Getting Started

Goals and Objectives
For purposes of the case study, we’re going to assume the goal is to mitigate negative impacts resulting from traffic related to the site and general background traffic growth. We have to separate the former from the latter to ensure that we know which impacts are due to general traffic growth and which are due to the site. The objectives are to identify the needed improvements in geometry and the operational changes required. The former is likely to be lane additions while the latter is likely to be changes in lane use designation and signal timing.

Related to the goals and objectives are performance measures by which the system’s performance is evaluated. In many cases, they’re easy to identify. Delay is one that’s common. Another is level of service (LOS). (Sometimes delay implies level of service.) Others are total vehicle hours of travel, total vehicle miles, air pollution outputs, and noise impacts. For this case study, we will focus on delays and queues.

Discussion:

What scenarios will we need to model to address these goals? What other potential issues may need to be addressed as part of this development?