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Congestion Management

With rising demand for transportation infrastructure, but limited space to build more, cities face the need to find alternative solutions to manage congestion.

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What if we can ...

  • Improve human health, safety, the environment and the economy by reducing congestion?
  • Develop congestion management solutions in cities by employing best practices from around the globe?
  • Manage congestion through pricing without building new roadway infrastructure?
  • Use technology and data collection to track and understand congestion issues?
  • Reduce congestion by developing transit-orientated communities and improving transit services?
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A Simple Law of Physics

A simple law of (traffic) physics is that when traffic demand approaches the roadway capacity, the quality of service rapidly diminishes, and then when demand exceeds capacity, traffic flow breaks down completely.

The array of processes, tools and practices used to mitigate the resulting congestion is often referred to as congestion management – namely managing the situation in a manner as to avoid or minimize the negative impacts of congestion.A number of commonly used measures are described below.

They fall into three categories:

  • optimizing roadway uses
  • spreading traffic in time and space
  • adapting road infrastructure.1

WSP’s expertise combines local experience and understanding of markets and stakeholders with the global experience of bringing a variety of concepts all the way through the congestion management process—from policy planning to design and implementation to technology and enforcement.

World Road Association

 

The Reality

We cannot build our way out. Cities, urban areas and inter-urban links around the world are challenged by growing traffic congestion and a limited supply of roadway space, leading to a need to understand how to better manage demand for transportation.

One size does not fit all. Having shared concerns, needs and constraints does not necessarily mean congestion management solutions will look the same from city to city. Each city and situation is unique.

Where do we start. Community, government and existing infrastructure are among the many key factors that determine which approach will best meet the needs of residents, businesses and other key stakeholders.

Our Approach

We know there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution. Each congestion management project requires a unique solution.

WSP’s approach leverages existing experience with global congestion management models, combined with a local understanding of regional operational and policy considerations.

The scope of our mandate can involve either direct or indirect consideration of equity;  technology, education and [x]; achieving multiple stakeholder objectives such as improved safety, congestion and emissions reduction; positive revenue generation; and acceptance by the public, private business interests and multiple government agencies.

The large-scale introduction of self-driving vehicles will have major impacts on our urban centres.

Leading Commitments

Emission Reductions

WSP is uniquely positioned to provide the required expertise and services to tackle areas across congestion management. We offer our clients strategic, technical and operational guidance, leveraging our diverse global experience to find solutions tailored to their local context. 

 

Integrated Transport Planning

CONGESTION PRICING AND TOLLING

  • Policy design and evaluation
  • Travel demand modelling and forecasting
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Economic impact assessment
  • Environmental review and permitting
  • Statistical analysis and reporting
  • Measurement and data collection design
  • Finance, revenue planning and forecasting
  • Enforcement of congestion pricing

Our team of experts were involved in developing charging schemes, pricing levels and demand modelling, applying their experience to projects done in Stockholm, London, Singapore and Beijing. We have experience in designing various congestion pricing and tolling configurations, including:

  • Variable lane pricing (express toll lanes, HOT lanes)
  • Variable tolls on entire roadways
  • Cordon charges (either variable or fixed charges to drive within or into a congested area)
  • Area-wide charges (per-mile fees that may vary by level of congestion)

Our international experience has proven a value-add in feasibility studies such as the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan (UK), Translink (CA), Maryland Traffic Relief Plan (US), and NSW Future Mobility Prospectus (AU).

TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

  • Travel demand modelling
  • Traffic relief planning
  • Data analysis
  • Monitoring and measuring
  • Impact assessments
  • Quality of life analysis
  • New mobility strategies and scenario planning
  • Project piloting
  • Public interest and stakeholder facilitation
  • Public planning and policy initiatives

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

  • Ramp metering
  • Signal phase timing
  • All electronic tolling
  • Automatic/connected vehicles
  • Traveller information services
  • Roadway/traffic management
  • Coordinated system management
  • System-wide conversion

The Colorado SMART 25 Managed Motorways project builds/built upon the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications already present in the I-25 corridor, including ramp metering and traveler information systems, to improve the average speed and vehicular throughput.

DESIGN

  • Program/project delivery
  • Preliminary design
  • Capacity building, needs assessment, risk allocation
  • Multimodal roadway/lane use/intersection design (BRT, auxiliary lanes, arterial managed lanes)
  • Innovative lane use/intersection design
  • Automated/connected vehicles, and related infrastructure

WSP delivered increased railway and highway capacity to Gothenburg, Sweden residents, for better safety and mobility and greater economic activity.

In the US, the LBJ TEXpress Lanes project in Dallas, Texas involved fully managed lanes constructed sub-grade in a depressed corridor under general purpose lanes. Combining I-635 with I-35E enhanced mobility, provided safe connections and reduced revenue risk.

Future Ready

We know that our future world will be very different from today’s in many ways. Future Ready is our program to see the future more clearly, and to work with clients to design for this future as well as for today’s needs.

Through Future Ready, WSP brings clarity and vision to complex challenges. We see the future more clearly through key trends in climate change, society, technology and resources, and challenge staff to work with our clients to advise on solutions that are both ready for today and for this future. Future Ready delivers peace of mind, lower lifecycle costs and resilience.

We know from our research across the world that current design codes don’t necessarily account for the future we’re anticipating. With the Future Ready program, our experts are able to help our clients prepare for future realities of self-driving cars, ubiquitous renewables, ultra-flexible places, more severe weather events and increasing loneliness, amongst many factors.

We know there’s a huge job ahead of us to make existing infrastructure ready for the future. Including future trends in our advice to clients helps them plan for the long-term and makes good business sense. There are many ways we can make our projects Future Ready at no additional cost; in fact the whole idea is that it leads to lower overall costs because our thinking and designs have a future bias.

By designing for the long – as well as the short term – and by sharing our approach and insights, we progressively help cities, communities and clients get ready for the future. Ready for rapid urbanization, ready for heavier rainfall and hotter temperatures, and ready for a more connected world.

Projects

Insights

thn-building-resilience-to-ensure-highways-become-future-ready

April 2019

Building resilience to ensure highways are Future Ready

United Kingdom
Blog
Mobility , Technology , Resilience
Taylor family - campaign thumbnail

March 2019

HOW CUSTOMERS WILL BENEFIT FROM CUSTOMISED JOURNEY INFORMATION

United Kingdom
Feature
Mobility , Technology

March 2019

Digital Transformation in Transport & Infrastructure

Feature
Mobility , Places , Resilience , Society , Technology

January 2019 | 14 minutes

How can an operationally safe environment be assured in the transition to an automated environment?

United Kingdom
Technical Paper
Mobility , Resilience , Society , Technology

January 2019 | 14 minutes

Unintended Consequence of the Electric Vehicle Revolution

United Kingdom
Technical Paper
Mobility , Society , Technology , Resilience

October 2018 | 3:30 minutes

Is Connected Vehicle Technology Capable of Providing Benefits to More Than Just Drivers?

United States
Blog
Mobility , Technology
relationship-connected-vehicles-smart-cities-1

September 2018 | 3:30 minutes

The Relationship Between Connected/Automated Vehicles and Smart Cities

United States
Blog
Mobility , Society , Technology

May 2018 | 4 minutes

Vision Zero: A Road Safety Program that Improves the Environment

Feature
Resilience , Mobility , Places

12 minutes

Autonomous Vehicles and Driver Capability

United Kingdom
Technical Paper
Mobility , Society , Technology , Resilience

Airports Become Solid Citizens

Mobility , Resilience , Technology , Society , Places
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News

21 October 2019

WSP INTRODUCES SYSTEM DYNAMICS TOOL TO INFORM NEW MOBILITY DECISIONS

Preceding the ITS World Congress 2019 in Singapore, WSP demonstrated to a group of transport practitioners how a new proprietary system dynamics tool supports decisions embracing new mobility.

 
14 October 2019

WSP to attend “ITS World Congress 2019”

A delegation of WSP experts will attend the ITS World Congress #ITSWC19 from October 21-25 in Singapore. 

19 June 2019

WSP to Contribute Future Ready Thought Leadership to ICONHIC2019

ICONHIC2019 aims to bring together stakeholders from different disciplines—engineers, financers, insurers, and policy makers—to exchange experiences, ideas and perspectives on building future infrastructure resilience.
04 June 2019

WSP USA Joins in Unveiling New Toll Road in Austin

The improved highway aims to alleviate commuter congestion and provide motorists with a faster, more reliable route to Austin’s city center.
11 December 2018

Vision Zero: Setting a Higher Standard for Road Safety

Road safety is essential for societies to thrive. Each year, though, more than 1.35 million people die on the world’s roads in traffic crashes, and another 20 million to 50 million are seriously injured. 
HS2 Curzon street
09 October 2018

HS2 reveals designs for new stations in Birmingham and Solihull

HS2 will release images of two of its brand new stations, marking a significant milestone for the programme, cementing the project’s commitment to the Midlands and emphasising the region’s place at the heart of Britain’s new high speed network. 
Andrew Dodds WSP Director
26 September 2018

WSP makes trio of appointments to transport and infrastructure team

WSP’s 2,500-strong transport and infrastructure business has welcomed three new directors to its team as part of a recruitment drive to ensure the business is best placed to secure and deliver the growing pipeline of strategic rail and highways contracts across the public and private sector.
17 September 2018

WSP unveils future-ready approach to decision-making

Preceding the ITS World Congress 2018 in Copenhagen, WSP showed a group of transport decision-makers how The WSP Scenario Planning Toolbox is helping to develop resilient strategies that will endure the effects of rapid change.
10 September 2018

WSP Addresses Future Transport at "ITS World Congress 2018"

A delegation of WSP experts will attend the ITS World Congress #ITSWC18 from September 17-21 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  They will join 10,000+ attendees coming from over 100 countries to discuss state-of-the-art ITS developments that are transforming the transport landscape.
06 September 2018

WSP Global Cities Index: A Tale of Our Cities

WSP launches its inaugural global cities index based on future preparedness.