TranStar Performance

[editor]

Houston TranStar Saved Region's Travelers Time and Money

Collaboration reduces the rate of congestion, travel time

HOUSTON (May 28, 2009) - Houston TranStar saved the region's travelers both time and money in 2008, according to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).

The 2008 TranStar Annual Report finds that reduced travel time and congestion, through TranStar's incident management and traveler information services, saved travelers more than 11.8 million vehicle-hours. The reduced travel delay times translates to a reduction of some 22.2 million gallons in fuel consumption, or about 480 tons of hydrocarbons; 3,100 tons of carbon monoxide; and 700 tons of nitrogen oxides. Clearly, an important benefit to the reduced congestion is reduced air pollution.

When fuel cost savings are combined with the estimated $238 million in delay savings, travelers netted an estimated $308 million in total cost avoidance.

"Each year, we enhance or add services to assist the community with its transportation and emergency management needs," said John R. Whaley, director of Houston TranStar. "For example, our Web site served as a major information source during Hurricane Ike, with more than 1.8 million unique users and 20.6 million Web accesses that month alone. A couple of years ago we set up mobile Web access and personalized e-mails to tell travelers about highway incidents and travel times."

"Using our services, travelers can choose alternate routes to avoid delays. We provide timely traveler information, help clear incidents more quickly and do what we can to decrease greenhouse gases and improved air quality," Whaley added.

Houston TranStar is a collaboration between four government agencies that coordinate and enhance transportation and emergency management services, responding to incidents and emergency in Harris County and beyond. Sharing their resources to serve area residents their agencies are the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Harris County, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) and the City of Houston.

[RedScare]

Given the fact that I look at the Real Time Traffic Map and the highway cams every day, and given the number of times that I have rerouted my trip when I found accidents or unusually heavy traffic, I have to admit that TransStar is dead on in their bragging. By having the ability to see where the bottlenecks are, and drive around them, I am able to keep my commute time consistent. I do not have to build in an extra 15 minutes for unknown disasters. In fact, in 14 months, the only time I was late for work was when I got caught at a railroad crossing, never a freeway tie up.

[CDeb]

TranStar is indispensible.

[HTX]

I don't mean for this to be a hijack but I do wonder about the performance of the GPS units that have traffic warnings built in to the program. I assume that the data comes from Transtar but maybe not. Does anyone know how that works?

When I purchased my unit it came with a 6 month free trial, I never got any use out of it while driving in Houston but it was great in a few other cities, Atlanta being one of them. When the free trial was up I declined it

[barracuda]

I don't mean for this to be a hijack but I do wonder about the performance of the GPS units that have traffic warnings built in to the program. I assume that the data comes from Transtar but maybe not. Does anyone know how that works?

When I purchased my unit it came with a 6 month free trial, I never got any use out of it while driving in Houston but it was great in a few other cities, Atlanta being one of them. When the free trial was up I declined it

I was wondering the same thing. I have Sirius Traffic in my new car which displays traffic on the navigation screen. I presume they must integrate into the Transtar system and similar systems across the country.

Google maps displays essentially the same thing too, but again I think they just glean the data from existing systems.

[brian0123]

I know this is an old topic, but is it just me or has TranStar been pathetic the past couple of months with their traffic reporting? I rarely get on the freeways, but EVERY time I have lately, I end up in a jam when TranStar reported it green. I've even checked the map when sitting in traffic and it showed green. I don't believe it's a caching issue (unless their servers are) because I've checked on different phones and computers. Has anyone been experiencing this recently?

[Ross]

I know this is an old topic, but is it just me or has TranStar been pathetic the past couple of months with their traffic reporting? I rarely get on the freeways, but EVERY time I have lately, I end up in a jam when TranStar reported it green. I've even checked the map when sitting in traffic and it showed green. I don't believe it's a caching issue (unless their servers are) because I've checked on different phones and computers. Has anyone been experiencing this recently?

 

I suspect it may be a sensor issue, where some of the sensors have been removed for construction.

 

[BaderJF]

Just use waze app, I think it's the most accurate traffic app since the users are who report the conditions

[houstontranstar]

I know this is an old topic, but is it just me or has TranStar been pathetic the past couple of months with their traffic reporting? I rarely get on the freeways, but EVERY time I have lately, I end up in a jam when TranStar reported it green. I've even checked the map when sitting in traffic and it showed green. I don't believe it's a caching issue (unless their servers are) because I've checked on different phones and computers. Has anyone been experiencing this recently?

 

Hello, I am a representative from Houston TranStar and I'm sorry you are having trouble with the map. Our goal is to make sure the map is as accurate as possible. Can you let me know which freeways or sections of freeway you are noticing inconsistencies on so we can attempt to address the issue? Also, is this occurring during a specific time of day or day of the week? The map itself is not cached and you can verify that you have the most current version by looking at the timestamp in the top left corner. It should be within a minute or so of the actual time.

[brian0123]

Hello, I am a representative from Houston TranStar and I'm sorry you are having trouble with the map. Our goal is to make sure the map is as accurate as possible. Can you let me know which freeways or sections of freeway you are noticing inconsistencies on so we can attempt to address the issue? Also, is this occurring during a specific time of day or day of the week? The map itself is not cached and you can verify that you have the most current version by looking at the timestamp in the top left corner. It should be within a minute or so of the actual time.

Thanks for following up on this! So far, I've noticed this mostly along 290 south to the 610 and I10 interchanges and leading to them. As mentioned by another user earlier, this could have been the result of all the construction in the area. I've also seen it recently (just once) on 45 north near Gallery Furniture. I live in the loop and rarely get on the freeways, so it seemed odd that the past couple of times this has happened.

Since you are here on the board I'd love to know if TranStar has ever thought of building (or maybe you have them and I haven't found them) forecast models for traffic based on past usages? I'm a programmer and wanted to build something like that, but I could never find if TranStar made their archived speed and incident database as a publicly available downloadable db similar to what HCAD maintains for properties. It would be cool if users could plan trips around past data. I would imagine (with the amount of data you all collect) that you'd even be able to build traffic hotspots for where accidents tend to occur so people can try to avoid those places at peak times. For example, on days where we've received x inches of rain at x time of day on x stretch of road, speeds have averaged x mph with a x% accident rate over the past year. Sorry for the long response but figured I'd ask since you're on here. Thanks again!

[Jesse]

I've noticed a lot of issues along I-45 North between 610 and BW8.  AM and PM.  Map shows green but I'm sitting at 0 MPH.  Sometimes there is a 15-20+ minute lag before the delay or incident shows up on the map.  I've seen multiple instances of an incident/accident being on the road for 30+ minutes, cleared, and THEN it appearing on the map.

 

Also, and I hope this isn't too off topic, but I've got to request one improvement:  When various festivals, conventions, shows, games, Silver Alerts, sobriety notices, etc take over the message signs, is there any way to have it alternate with the normal 'Travel Time' messages?  I'm sure there are plenty of people that need to know how to get down to Reliant or GRBCC, but I just need to get to work, and the travel time from 610 to 8 on 45 lets me know if I should take Hardy or not.  The signs are visible long enough that both messages should have ample time to be displayed before folks drive by.  Thanks!

 

 

Hello, I am a representative from Houston TranStar and I'm sorry you are having trouble with the map. Our goal is to make sure the map is as accurate as possible. Can you let me know which freeways or sections of freeway you are noticing inconsistencies on so we can attempt to address the issue? Also, is this occurring during a specific time of day or day of the week? The map itself is not cached and you can verify that you have the most current version by looking at the timestamp in the top left corner. It should be within a minute or so of the actual time.

 

[arche_757]

I've complained a few times to Transtar for their shoddy work during the weekends.  The laughable excuse is "We use the revenue from advertisers to help pay for the system."  That may be true, but I would rather they advertise during non-rushhour times during the work week and have up to date traffic information on the weekends (when the traffic can be worse than during the week).  I shouldn't sit there staring at an electronic billboard that tells me to exit 610 for the rodeo when I'm not going anywhere because I mistakenly got on I-69/59 and am now stuck in traffic because of a wreck that I could have otherwise avoided.  I generally just ignore transtar now on the roads because they don't really display the information I'm interested in.  Way to go!

 

Transtar will go away with googlemaps and bing traffic and the like (since most use those on their phones as it is now).  I honestly don't see how they will survive.  They offer a service that's already free and their service of traffic cameras isn't really necessary.  I only need to know where a wreck is or if the street is moving slowly.

 

And what is it with the un-interupted broadcasts of "kidnapped child in Laredo at 5pm in white silverado" being broadcast in Houston at 5:15pm!  No earthly way to travel that far that quickly.  I understand the urgency but these agencies need to be smarter about the missing child/elderly reports.  No one from Canyon or El Paso will make it to Houston in less than 1-2 hours, so there is little need (and of no help) to broadcast that information in Houston.

[houstontranstar]

Thanks for following up on this! So far, I've noticed this mostly along 290 south to the 610 and I10 interchanges and leading to them. As mentioned by another user earlier, this could have been the result of all the construction in the area. I've also seen it recently (just once) on 45 north near Gallery Furniture. I live in the loop and rarely get on the freeways, so it seemed odd that the past couple of times this has happened.

Since you are here on the board I'd love to know if TranStar has ever thought of building (or maybe you have them and I haven't found them) forecast models for traffic based on past usages? I'm a programmer and wanted to build something like that, but I could never find if TranStar made their archived speed and incident database as a publicly available downloadable db similar to what HCAD maintains for properties. It would be cool if users could plan trips around past data. I would imagine (with the amount of data you all collect) that you'd even be able to build traffic hotspots for where accidents tend to occur so people can try to avoid those places at peak times. For example, on days where we've received x inches of rain at x time of day on x stretch of road, speeds have averaged x mph with a x% accident rate over the past year. Sorry for the long response but figured I'd ask since you're on here. Thanks again!

 

Thanks for the heads up. While we aren’t having any specific issues with data quality in these areas, we’ll take a deeper look and try to resolve any issues we notice. There is a possibility that the data is slightly different from what you see on the map versus what you experience during your trip because of the delay built in to collecting the data however, it shouldn’t vary by much. Also keep in mind that the color coded lines represent an “average” speed between two points on a roadway so the speed could potentially vary inside the roadway segment.

 

Your idea regarding allowing the public to utilize the vast data for planning purposes is very valuable and we are working towards making some of that happen. Currently, you can view historical travel time and speed data from various years on the website at http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/hist/hist_traveltimes_menu.html. You can also see the average speeds for entire years going back more than 10 years at http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/hist/histmain.html.

[houstontranstar]

I've noticed a lot of issues along I-45 North between 610 and BW8.  AM and PM.  Map shows green but I'm sitting at 0 MPH.  Sometimes there is a 15-20+ minute lag before the delay or incident shows up on the map.  I've seen multiple instances of an incident/accident being on the road for 30+ minutes, cleared, and THEN it appearing on the map.

 

Also, and I hope this isn't too off topic, but I've got to request one improvement:  When various festivals, conventions, shows, games, Silver Alerts, sobriety notices, etc take over the message signs, is there any way to have it alternate with the normal 'Travel Time' messages?  I'm sure there are plenty of people that need to know how to get down to Reliant or GRBCC, but I just need to get to work, and the travel time from 610 to 8 on 45 lets me know if I should take Hardy or not.  The signs are visible long enough that both messages should have ample time to be displayed before folks drive by.  Thanks!

 

Thanks, we'll take a look at it. We have recently had an issue with a traffic sensor in that area because of the construction at Shepherd. However, it is causing the system to display no data (gray line) and not inaccurate data.

 

I do understand your concern about Amber and Silver Alerts on the message signs during times of peak travel. The policies regarding the message signs and prioritization of Amber and Silver Alerts are handled by the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin. You can contact them at http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/contact-us.html regarding your comments on the message postings.

[Jesse]

Thanks, we'll take a look at it. We have recently had an issue with a traffic sensor in that area because of the construction at Shepherd. However, it is causing the system to display no data (gray line) and not inaccurate data.

 

I do understand your concern about Amber and Silver Alerts on the message signs during times of peak travel. The policies regarding the message signs and prioritization of Amber and Silver Alerts are handled by the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin. You can contact them at http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/contact-us.html regarding your comments on the message postings.

 

Thanks for the answer.  While I appreciate the policies around Silver/Amber alerts, how about when the signs are displaying information about Rodeo parking, like this week?  Or the Strawberry festival.  Or a gun show.  Or a game at Reliant.  Or the Shell Open.  etc etc etc.

[arche_757]

I think real-time data regarding missing child or elderly needs to be considered.  I get the idea that a missing child or elderly person is important, but if they were just reported missing in Lubbock 1-2 hours ago what earthly good will it do to broadcast that in Houston?  It does no good.  And 99% of us do not know our own license plates so its doubtful that we would know someone else's car without a name!  It can be done.  Common sense people.

 

But yes, the Strawberry Festival/Rodeo/Gun Show X, Y, Z etc. all irk me that rather than display useful information they are being used as cheap billboards.

[brian0123]

Your idea regarding allowing the public to utilize the vast data for planning purposes is very valuable and we are working towards making some of that happen. Currently, you can view historical travel time and speed data from various years on the website at http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/hist/hist_traveltimes_menu.html. You can also see the average speeds for entire years going back more than 10 years at http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/hist/histmain.html.

 

Thanks! I'd love to see you all get to having a predictive quality to the traffic patterns. Just like we are now using software to predict areas of crime, I would think it would be fairly easy to apply the same concept to our traffic patterns. It would be awesome to see a "FutureCast" feature, or something like that, that we could click and show us what traffic might look like along our route. Glad to know you all are looking at something like that. Quck question, but is TranStar's data only available through the website, or is it possible for me to download a database/file dump of the data like HCAD provides at pdata.hcad.org?

[houstontranstar]

I think real-time data regarding missing child or elderly needs to be considered.  I get the idea that a missing child or elderly person is important, but if they were just reported missing in Lubbock 1-2 hours ago what earthly good will it do to broadcast that in Houston?  It does no good.  And 99% of us do not know our own license plates so its doubtful that we would know someone else's car without a name!  It can be done.  Common sense people.

 

But yes, the Strawberry Festival/Rodeo/Gun Show X, Y, Z etc. all irk me that rather than display useful information they are being used as cheap billboards.

 

We understand and don't disagree with your concerns about the use of the message signs. We do think that message posting policies should be reviewed so that the signs are used to provide travelers the information they need most. While some of the policies are not set locally, we can, and will, provide input to those who set those policies, and we will seek to improve our services to the Houston region. Thanks for the input, as it really does make a difference in determining the goals and output of government entities like Houston TranStar.

Edited March 7, 2014 by houstontranstar

[houstontranstar]

Thanks! I'd love to see you all get to having a predictive quality to the traffic patterns. Just like we are now using software to predict areas of crime, I would think it would be fairly easy to apply the same concept to our traffic patterns. It would be awesome to see a "FutureCast" feature, or something like that, that we could click and show us what traffic might look like along our route. Glad to know you all are looking at something like that. Quck question, but is TranStar's data only available through the website, or is it possible for me to download a database/file dump of the data like HCAD provides at pdata.hcad.org?

 

One way you can view predictive data on the website is by using the Route Builder Utility. If you choose "Historical Data" rather than "Live Data", you can build a route that will use the average historical speed and travel time for roadway segments based on your selected departure time. Historical data is one of the best forecasters there is for traffic. As you build your route, you can also view the estimated time savings (or cost) you would realize by modifying your departure time slightly. You can see a sample of one of these reports below that shows a typical Friday 7:00 AM departure time using a portion of the Katy Freeway. Below that, the table shows the time savings and cost associated with leaving at different times.

 

The predictive historical data is also available on the color code maps accessible from here.

 

Regarding accessing the data in the background, the best way to go about that would be to email Houston TranStar off the contact page on their website.

 

[brian0123]

This is awesome. Thanks!