Case Study: Kimley-Horn helps Austin reduce congestion with INRIX Roadway Analytics

INRIX and Kimley-Horn Help the City of Austin out of a Jam with robust Roadway Analytics

Kimley-Horn worked with the City of Austin to address severe congestion that emerged after the southbound Mopac Express Lanes opened in 2017, which caused major backups on Cesar Chavez Street and drew complaints from commuters and city leaders. Using INRIX Roadway Analytics, Kimley-Horn needed a fast, data-driven way to understand the new traffic patterns and measure corridor performance without launching a full in-depth traffic study.

INRIX Roadway Analytics gave Kimley-Horn the historical before-and-after data needed to identify problem locations and retime signals along a two-mile stretch of Cesar Chavez between Mopac and I-35. The changes brought travel times back to near pre-expansion levels, cutting westbound commutes by about 2 minutes (20%–25%) and eastbound peak travel times by 5 minutes (30%). With INRIX, Austin was able to show real improvements to the public and plans to use the platform to optimize more than 300 intersections citywide.

Kimley-Horn

Kent Kacir

Project Manager