The Route Report Tools are a data analysis BI tool that allows users to make smaller collections of TMCs, such as corridors, intersections, or areas, for deeper detailed analyses. A user can utilize default routes, or create their own routes and save them to their collection before opening a blank Report tool to build a completely custom report, or open a template for a quick start report. Templates cover a wide variety of use-cases from year over year comparisons, to before-after analyses, to seasonality, monthly or day-of-week analyses, and many many more.

Template Descriptions (What does each template do?)

Click the link to specific template for more detail.

Behavioral

• The Snapshot (Beginner) template compares an average day for a year against weekday and monthly averages as well as against AM or PM peak and Off-peak. The report looks at average speeds and congestion. It is intended to give the analyst a snapshot of a particular route over the latest calendar year for which there is a full year of NPMRDS data. The date ranges for each view (e.g., AM or PM peak, Off-peak) can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to update each route for the desired time period and click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied.
• The Seasonality (Intermediate) template is used to analyze seasonal behavior on a selected route. It compares data for a season against the full year. The report looks at average speeds and congestion. It is intended to give the analyst a seasonal view of a particular route over a year. The date ranges for each view (e.g., Winter or Spring) can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to update each route for the desired time period (Avg Day and Weekday) and click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied.
• The Bi-Directional (Intermediate) template is designed to look at the behavior of two directions of a bi-directional corridor. It is set up to show yearly averages for each year of the NPMRDS.
• • NOTE: This report requires two routes, ideally where the start and end points of one are the end and start points of the other. It should be the Eastbound and Westbound or Northbound and Southbound of a corridor.
• The Weekly Averages (Beginner) template is intended to analyze route behavior by displaying speed and hours of delay for each average day of the week in a single year.
  
  

Before & After

• The Single Route (Beginner) template compares an incident day against an average day without incident. It includes the monthly and yearly averages in which the incident occurred. Key graphs display the differences in speed and average hours of delay for the incident day against the yearly average day.
  
  

Change Over Time

• Year Over Year (Beginner) shows the travel time and average hours of delay for a single route across multiple years. The report is intended to give the analyst a year over year look at changes to average hours of delay and travel times. The date ranges for each year can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied.
• This Month vs. Last Month vs. Last Year (Advanced) is for comparing a month's travel time, average hours of delay, and speed to the previous month and the same month the year prior. The report is intended to give the analyst a month vs month, and month by year over year look at changes to average hours of delay, travel times, and speeds. The date ranges for each year can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied.
• The Monthly Congestion (Beginner) and Monthly Speed Comparisons (Beginner) templates are for analyzing congestion by comparing hours of delay or speed and travel time across all months of a single year. It is intended to give the analyst a monthly view of a particular route over a year.
  
  

Events

• The Single Day (Advanced) template compares an incident day against an average day without incident. It includes the monthly and yearly averages in which the incident occurred. Key graphs display the differences in speed and average hours of delay for the incident day against the yearly average day.

Introduction

The Snapshot Report compares an average day for a year against weekday and monthly averages as well as against AM or PM peak and Off-peak. The report looks at average speeds and congestion. It is intended to give the analyst a snapshot of a particular route over the latest calendar year for which there is a full year of NPMRDS data. Users will be asked to select a route before running the report as shown in the image below.

Setup

The Snapshot Report comes with default dates set. They need to be updated for the desired time period. The date ranges for each view (e.g., AM or PM peak, Off-peak) can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to update each route for the desired time period and click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied.

Interpretation

The report starts off by providing a Route Map displaying the speed on an average day during the year. The map provides regional context along with colors representing the yearly average speeds for the route. Next to this is a route line graph of the speed, using 5-minute data resolution. This provides a clear visual of average hours of delay on the route and at what parts of the day delay is incurred.

A Route Compare Component compares the route's all time averages against its AM peak, PM peak, and off peak averages. Green highlighted metrics indicate that the value of that metric for that year is improved when compared to the average for that year (i.e. higher speeds, fewer hours of delay). Conversely, red highlighted metrics are considered diminished from the average for that year. The component compares the following key metrics:

• Route Name - The name of the route
• Speed - Average annual, AM peak, PM peak, and off peak speeds on the route
• Travel Time - The average duration in minutes and second (MM:SS) it took to travel from the beginning to the end of the route
• Hours of Delay - How many hours of delay there were in the corresponding time period
• Avg. Hours of Delay - The average hours of delay

The following Route Bar Graphs display the average speed, average hours of delay, daily average speed by month, monthly hours of delay by month, average speed by day of the week, and total hours of delay by day of the week. These provide averages and totals for each of these metrics at the year, month, and day of the week resolution. Green bars indicates faster speeds and lower delay where purple indicates lower speeds and more delay.

Following these, a Route Map, TMC Grid Graph, and TMC Info Box provide TMC level information about the selected route. The combination the Route Map, TMC Grid Graph, and TMC Info Box are an interactive display of a TMC's location on the map. Hovering over a TMC on any of the three components will highlight the TMC on the other two. These components use the same green to purple color scale.

The Route Map and TMC Grid Graph display speed and average speed, respectively.

Below is an example of the TMC highlight feature using the Route Map and TMC Grid Graph.

The TMC Info Box provides metrics specific to each TMC in the selected route such as length or data quality. These maps and TMC info boxes are included as a check. The TMC network is updated annually and sometimes TMC segments change in length. It is good to check the TMC lengths before making any conclusions about behavioral change over time.

Lastly, the Snapshot Report displays the average speed and average hours of delay by peak. One bar each represents AM, PM, and off peak times for the selected route and time period. These Route Bar Graphs offer a quick snapshot of congestion by time of day.

Introduction

The Seasonality Report is used to analyze seasonal behavior on a selected route. It compares data for a season against the full year. The report looks at average speeds and congestion. It is intended to give the analyst a seasonal view of a particular route over a year. Each route is color-coded to represent its season. Users will be asked to select a route before running the report as shown in the image below.

Setup

The Seasonality Report requires the manual update of multiple date ranges for the route being analyzed. These date ranges for each view (e.g., Winter or Spring) can be changed by clicking on the routes listed under the “Routes” section of the control panel which will open up the details pane for each. Make sure to update each route for the desired time period (Avg Day and Weekday) and click “Update” to ensure the changes are applied. Users will need only to change the year for each route as the seasonal date ranges are preset.

Interpretation

The report starts off by providing a route line graph of the Average Hours of Delay per season, using 5-minute data resolution. Each color represents a season. This provides a clear visual of average hour s of delay on the route and at what parts of the day delay is incurred. Next to this is a Route Map displaying the speed on an average day during the year. The map provides regional context along with colors representing the yearly average speeds for the route.

Below this, four Route Bar Graph display the Hours of Delay, Average Hours of Delay, Average Speed, and Travel Time Index by season. The Y-axis displays the measure's average. A black bar represents the full year, with colors each representing one of the four seasons. An additional Route Line Graph is used to display the average hours of delay for the full year using a green-yellow-orange-red color scale. Green bars are fewer hours of delay while red are more. The Y-axis displays the daily hours of delay with the X-axis displaying individual days across the full year.

Further granularity is provided through a series of TMC Grid Graphs with accompanying maps. Grid graphs are a spatial and temporal representation of the segments of road that make up the selected route. TMCs are sequentially displayed with the height of each row indicating segment length. Each season has its own TMC Grid Graph. The combination of TMC grid graphs and route map allows for the interactive display of a TMC's location on the map. Hovering over a TMC on any of the grid graphs will highlight in on the route map and vice versa. Red indicates the slowest average speeds.

Four Route Bar Graphs--one for each season--display the average hours of delay by weekday. When used with the average speed TMC Grid Graphs and daily hours of delay Bar Graph, a more granular picture of when and where delay is occurring emerges.

Another combination of Route Map and TMC Grid Graph, this time displaying average speed by season against the yearly average, provides a view of seasonal speed variation across the selected route's TMCs. The TMC Grid Graphs should be read the same as above and provide the same highlight functionality.

Finally, a Route Line Graph displaying the average speed by season and for the full year rounds out the report.

Introduction

This report is designed to look at the behavior of two directions of a bi-directional corridor. It is set up to show yearly averages for each year of the NPMRDS. This report requires two routes, ideally two directions of a route segment where the start and end points of one are the end and start points of the other--Eastbound and Westbound or Northbound and Southbound of a corridor.

Setup

This report requires two routes, ideally two directions of a route segment where the start and end points of one are the end and start points of the other--Eastbound and Westbound or Northbound and Southbound of a corridor.

Interpretation

The report template starts off with a map of the routes being analyzed. Beyond giving regional context, the map color-codes each TMC segment by its speed value.

Two Route Info Boxes show the key metrics for each direction:

• Route Name - Which direction and year the data is for
• Speed - What the average annual speed for the route was
• Travel Time - The average duration in minutes and second (MM:SS) it took to travel from the beginning to the end of the route
• Hours of Delay - How many hours of delay there were in the corresponding year
• Avg. Hours of Delay - The average hours of delay
• Length - The length of the route, particularly valuable for identifying TMC shape changes
• Annual Average Daily Traffic - Quantity of cars traversing the route on average in a day of that year

The next set of tables are Route Compare Components that compare each year's metrics to the 2016 data to visualize trends. Green highlighted metrics indicate that the value of that metric for that year is improved when compared to the 2016 year (i.e. higher speeds, fewer hours of delay). Conversely, red highlighted metrics are considered diminished from the 2016 year.

Each of the following Hour of Delay line graphs show the total hours of delay by 5-minute epoch for each year (2016-2022) for each direction of the route. These line charts can be used to identify the typical peak delays times and how those peaks shift throughout time.

The bar graphs below show the total hours of delay per day (2016-2022) for each direction. The red-spikes are days with a high amount of delay, which likely point to a unique situation such an accident or weather delays. Multiple days of high delay could point to holiday behavior or construction.

Like the Hours of Delay line graphs above, these Travel Time line graphs show the time it takes to travel the segment at each 5-minute epoch for each year (2016-2022). Spikes in travel time indicate particularly large average peaks for that year.

Similarly, the Travel Time bar graphs show the total hours of delay per day (2016-2022) for each direction. These graphs can assist in identifying time periods where travel times were significantly different than usual. Dark green sections indicate periods of time where travel times were quicker and yellow or red patches indicate time periods where travel times were slower (i.e. during construction).

The following collection of maps and info boxes display the information and measures for the individual TMCs that make up the route, for both the base year (left) and the current year (right). The maps and the TMC info boxes are interactive so scrolling over a TMC in either the map or the table highlights it in both. These maps and TMC info boxes are included as a check. The TMC network is updated annually and sometimes TMC segments change in length. It is good to check the TMC lengths before making any conclusions about behavioral change over time, such as increase or decrease in hours of delay.