Title 23

SECTION 490.709

490.709 Data requirements.

§ 490.709 Data requirements.

(a) Travel time data needed to calculate the PHED measure in § 490.707(a) shall come from the travel time data set, as specified in § 490.103(e).

(b) State DOTs, in coordination with MPOs, shall define reporting segments in accordance with § 490.103(f). Reporting segments must be contiguous so that they cover the full extent of the directional mainline highways of the NHS in the urbanized area(s).

(1) State DOTs shall measure or estimate hourly traffic volumes for Peak Periods on each weekday of the reporting year by using either paragraph (c)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(i) State DOTs may use hourly traffic volume counts collected by continuous count stations and apply them to multiple reporting segments; or

(ii) State DOTs may use Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) reported to the HPMS to estimate hourly traffic volumes when no hourly volume counts exist. In these cases the AADT data used should be the most recently available, but not more than 2 years older than the reporting period (e.g., if reporting for calendar year 2018, AADT should be from 2016 or 2017) and should be split to represent the appropriate direction of travel of the reporting segment.

(2) State DOTs shall assign hourly traffic volumes to each reporting segment by hour (e.g., between 8 a.m. and 8:59 a.m.).

(3) State DOTs shall report the methodology they use to develop hourly traffic volume estimates to FHWA no later than 60 days before the submittal of the first Baseline Performance Period Report.

(4) If a State DOT elects to change the methodology it reported under paragraph (c)(3) of this section, then the State DOT shall submit the changed methodology no later than 60 days before the submittal of next State Biennial Performance Report required in § 490.107(b).

(5) If an NHS roadway is closed, the State DOT is not required to include those time periods for the segment of road in the calculation required for this metric and measure.

(d) State DOTs shall develop annual vehicle classification data for each reporting segment using data as follows:

(1) State DOTs shall measure or estimate the percentage of cars, buses, and trucks, relative to total AADT for each segment using either paragraph (d)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(i) State DOTs may use annual traffic volume counts collected by continuous count stations to estimate the annual percent share of traffic volumes for cars, buses, and trucks for each segment; or

(ii) State DOTs may use AADT reported to the HPMS to estimate the annual percent share of traffic volumes for cars, buses, and trucks, where:

(A) Buses = value in HPMS Data Item “AADT_Single_Unit”;

(B) Trucks = value in HPMS Data Item “AADT_Combination”; and

(iii) If a State DOT uses the data reported to the HPMS in paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section, then the data values should be split to represent the appropriate direction of travel of the reporting segment.

(2) State DOTs shall report the methodology they use to develop annual percent share of traffic volume by vehicle class to FHWA no later than 60 days before the submittal of the first Baseline Performance Period Report.

(3) If a State DOT elects to change the methodology it reported under paragraph (d)(2) of this section, then the State DOT shall submit the changed methodology no later than 60 days before the submittal of next State Biennial Performance Report required in § 490.107(b).

(e) State DOTs shall develop annual average vehicle occupancy (AVO) factors for cars, buses, and trucks in applicable urbanized areas using either method under paragraph (e)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(1) State DOTs shall measure or estimate annual vehicle occupancy factors for cars, buses, and trucks in applicable urbanized areas.

(i) State DOTs shall use estimated annual vehicle occupancy factors for cars, buses, and trucks in urbanized areas provided by FHWA; and/or

(ii) State DOTs may use an alternative estimate of annual vehicle occupancy factors for a specific reporting segment(s) for cars, buses, and trucks in urbanized areas, provided that it is more specific than the data provided by FHWA.

(f) All State DOTs and MPOs contributing to the unified target for the applicable area as specified in § 490.105(d)(2) shall agree to using one of the methods specified in paragraph (f)(1)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section to identify the data that will be used to determine the Percent of Non-SOV Travel for the applicable urbanized area.

(1) The data to determine the Percent of Non-SOV Travel measure shall be developed using any one of the following methods.

(i) Method A - American Community Survey. Populations by predominant travel to commute to work may be identified from Table DP03 of the American Community Survey using the totals by transportation mode listed within the “Commuting to Work” subject heading under the “Estimate” column of the table. The “5 Year Estimate” DP03 table using a geographic filter that represents the applicable “Urban Area” shall be used to identify these populations. The Percent of Non-SOV Travel measure shall be developed from the most recent data as of August 15th of the year in which the State Biennial Performance Report is due to FHWA.

(ii) Method B - local survey. The Percent of Non-SOV Travel may be estimated from a local survey focused on either work travel or household travel for the area and conducted as recently as 2 years before the beginning of the performance period. The survey method shall estimate travel mode choice for the full urbanized area using industry accepted methodologies and approaches resulting in a margin of error that is acceptable to industry standards, allow for updates on at least a biennial frequency, and distinguish non-SOV travel occurring in the area as a percent of all work or household travel.

(iii) Method C - system use measurement. The volume of travel using surface modes of transportation may be estimated from measurements of actual use of each transportation mode. Sample or continuous measurements may be used to count the number of travelers using different surface modes of transportation. The method used to count travelers shall estimate the total volume of annual travel for the full urbanized area within a margin of error that is acceptable to industry standards and allows for updates on at least a biennial frequency. The method shall include sufficient information to calculate the amount of non-SOV travel occurring in the area as a percentage of all surface transportation travel. State DOTs are encouraged to report use counts to FHWA that are not included in currently available national data sources.

(2) State DOTs shall report the data collection method that is used to determine the Percent of Non-SOV Travel measure for each applicable urbanized area in the State to FHWA in their first Baseline Performance Period Report required in § 490.107(b)(1). The State DOT shall include sufficient detail to understand how the data are collected if either Method B or Method C are used for the urbanized area. This method shall be used for the full performance period for each applicable urbanized area.

(3) If State DOTs and MPOs that contribute to an applicable urbanized area elect to change the data collection method reported under paragraph (f)(2) of this section, then each respective State DOT shall report this change in their next Baseline Performance Report required in § 490.107(b)(1). The new method reported as a requirement of this paragraph shall not be used until the beginning of the next performance period for the Baseline Performance Report in which the method was reported to be changed.

(g) Populations of urbanized areas shall be as identified based on the most recent annual estimates published by the U.S. Census available 1 year before the State DOT Baseline Performance Period Report is due to FHWA to identify applicability of the CMAQ Traffic Congestion measures in § 490.707(a) and (b) for each performance period, as described in § 490.105(e)(8)(iii)(D) and (f)(5)(iii)(D). For computing the PHED measure in § 490.713(b), the most recent annual population estimate published by the U.S. Census, at the time when the State DOT Biennial Performance Period Report is due to FHWA shall be used.

(h) Nonattainment and maintenance area determinations for the CMAQ Traffic Congestion measures:

(1) The CMAQ Traffic Congestion measures apply to nonattainment and maintenance areas. Such areas shall be identified based on the effective date of U.S. EPA's designations under the NAAQS in 40 CFR part 81, as of the date 1 year before the State DOT Baseline Performance Period Report is due to FHWA.

(2) The nonattainment and maintenance areas to which the CMAQ Traffic Congestion measures applies shall be revised if, on the date 1 year before the State DOT Mid Performance Period Progress Report is due to FHWA, the area is no longer in nonattainment or maintenance for a criteria pollutant included in § 490.703.