Evaluating the effectiveness of integrated traffic corridors: concept and practice

Development of Integrated Traffic Corridors (ITCs) entails the installation of Advanced Traffic Management and Information Systems within a highway corridor, with the goal of optimizing traffic conditions on the highway and parallel arterials. This paper presents the concept of ITCs, and discusses steps for evaluating performance. These steps include: analysis of network performance, traveler surveys, interviews with participants and direct measurement of system elements. Unfortunately, real-world ITC evaluations cannot be conducted with the precision of a laboratory experiment. Numerous compromises come into play, from the nuts-and-bolts of data collection to the framing of mutually satisfactory goals and objectives. The paper discusses the issues that arose in developing the evaluation plan for a real-world ITC, including: establishing a basis for comparison, defining data collection methods, assuring impartiality and gaining cooperation. The evaluation was never executed, but the experiences gained provide insight into how future evaluations might succeed.