by: Keith Nichols, PE, Senior Transportation Engineer

HRTPO has recently released the Hampton Roads Regional Travel Time Reliability Study draft report. 

National studies have established that Hampton Roads has some of the worst roadway congestion in the country for a region of its size.  However, congestion levels are not the same each day.  Factors such as crashes, bad weather, special events, and roadway maintenance can greatly increase congestion levels on any particular day.

For many travelers, such as those catching a flight at the airport, going to the doctor for an appointment, or picking up their children from day care, the consistency and dependability of travel times is just as important as the average level of congestion.  Unreliable travel times not only force travelers to pad a trip with a cushion which wastes time, but could also cause travelers to unacceptably arrive at their destination late.

The ability to analyze the travel time reliability – defined as how much travel times vary from day to day – has increased in recent years, as new technologies have been created that collect travel time and speed data on a continuous basis.  This report uses INRIX travel time and speed data collected throughout 2012 to examine the travel time reliability of the Hampton Roads roadway network.  Two measures analyzed in this report are the buffer index, which compares the variability of travel times to average travel conditions, and the planning time index, which compares travel times during some of the most congested conditions with those in free-flow, uncongested conditions.

This report is produced as part of the region’s Congestion Management Process (CMP). The Congestion Management Process is an on-going process that identifies, develops, evaluates, and implements transportation strategies to enhance mobility regionwide.

The Hampton Roads Regional Travel Time Reliability Study draft report is available for public review and comment through June 19^th, 2013.  You may access the draft report by clicking on the following link:

Draft Hampton Roads Regional Travel Time Reliability Study Report

All interested parties are encouraged to review the draft report and send comments to Keith Nichols at knichols@hrtpo.org.