INRIX supplies traffic data to the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and state and regional agencies to assess travel reliability, congestion and emissions. National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS) is the default dataset for calculating the new US Federal ‘PM3’ system and freight performance measures. NPMRDS, delivered in partnership with University of Maryland (UMD) at FHWA expense, allows agencies to access massive amounts of data from January 2017 forward on the National Highway System (NHS) road network at no cost.
State DOTs and MPOs Leverage NPMRDS Data for Better Overall System Analysis and Federal ‘PM3’ Target-setting. Deadlines for Federal system and freight performance reporting are now coming fast and furious. States must complete their initial baseline performance reports by October 1, including targets for Interstate, non-Interstate and Truck Travel Time Reliability measures (and an additional delay measure for those with one or more non-attainment areas). Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) must submit targets to their state DOT(s) by November 16th.
It’s one thing to meet these deadlines, it’s entirely another to do so with well thought out targets that sync with the state/regional macroeconomic environment and investment strategy. Earlier this year, INRIX announced two additional NPMRDS products available to agencies for better target-setting and additional system performance measurement and analysis – and many agencies have now licensed both products.
NPMRDS 2016 Backfill
For agencies serious about analyzing trends to set targets, INRIX is providing ‘backfill’ data for all of 2016 for a one-time modest fee, enabling more than two full years of consistent data on the NPMRDS network. At the time of this blog post, 13 states have licensed 2016 backfill data. Most of these agencies are also using the ‘PM3’ MAP-21 module on UMD’s RITIS platform, and thus have the ability to utilize this backfill data along with the core NPMRDS data seamlessly and immediately.
For example, Figure 1 shows statewide measures against hypothetical targets in Tennessee in 2016 and 2017, and was generated in a matter of seconds using both 2016 Backfill and the RITIS Map-21 module. This data will be available in the NPMRDS data downloader immediately upon licensing, and for agencies with access to RITIS PM3 Tools, Deep Dive Analytics or the Probe Data Analytics (PDA) Suite, this data will be available for use in the appropriate modules.
NPMRDS TMC Expansion
Agencies in six states are now also licensing the expanded TMC dataset. This option includes the 2016 Backfill and provides NPMRDS-formatted data for all roads in the US with defined TMC segments. Data on all TMCs is provided from January 2016 forward and is added monthly for licensees at the same time the core NPMRDS is made available via the RITIS Data Downloader. The expanded network roughly doubles the amount of network nationwide, as shown in Figure 2.
NPMRDS TMC Expansion creates a consistent dataset on a state’s or region’s key road network (beyond the NHS) that syncs with the data used in federal performance reporting. This is especially useful for state DOTs and MPOs that have access to the RITIS Deep-Dive Analytics Tools or the PDA Suite but do not yet have access to archived probe data to fully utilize the power of these tools.
‘Deep-Dive” Analytics
States and MPOs without access to the full set of RITIS “Deep-Dive” analytical tools can now license them affordably through AASHTO. These are the classic RITIS PDA tools – Congestion Scan, Trend Map, Performance Charts and Summary Reports, User Delay Cost, and Bottleneck Ranking – modified to run on INRIX NPMRDS data. These tools will help you get the most out of the TMC Expansion dataset described above, not just for PM3 regulatory compliance but for many other long-range planning & programming activities – or on the operations side, for example, to produce evidence to justify program funding requests. (Contact info@ritis.org for more information.)
Datasets have been licensed by both state DOTs and MPOs. In cases where state DOTs license, all MPOs in those states also have access to the data. MPOs also have the option to directly license for its use only at a reduced rate.
If you are interested in either NPMRDS Backfill or TMC Expansion datasets, and to consider acquiring access to the RITIS Deep-Dive tools, please reach out to busdev@inrix.com using the subject ‘NPMRDS Datasets’ and we will engage directly.