected travel time data is a fundamental component. Continuously collected travel time data are quite voluminous and require that the user have the proper software and basic analysis skills to process.