PM3 - System Performance
Updated Using 2023 Data

The third of the performance measures rules (PM3) issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) establishes three measures to assess the system performance of the National Highway System (NHS):

  1. Interstate Reliability: Percent of Person-Miles Traveled (PMT) on the Interstate that are reliable
  2. Non-Interstate Reliability: Percent of Person-Miles Traveled (PMT) on the Non-Interstate NHS that are reliable
  3. Freight Reliability: Truck Travel Time Reliability (TTTR) Index

The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) requirements do not apply to Florida because air quality in the entire state of Florida is in attainment.

State DOTs and MPOs must set targets to assess the reliability of passenger and truck freight travel on NHS roads. FDOT established statewide targets in December 2022 for system performance in 2023 and 2025. A total of 24 MPOs supported the statewide targets, and three set their own targets for at least one of the measures or years.

Methodology

Methodology: PM3 - System Performance

Details of the third performance rule (PM3) are available here for Interstate and Non-Interstate NHS reliability measures and here for freight reliability measures on the Interstate System.

Calculation

Percent of Person Miles Traveled on the Interstate and Non-Interstate NHS that are Reliable

These measures are calculated by determining the Level of Travel Time Reliability (LOTTR) for each reporting segment, rounded to the nearest hundredth. LOTTR is defined as the ratio of 80th percentile travel time to the 50th percentile travel time using travel time data in 15-minute intervals from the National Performance Monitoring Research Data Set (NPMRDS). The LOTTR metric is calculated for the following time periods:

  • AM Peak – 6:00am – 10:00am on Monday – Friday
  • Mid-day – 10:00am – 4:00pm on Monday – Friday
  • PM Peak – 4:00pm – 8:00pm on Monday – Friday
  • Weekends – 6:00am – 8:00pm on Saturday and Sunday

A segment is reliable if its LOTTR is less than 1.5 during all four time periods. If one or more time periods has a LOTTR of 1.5 or above, that segment is unreliable.

To obtain person miles traveled, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for each segment are multiplied by the average vehicle occupancy for each type of vehicle on the roadway. FHWA published a national average vehicle occupancy of 1.7 for all roads and that is the number that was used for all the segments in Florida.

To calculate the percent of person miles traveled that are reliable on the Interstate or non-Interstate NHS, the sum of the number of reliable person miles traveled is divided by the sum of total person miles traveled.

`"Interstate and Non-Interstate Reliability" = ("∑"_(i=1)^(R)("SL"_(i) × "AV"_(i) × "OF"_(j)))/("∑"_(i=1)^(T)("SL"_(i) × "AV"_(i) × "OF"_(j)))`

Where,

Rtotal number of reporting segments that are exhibiting an LOTTR below 1.50 during all of the time periods;
I reporting segment ‘‘i’’;
SLᵢlength, to the nearest thousandth of a mile, of the reporting segment ‘‘i’’;
AVᵢtotal annual traffic volume to the nearest single vehicle, of the reporting segment ‘‘i’’;
Jgeographic area in which the reporting segment ‘‘i’’ is located where a unique occupancy factor has been determined;
OFᵢoccupancy factor for vehicles on the NHS within a specified geographic area within the State/Metropolitan planning area; and
Ttotal number of reporting segments.

Truck Travel Time Reliability Index

The Truck Travel Time Reliability (TTTR) Index is calculated using truck travel time data in 15-minute intervals from the NPMRDS. Average travel times are ranked for each segment of the Interstate for each of the following five time periods:

  • AM Peak – 6:00am – 10:00am on Monday – Friday
  • Mid-day – 10:00am – 4:00pm on Monday – Friday
  • PM Peak – 4:00pm – 8:00pm on Monday – Friday
  • Weekend – 6:00am – 8:00pm on Saturday - Sunday
  • Overnight – 8:00pm – 6:00am on all days of the week

A TTTR ratio is calculated for each segment of the Interstate system by dividing the 95th percentile truck travel time by the 50th percentile truck travel time during each time period. The highest TTTR value for each segment among the five time periods is then weighted by segment length. The sum of the weighted values is divided by the total Interstate length to calculate the TTTR Index.

`"Freight Reliability" = ("∑"_(i=1)^(T)("SL"_(i) × "maxTTTR"_(i)))/("∑"_(i=1)^(T)("SL"_(i)))`

Where,

iAn Interstate System reporting segment;
maxTTTRiThe maximum TTTR of the five time periods of Interstate System reporting segment ‘‘i’’;
SLᵢSegment length of Interstate System reporting segment ‘‘i’’; and
TA total number of Interstate System reporting segments.
Definitions

Definitions: PM3 - System Performance

  • Level of Travel Time Reliability (LOTTR): The ratio of 80th percentile travel time to the 50th percentile travel time using travel time data in 15-minute intervals from the National Performance Monitoring Research Dataset (NPMRDS).
  • National Highway System (NHS): Roads designated by Congress as nationally important for inter-regional travel, including roads designated as connectors to NHS intermodal facilities.
  • National Performance Monitoring Research Data Set (NPMRDS): A national data set of average travel times on the National Highway System that is acquired by FHWA for use in its performance management activities.
  • Occupancy Factors: For computing Travel Time Reliability measures, the PM3 Rule requires that the Occupancy Factors needed to calculate the measures must come from the most recently available data tables published by FHWA, unless using other allowed data source(s). In April 2018, FHWA provided guidance that an Occupancy Factor of 1.7 be used for calculating the Travel Time Reliability measures.
Download Data

Date of last refresh: 08/30/2024

SOURCE

Travel time from National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS)
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) from Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS)
Segment Length from NPMRDS
Occupancy Factor provided by FHWA