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Mobility Monitoring – Roadways – Arterial Roadways
OVERVIEWREGIONAL TRENDSROADWAYSINTERSECTIONSTRANSIT
BICYCLE/PEDESTRIANHOV LANESTRAVEL DEMAND MANAGEMENTPARK-AND-RIDE
OverviewArterial RoadwaysCrashesFreewaysPerformance MeasuresTraffic Volumes
Average Speeds
Overall, about 9 percent of the monitored Class III arterial roadway miles in the region have average travel speeds of 18 mph or less in the morning peak period. This number increases to 12 percent in the evening peak period. About one-half of these slow-travel miles are on the monitored roadways located in the Boston-and inner-suburbs-subregion.

Traffic on 13 percent of Class I/II (major arterial) roadways experiences average travel speeds of 27 mph or less during the morning peak period, worsening to nearly 18 percent during the evening peak period.

The difference in travel speeds between roadways in the Boston-and-inner-suburbs subregion and roadways in the outer-suburbs is strongly apparent. In the morning peak period, 20 percent of the monitored arterial roadways in the Boston-and-inner-suburbs subregion have average travel speeds of 18 mph or less, compared to 5 percent in the outer suburbs subregion.

In the evening peak period, 28 percent of the monitored arterial roadways in the Boston-and-inner-suburbs subregion have average travel speeds of 18 mph or less, compared to 8 percent in the outer-suburbs subregion. Furthermore, only a quarter of the arterial roadways in the Boston-and-inner-suburbs subregion have average speeds above 30 mph in the evening, compared to nearly 70 percent for the roadways in the outer-suburbs.
Speed Index
Regionwide, about 16 percent of the monitored Class III arterial roadways have average observed speeds in the morning peak period that are less than 70 percent of the speed limit; in the evening peak period, this figure is 19 percent. In terms of average observed speeds near or above the posted speed limit, 62 percent of the roadways in the morning peak period were observed in this range; in the evening, this number drops to 55 percent. Of the MMS roadways in the Boston and inner suburbs subregion, slightly less than a third had observed average speeds in the evening peak period near or above the posted speed limit.

The Class III roadways in Boston and its inner suburbs show a great difference in the speed index between the morning and evening peak periods: 31 percent of roadways in the morning have average observed speeds that are less than 70 percent of the speed limit, as compared to about 40 percent of roadways in evening period.

For Class I/II arterial roadways, comparing the speed index between the morning and the evening peak periods shows a different congestion picture. Fewer of these major arterials with partially limited access have average observed speeds that are less than 70 percent of the posted speed limit in the evening peak period: 21 percent; compared to nearly 25 percent of these roadways in the morning peak period.
Delay
Observed delay is greater in the evening peak period than in the morning peak period. During the morning peak period, there are 42 intersections on the MMS network with average approach delays higher than 80 seconds per vehicle; in the evening peak period, 78 intersections on the MMS network have approaches with average delays higher than 80 seconds per vehicle, nearly twice the morning peak period´s number. In the evening peak period, 15 percent of the signalized intersections on the MMS roadway network have approaches that experience 55 seconds or more of delay; 6 percent of the signalized intersections experience 80 seconds or more of delay. Most of the high-delay intersections are located in the Boston-and-inner-suburbs subregion.

Maps

  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the Middle Inner Core Subregion
    (Boston and inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the Upper Inner Core Subregion
    (Upper inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the Lower Inner Core Subregion
    (Lower inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the MAGIC Subregion
    (Northwest suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the MetroWest Subregion
    (West suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the NSPC Subregion
    (North suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the NSTF Subregion
    (North Shore suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the SSC Subregion
    (South Shore suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the SWAP Subregion
    (Southwest suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speeds on Arterial Roadways in the TRIC Subregion
    (South suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the Middle Inner Core Subregion
    (Boston and inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the Upper Inner Core Subregion
    (Upper inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the Lower Inner Core Subregion
    (Lower inner suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the MAGIC Subregion
    (Northwest suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the MetroWest Subregion
    (West suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the NSPC Subregion
    (North suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the NSTF Subregion
    (North Shore suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the SSC Subregion
    (South Shore suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the SWAP Subregion
    (Southwest suburbs) (PDF) AM PM
  • Speed Index for Arterial Roadways in the TRIC Subregion
    (South suburbs) (PDF) AM PM

Table


Regionwide Speeds and Delay at Intersections (Excel)

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