Agencies seeking to promote CAV adoption should anticipate that negative results could arise during the process of transitioning from manual to automatic vehicles. The increase in congestion is…
Consider integration of agency business processes early in the planning process. Agencies are less likely to miss opportunities for integration and are more likely to build systems that can expand to…
Since 2008, the Vehicle Probe Project (VPP) has been providing data to I-95 Corridor Coalition agencies. These agencies recognize the benefits of the VPP to their respective departments of…
The Vehicle Probe Project (VPP) has been providing data the member agencies since 2008. The agencies have recognized the benefits of VPP data to their respective departments of transportation,…
Implications for planners and managers
Plan for extensive outreach activities. An important lesson for project planning is paying heed to the extensive outreach activities associated with all project…
The Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) framework enabled cost-effective ICM strategies to be identified and evaluated on the ICM Test Corridor. The methodology was found to be robust and…
To collect qualitative information on lessons learned during the CVISN self-evaluation process, evaluation templates were made available to CVISN managers. Participants provided plain-language…
Guidelines for integrating and assessing BRT components were presented in the Practitioner's Guide. BRT systems were found to be dependent on local needs, conditions, attitudes, and resources.…
This lesson focused on the findings of a telephone interview with a Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) staff member involved in the development and operations of a bus AVL system in Raleigh–Durham,…
When a biohazard has affected a community, the emergency response will likely involve the transportation sector because a biohazard could affect the transportation network directly (e.g., the release…
On occasion state DOTs are called upon to manage the transportation network in emergencies, most conspicuously during severe weather conditions. State DOTs are also charged with managing…
In response to the events of 9/11, state and local transportation agencies strengthened their efforts to develop emergency plans that address man-made incidents. The release of biohazards by design…
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) improves the efficiency of the transportation network in emergency evacuations by optimizing traffic flow and providing real-time, accurate information to…
Emergency evacuations most frequently occur on a local level and are managed by one jurisdiction. Larger scale evacuations, which occur less frequently, can impact neighboring communities and involve…
There are a multitude of transportation tools that can support evacuation operations in emergencies with advance notice. As the agency responsible for emergency management develops emergency response…
The transportation sector has a rich inventory of tools, resources and expertise in traffic management. Noting the significant improvements transportation agencies have made in managing the…
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VoIP, also called Internet telephony, is the technology that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the Internet or a dedicated (closed) IP network instead of dedicated voice…
The MDSS deployed by MaineDOT in the winter of 2006-2007 offered the DOT and the Scarborough crew a useful winter storm planning tool that supplemented other resources. MaineDOT found their…
The Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) deployed by MaineDOT in the winter of 2006-2007 offered the DOT and the Scarborough crew a useful winter storm planning tool that supplemented other…
The signal timing development process involves eight key steps, ranging from the organization of existing data, to the collection of new data and the calculation of local timing and coordination…
When developing new signal timing plans, conducting a site survey may be one of the most important steps of the process. Although it is possible to generate both local and coordinated signal timing…
System monitoring is a critical function for 511. It can help agencies manage their projects and direct resources more effectively, and it can also be useful when seeking funding to continue or…
The lessons learned discussed below are drawn from the guidance provided by the Changeable Message Sign Operation and Messaging Handbook. The information was obtained from previous CMS message design…
Determining the overall complexity of the project and the level of risk is critical to selecting the best procurement approach. The Guide to Contracting ITS Projects defines the following four…
Following the initial decision to proceed with the Decision Model, the agency must determine whether the work will be distributed through a single contract or through multiple contracts. The…
The research for this document identified three basic types of system engineering processes, including waterfall, evolutionary and spiral. Each of these is appropriate for specific types of projects…
Project planning includes a number of steps that are important to ensuring the success of the system procurement and acquisition process. The research concluded that all procurements should be…
Characteristics of the project as well as the capabilities of the procuring agency are critical to identifying the appropriate ITS procurement package. Included in this document is a decision matrix…
The agency's contracts personnel should be involved from the beginning of the procurement process, and it is especially critical that they play a role in the final selection of the procurement…
In addition to project complexity and risk, another factor critical to the selection of an appropriate procurement package is the agency's organization, experience, and resources relative to ITS…
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Distribution of traveler information may take several forms: directly from public agencies, through public-private partnerships, and through the commercial broadcast, internet and other media. In the…
The efficient operation of a TMC depends on the effective management of human resources. Staffing plans prescribe human resource activities, such as succession planning and training programs, to…
The efficient operation of a TMC depends on the effective management of human resources. A well-crafted TMC staffing plan should fulfill five key objectives:
Ensure appropriate staffing levels.…
The number of vehicles in the transportation system and the average number of vehicle miles traveled per day continue to increase at a greater rate than the expansion of the transportation system.…
TMCs would benefit from creating a staffing plan to handle potential emergencies and special events. Although the exact time when an emergency will occur is not known in advance, the probability of…
TMCs provide a public service to communities with traffic management needs. Traffic management helps: safeguard travelers by reducing the number of accidents and coordinating emergency responses to…
Responsibility for schedule administration varies across organizations. Department scheduling involves an appointed manager overseeing schedule generation and implementation for a group of employees…
Different staffing arrangements may be used to meet various scheduling demands. Common staffing arrangements include full-time employment, part-time employment, temporary employment, and contract…
The design of a schedule depends on a number of factors. Policies establish the work rules that are applied in the context of employee availability and preferences, work demands, and financial…
TMCs provide a public service to communities with traffic management needs. Traffic management helps to safeguard travelers by reducing the number of accidents and coordinating emergency responses to…
The FHWA Office of Operations Mobility Monitoring Program team gathered archived traffic detector data from more than 20 different agencies. In doing this, the team encountered a wide variety of data…
The FHWA and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are responsible for reporting their performance in meeting agency goals, one of which is related to mobility and highway congestion. Data…
Public agencies typically struggle with their budgets. As a result, many transportation operations divisions have to justify their expenditures on operations and management activities or risk having…
A vested interest in data collection is one of the best motivators for quality data. Poor data quality can sometimes result when data collectors are physically or institutionally distant from the…
Any conditions affecting traffic should be part of performance monitoring. In the past, many public agencies have struggled to collect credible data about transportation system performance. Traffic…
This report provides a summary of lessons learned from the Mobility Monitoring Program concerning the use of archived traffic detector data for monitoring highway performance. One lesson learned from…
Public agencies need to make decisions based on limited or less-than-ideal information. Performance monitoring and the associated decisions stemming from transportation system performance data should…
Some useful data may not be appropriate to share among all ITS stakeholders for reasons related to security, personal privacy, or business confidentiality. For example, security concerns may require…
Experience shows that data sharing among agencies have beneficial effects in the management and operations of regional ITS initiatives. Following suggestions are offered to encourage data sharing and…
Evaluating the implementation of the Transit ITS application means measuring the degree to which an application met the objectives and thus, the goals. The following paragraphs provide some insight…
When planning for the implementation of rural transit ITS, a determination of required resources must be followed by efforts to obtain them within the allowable budgetary limits. The planning effort…
It is important to recognize that not all of the applications presently available will be applicable to all transit systems. The following techniques can be used to learn about Transit ITS: read…
The first step that a transit manager should take is to identify current needs of the system for improvement. It is important to recognize that not every need will best be met with a Transit ITS…
There are many lessons to be learned on software acquisition. When ITS was in its infancy, practitioners quickly learned that ITS projects involving software could not be contracted the same as past…
Software acquisitions will involve situations that may be unfamiliar to many Department of Transportation (DOT) project managers. Construction projects usually include a set of design requirements…
Whenever possible, the ITS practitioner should consider buying existing off-the-shelf software products instead of building custom software from scratch. Product offerings, ranging from system…
The objectives of improved incident response and clearance include: safe and timely removal of all vehicles, wreckage, and debris; and restoring the roadway back to its full capacity, while…
The faster an incident is detected and verified, the quicker the appropriate response teams can be dispatched to and deployed on the scene. Detecting incidents quickly and accurately leads to reduced…
Incident management yields significant benefits through reduced vehicle delays and enhanced safety to motorists through the reduction of incident frequency, and improved response and clearance times…
AMBER alerts, America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER alerts), have been used for the past several years to help find abducted children by asking the public to be on the lookout for a…
Changeable Message Signs (CMS) are clearly an important device in aiding in the safe and efficient movement of people and goods through the transportation network. CMS is an outstanding example of…
Various aspects of ITS are explored retrospectively, contrasting views from 1991/92, when the first ITS strategic plan was produced, with the reality of currently operational ITS projects. One topic…
In this article, with the changing of the world over the past 11 years and the benefit of hindsight, there were issues not fully understood about ITS that are better understood today. One of the…
In preparation of regional crises, all transportation, incident management, and emergency response personnel should be identified; their roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority should be…
Transportation agencies typically share data with other public agencies and private companies to improve transportation operations through better interagency coordination and to optimize the use of…
A study on the nationwide best practices on deploying and operating traffic signal systems reveals the following experiences.
Recognize and budget for continuing education to ensure success. A…
The interviews with 34 public agencies on data sharing revealed that only 11 had sought to generate revenue to provide resources for agency operation. Of these 11, six felt it had been relatively…
The findings from this experience indicate that a project that tests new ITS technology may experience a range of problems because of the very technology being evaluated. The lesson learned from this…
Consider cost-saving strategies when making communications investments.
The most common solution found to reduce the cost of incident management system implementation was to reuse existing…
Plan diversion routes carefully to avoid negative consequences.
Although concerns often arise over the impact of diverting traffic from major roadways onto surface streets, no test has yet…
The design and deployment of traffic signal systems is often viewed as a daunting task by many agencies. The design choices regarding the type of traffic signal control system, the required…
FINDINGS
Platooning of light duty vehicles can achieve an optimal fuel savings of 4.5 percent over baseline.
Platooning of buses can achieve an optimal savings of 15.5 percent and platooning of…
FINDINGS
Eco-signal operations use connected vehicle technologies to decrease fuel consumption and decrease greenhouse gasses (GHG) and criteria air pollutant emissions by reducing idling, the number…
FINDINGSThe model found an array of direct effects of CAV adoption, which were positive for the city, and indirect effects, which served to largely counterbalance the benefits.Some of the key direct…
FINDINGS
In general, this study found that autonomously accelerating an electrified lead vehicle can mitigate and prevent rear-end collisions and significantly increase the safety benefits from…
FINDINGSThe outcome from balanced objectives show that by sacrificing 2 percent efficiency which increases delay, safety can be improved by 20 percent which lowers overall cost. The difference was…
METHODOLOGYThe EFM implementation case studies were intended to examine the degree to which the EFM applications can improve the operational efficiency within intermodal supply chains. Each case…
METHODOLOGYThe primary safety analysis was focused on the reduction in truck crashes that could have been avoided or mitigated with an active speed limiter installed on the truck. This was the first…
METHODOLOGYResearchers obtained crash data from three U.S. DOT database archives (NASS/CDS, Pedestrian Crash-worthiness Data System (PCDS) and FARS) and analyzed these data to identify crash…
FINDINGSResearchers concluded that on average the autonomous braking system had a maximum potential to reduce the change in velocity of the striking vehicle by 12 to 50 percent and avoid up to 14…
FINDINGSEco-Driving
These applications target individual drivers and interact with transportation management systems, information networks, and traffic control systems to determine vehicle…
FindingsThe analysis revealed that drivers in the Test Group had a lower percentage of eye-closures (PERCLOS) values overall as compared to other experimental conditions. These results suggest that…
Findings
Carrier A significantly reduced the mean rate of recorded safety-related events per 10,000 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from baseline to intervention by 38.1 percent, while Carrier B…
The first study was conducted using a driving simulator and the second study was conducted as a field test on a closed-road. The field study examined whether the responses obtained in the simulation…
RESULTSAn independent evaluation of the ACAS was conducted based on data collected from a field operational test (FOT) and from an independent system characterization test. The goals of the…
RESULTSData sources included historical crash data, engineering data collected in the course of the FOT, special track tests, and driver interviews. Time domain vehicle dynamic simulations and…
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FINDINGSPerformance MeasureRWIS BenefitsAnti-icing BenefitsEnvironmental QualityImproved quality as a result of reduced salt usageReduced impact on roadside vegetation, aquifers, and…
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FINDINGSPerformance MeasuresAnti-icing BenefitsProductivityLess snow/ice bonding facilitated more efficient plowingReduced maintenance costs (overtime pay and materials)Reduced time to clear snow/ice…
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FINDINGSPerformance MeasuresRWIS BenefitsProductivityMore efficient response strategies (right resources, in right place, at right time)Reduced maintenance costs (labor, equipment and materials)…
This study used field experiments and simulation models to quantify the environmental benefits of intelligent cruise control (ICC) vehicles. Field tests were conducted using one ICC vehicle and two…
Notes:
See also:
Use of Automated Enforcement for Red Light Violations (August 1997).
Automated Enforcement in Transportation, Institute of Transportation Engineers Report (December 1999).
Red Light…
Methodology
Costs calculated for the analysis include development, deployment/installation, and operations and management of the infrastructure, components, applications and network needed to make…
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Adaptive signal control technologies (ASCTs) have been proven effective in providing operational benefits, but agencies in the United States have been slow to adopt these technologies. One of the…
This research documented the current state-of-practice of fixed-route and demand responsive automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems. A literature review was conducted and the results of on-line…
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The technology and deployment cost estimates for the Roll Stability Control (RSC) systems include the technology purchasing price, maintenance costs, and cost of training drivers in the use of the…
An agency's Transportation Management Center (TMC) financial plan must account for the initial capital costs and the annual operating costs. To help estimate these costs, the Federal Highway…
The Chicago traffic management center (TMC) was designed to improve mobility along City streets by coordinating the management and operations of multiple agencies during special events, incidents,…
A cross-cutting study, Archived Data Management Systems, published by the U.S. DOT in 2005 noted, "When operations data are integrated into an Archived Data Management System (ADMS), they offer a…
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The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) - A Planning and Implementation Handbook, published by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), provides technical guidance for the successful planning and…
The U.S. DOT sponsored an independent evaluation of a field operational test (FOT) of three advanced intelligent vehicle safety systems (IVSS): collision warning systems (CWS), adaptive cruise…
In February 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a report entitled “Private Sector Deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Current Status and Trends” that summarized…
This report compiled data from several evaluation studies that examined the impacts of animal warning systems in the United States and Europe. Data collected from previous reports, Internet resources…
The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) sponsored a research project titled, Evaluation of Overheight Vehicle Warning Devices, to synthesize existing data and…
The Federal Highway Administration Safety Office sponsored a project to define, evaluate, and test the feasibility of infrastructure-only Intersection Collision Avoidance System (ICAS) concepts at…