TRB Webinar: Rapid Scenario Planning: Freeway Facilities Analysis Using the HCM

TRB conducted a webinar on Monday, July 29, 2019, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET that provided updates to the latest version of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), Sixth Edition: A Guide for Multimodal Mobility Analysis, which will be released next year. HCM is commonly used by transportation agencies to evaluate and forecast operations of roadway facilities. It may also be used to cost-effectively and reliably support agencies’ planning, programming, and management decisions.

This webinar provided an overview of the HCM freeway facilities methodology. This methodology, called Rapid Scenario Planning, integrates all freeway segment methods in the HCM (basic, merge, diverge, and weaving segments) into a multi time-period analysis framework that tracks queue build-up and dissipation over a 24-hour period. It provides similar performance measures to a microsimulation analysis, but with shorter turnaround time and a streamlined calibration process. Once a facility has been set up and calibrated, the Rapid Scenario Planning approach generates scenario-specific results and sensitivity analyses within minutes, which allows for near real-time decision support for freeway analysis projects. The presenter described case study applications of the method, including evaluation of capital improvements, transportation systems management and operations strategies, and work zones from multiple states.

This webinar was organized by the TRB Standing Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service.

The slides are available. Contact Reggie Gillum for a copy of the recorded webinar.

Webinar Presenter: Bastian Schroeder, Kittleson and Associates
Moderated by: Tom Creasey, Caliper Corporation

Professional Development Hour Information

A certificate for 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) will be provided to Professional Engineers (PEs) who register and attend the webinar as an individual. For approved webinars, TRB’s webinar program awards Registered Continuing Education Provider (RCEP) Professional Development Hour (PDH) credits associated with participation only to the registered individual and not to other members of a group that view the webinar together. To receive PDH credits, please register as an individual and sign into the webinar from your personal computer. After doing this, you may join your group in a meeting room. To be eligible for the credits, individuals must remain signed in for the entire webinar, including for any question and answer session following the presentations.

In addition, advance registration is available until just before the webinar starts. Once the webinar starts, you will be unable to submit your registration. Individuals that are registered for a webinar but do not receive their confirmation emails due to their organization’s internal firewalls should contact the TRB Helpdesk (MyTRB@nas.edu) for assistance in signing in.

Individuals registered as Florida PEs are no longer required to email TRB with your license number to report your attendance. Instead, please use your certificate that TRB provides through RCEP.net as verification of your attendance to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.

Please check with your licensing board to ensure that TRB webinar PDHs are approved by your board.

This webinar was developed in October 2019. TRB has met the standards and requirements of the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Credit earned on completion of this program will be reported to RCEP by TRB. Complaints about registered providers may be sent to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005.

Registration questions? Contact Reggie Gillum.