Incorporating Reliability Performance Measures in Operations and Planning Modeling Tools: Application Guidelines

This document provides an overview of the methodology and tools that can be applied to existing microsimulation and mesoscopic modeling software to assess travel time reliability. Specifically, the application guidelines provide: a description of the practical applications at both the policy and project level; a systematic description of the various steps involved in applying the travel time reliability methodology, including an overview of the associated tools and how they function in conjunction with the simulation models; and demonstrated evidence of how the methodology can be applied. Two case studies show how the framework and tools can be applied to potentially real-life transportation planning/engineering situations. The methodology is primarily based on research, and the tools have been developed only at the prototype stage. However, through rigorous testing at different levels of simulation resolution, the framework, the processes, and the tools have been shown to have practical applicability for use by transportation agencies and consultants for policy and project evaluation.