Improve freight network

Improve the national freight network, strengthen the ability of rural communities to access national and international trade markets, and support regional economic development

Each of the goals in a metropolitan or statewide transportation plan is supported by one or more 'objectives' that define what needs to occur to accomplish the goal. The objectives define what a region plans to achieve and help to determine the strategies and investments that will be included in the transportation plan. In practice, objectives range from high-level regional statements to specific, measurable, time-bound "SMART" objectives. A range of objectives are included in the Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT), gathered from a variety of references and recent transportation plans, that reflect the spectrum of objectives that are used in current practice. The objectives identified below support the identified goal. Select an objective to identify its source, associated performance measures, and the service packages that support the objective.

Objective Category	Objective
Arterial Management: Delay	Decrease the seconds of control delay per vehicles on arterial roads by X percent in Y years. (Control delay is defined as the portion of the total delay attributed to traffic signal operation for signalized intersections).
Arterial Management: Delay	Increase the miles of arterials in the region operating at level of service (LOS) Z by X percent in Y years.
Emergency/Incident Management: Person Hours of Delay	Reduce the person hours (or vehicle hours) of total delay associated with traffic incidents by X percent over Y years.
Freeway Management: Efficiency	Reduce the number of person hours (or vehicle hours) of delay experienced by travelers on the freeway system.
Freeway Management: Efficiency	Reduce the share of freeway miles at Level of Service (LOS) X by Y by year Z.
Freight Management: Border Crossing	Decrease average crossing times at international borders by X minutes for each border in the region over Y years.
Freight Management: Border Crossing	Increase the use of electronic credentialing to X percent of weigh stations and border crossings by year Y.
Freight Management: Border Crossing	Reduce freight movement delays due to inspection
Freight Management: Customer Satisfaction	Increase ratings for customer satisfaction with freight mobility in the region among shippers, receivers, and carriers by X percent in Y years.
Freight Management: Detours and Routing	Provide freight operators with traveler alerts and alternate routes in the case of incidents, special events, weather, construction, and severe congestion at choke points on X percent of freight-significant routes by year Y.
Freight Management: Detours and Routing	X percent of freeway and major arterial detours can accommodate commercial vehicles by year Y.
Freight Management: Intermodal Facilities	Reduce the average duration of delays per month at intermodal facilities by X percent in Y years.
Freight Management: Intermodal Facilities	Reduce the frequency of delays per month at intermodal facilities by X percent in Y years.
Freight Management: Permitting and Credentials Process	Enhance credentials process automation
Freight Management: Travel Time Delay	Decrease hours of delay per 1,000 vehicle miles traveled on selected freight-significant highways by X percent in Y years.
Freight Management: Travel Time Delay	Decrease point-to-point travel times on selected freight-significant highways by Y minutes within Y years.
Freight Management: Travel Time Delay	Decrease the annual average travel time index for freight by X points in Y years.
Freight Management: Travel Time Delay	Increase the mobility index ([Ton-miles of travel] / [Vehicle-miles of travel * Average speed]) by X percent in Y years.
Freight Management: Travel Time Reliability	Reduce buffer index on regional freight routes during peak and off-peak periods by X percent in Y years.
System Efficiency: Cost of Congestion	Reduce the annual monetary cost of congestion per capita for the next X years.
System Efficiency: Delay	Reduce hours of delay per capita by X percent by year Y.
System Efficiency: Delay	Reduce hours of delay per driver by X percent by year Y.
Travel Weather Management: Clearance Time (Weather-Related Debris)	Reduce average time to complete clearing (interstates, freeways, expressways, all roads, main tracks, and main sidewalks) of weather-related debris after weather impact by X percent in Y years.
Travel Weather Management: Clearance Time (Weather-Related Debris)	Reduce average time to complete clearing (mode, hierarchy of facilities, or subarea of region) of weather-related debris after weather impact by X percent in Y years.

Architecture and Standard Use

Like the goals, the transportation objectives of the region should be a driving input for the regional ITS architecture. By connecting the objectives with the architecture, transportation planners can easily identify the portion of the integrated regional transportation system that supports each objective. Conversely, ITS architectures and strategic plans can help planning organizations define operations objectives that reflect data that is available and the expertise of operations staff. The RAD-IT Planning Tab can be used to connect your region's objectives with your regional ITS architecture. If your regional ITS architecture does not include this connection, the links between the objectives and ARC-IT defined in this planning view may be used as a starting point.