Challenge
Transportation improvement projects go through an arduous planning process that includes establishing the purpose and need for the improvement. In doing so transportation problems are identified that should be mitigated through the planned improvement. Many analyses and studies are typically performed in the planning and NEPA process to increase the likelihood of the project’s success. The project implementation process does not include post-project implementation analyses. As a result, there is no means of determining whether a project met its purpose and need.
Solution
Kittelson & Associates works with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Forecasting and Trends Office to evaluate safety and mobility pre and post-project implementation. This effort was conducted to help Florida DOT better understand how much certain projects improved the mobility and safety conditions along the roadway. FDOT’s districts were engaged in this study to help determine project locations, existing studies, and identify performance measures to best encapsulate the findings.
The Outcome
Evaluating Florida's Safety and Mobility Before and After Project Implementation
A handful of projects were selected from around the state to evaluate conditions prior to construction and conditions post-construction. The project team analyzed improvements to arterials, interchanges, and a road diet. Data from sanctioned sources was used to compute safety, travel time reliability, delay, level of traffic stress, and speeds for the selected improvement projects. Ultimately FDOT was able to quantify how much these projects improved the existing conditions, using the quantitative approach. This process is repeatable and can successfully be used wherever the data is available.
