Rapid nationwide congestion monitoring: the urban congestion reporting program

In order to meet a federal request for monthly nationwide congestion monitoring and reporting capability, the Urban Congestion Reporting (UCR) program was developed - an effort that acquires and analyzes travel time data provided by advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) across the nation. Ten cities are now included in monthly reports that refine travel time data into three key regional congestion measures: hours of congested travel (temporal duration of congestion), travel time index (measuring the intensity of delay under congested conditions), and buffer index (a measure of day-to-day travel time variability). Data acquisition and analysis have been successfully automated to meet the FHWA goal of having draft monthly reports issued within 10 working days from the close of the month under analysis. This rapid analysis and reporting program has provided FHWA with a significant new capability to augment its established congestion monitoring program.