Operations Strategies

Highways are traditionally viewed as transportation facilities with fixed capacity, carrying traffic that peaks with commuters twice each weekday. However, increased traffic demand does not occur just twice daily or on a predictable schedule. It can occur several times during the day and can be driven by temporary and less predictable events.

Reductions in maximum capacity caused by crashes, work zones, bad weather, and other incidents create at least as much delay as the recurring overload of traffic from commuting. This situation is especially costly to the freight transportation community and affects the economy and the American consumer.

To overcome constraints on maximum capacity and temporary capacity losses, operations strategies are a critical tool. For freeways and other major arterials, strategies include monitoring roadway conditions; detecting, verifying, responding to, and clearing incidents quickly; providing traveler information through variable message signs, 511 telephone service, and other means; implementing lane management strategies; controlling flows onto freeways with ramp meters; and restricting some facilities to high occupancy vehicles. On minor arterials and major collectors, the timing and coordination of traffic signals are essential to facilitate the flow of traffic. States and local governments are making progress in the adoption of these strategies, but much work in this area remains to be done.

Without greater attention to operations, travelers and goods moving on the Nation's highways will continue to waste many hours as a result of delay caused by recurring congestion, incidents, work zones, weather, and poor traffic control. Lives will be ruined or lost because unsafe conditions and crashes are not detected and countered in a timely fashion. Through the effective implementation of correct operations strategies, transportation system reliability, safety, and security can be improved and productivity increased.