Using Truck GPS Data for Freight Performance Analysis in the Twin Cities Metro Area

Project summary:

Building on the researchers' previous effort of analyzing freight mobility and reliability along I-94/90 from the Twin Cities to Chicago, this research is studying the surface freight performance in the Twin Cities metropolitan area (TCMA) using commercial GPS data from private industry and existing Automatic Traffic Recorder, Weigh-In-Motion, and loop detector data from MnDOT. The objectives of this study are to integrate private and public freight data sources to generate freight mobility and reliability measures and to identify significant freight node and corridors in the Twin Cities metro area (TCMA). The outcome will allow freight agencies to: (1) better identify system impediments such as traffic congestion or truck bottlenecks; (2) investigate truck volume contributing to traffic congestion and delay; and (3) use the derived measure as a guide for decision support on infrastructure investment, freight forecasting, and planning.