A range of mobility issues, from measuring the problems to estimating the benefits and evaluating solutions are addressed by the Mobility Analysis Program. Researchers have developed a range of performance measures and the guidance on when to apply them. The measures focus on travel time and speed as quantities that work well for professional analyses and are easy to communicate to the general public and decision makers. Recent efforts have identified the importance of measuring the average conditions and the variation from day-to-day. These detailed studies not only provide the public a better idea of how transportation systems operate, but also provide agencies with better data to improve operations strategies and resource allocation.
Ongoing research in the program utilizes the experience gained over more than two decades of research into measures of congestion at an urban area scale. The measures quantify and monitor roadway congestion in urban areas from year to year in 85 metropolitan areas throughout the United States. The Travel Time Index presents congestion levels in a format that is easy to understand and communicate to the general public. The Buffer Index offers a measure of the day-to-day variation in travel time with the same relevance to the public and the profession. Congestion costs involving estimates of travel delay and fuel consumption for the traveling public are also estimated. This information assists planners in determining future transportation needs to improve urban area transportation systems and assist agency staff in communicating the benefits and costs to the public and decision-makers.
Researchers in the Mobility Analysis Program study aspects of the transportation profession, including:
- Mobility Performance Measures,
- Access Management,
- International Border Transportation Efforts, and
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation.
Many of the reports describing performance measures, estimation techniques and evaluation research projects are posted on the mobility studies website: http://mobility.tamu.edu/.
Researchers in this program also have extensive experience with transportation economics and finance research.
