HRTPO staff analyzes regional roadway congestion as part of the Hampton Roads Congestion Management Process.  Most of this congestion analysis is done by collecting traffic counts from many different sources for the majority of roadway segments throughout the region.  HRTPO staff has started collecting actual speed data from various sources for many of these same locations, since speed data has the possibility of providing a more accurate means to measure traffic congestion than the existing volume measures. 

Since mid-2009, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization has maintained a database of the average speed for 15-minute periods at over 200 locations throughout the region.  With this data HRTPO can determine when these locations are congested and how long the congestion exists.  More analysis of the speed data will be completed by HRTPO staff in Spring 2011 with the entirety of 2010 data.

This speed data will also be supplemented with travel time data now being collected by Hampton Roads Transit buses on their Max regional express service.  Average travel times will be provided for many segments of the Interstate system by this technology, providing HRTPO staff another resource to analyze regional congestion.