Developing a Planning and Evaluation Guide for Active Traffic Management Strategies (2024)
Chapter: 1 Background
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND
The initial research project to develop the ATM guide was launched in 2013 in response to the rapidly evolving concept of ATM and the need to provide guidelines to agencies considering these operational strategies for their jurisdictions. Experience has shown that guides help serve the critical role of bridging the gap between detailed simulation assessments and real-world deployments of operational strategies to enhance regional mobility. The diverse range of ongoing state and national activities, relevant reports, and existing documents that must be considered and incorporated into the ATM guide in a cohesive fashion presented a key challenge during its development. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) team completed the initial guide in 2016 based on the original proposal submitted. The initial undertaking was complex and incorporated a broad range of documents, handbooks, primers, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) activities, research initiatives, deployments, and other resources in the development of the content.
Since the completion of the draft initial guide in 2016, much has changed in the ATM realm in the United States. In addition to more deployments and research activities, numerous resources have become available, and connected and automated/autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and their related issues have emerged, changing the ATM landscape. Because the initial guide was never finalized, the NCHRP staff and the research team recognized that this new landscape provided an opportunity to revise the guide to account for the continued evolution and to present an expanded and more useful document for the intended audience to foster future implementation.
The objective of this project was to update and enhance the previously developed draft guide for planning and evaluating ATM for recurrent and nonrecurrent conditions. The final product is intended to serve as a primary reference on ATM and be an essential resource for those agencies considering ATM in their jurisdiction. It is applicable to practitioners with all levels of experience in traffic management and can be used to support informed decision-making.
