ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight
March 1, 2010
Contact: Steve Hansen (Director of Media
Relations) (202) 7214239
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ITS America Smart Solution
Spotlight
High-Tech Snow and Ice Removal:
Southeastern Michigan 's
State-Of-The-Art
Winter Road Maintenance System
The three largest public road agencies in the Detroit
metropolitan region are using Intelligent Transportation Systems to
create one of the nation's most efficient and coordinated winter
road maintenance systems.
" While the East Coast
and other regions around the nation have experienced major snow
storms and massive transportation disruptions this winter, these
Michigan road agencies are setting the standard for the creative
use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and interagency
cooperation to create a streamlined winter maintenance system for
the three million people in their region."
- Scott Belcher, President and CEO of ITS
America
Washington, D.C. -
As the leading voice for the use of smart technology to
address our nation's transportation challenges, the ITS America
Smart Solution Spotlight celebrates creative uses of
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to create a safe, clean,
efficient and sustainable transportation system.
What Is SEMSIM?
The Southeastern Michigan Snow and
Ice Management (SEMSIM) program is the first project of
its type in the United States involving multiple governmental
agencies joining together to collectively use space-age fleet
management technologies that were originally developed by the U.S.
military. These technologies are allowing the agencies in the
Detroit metropolitan area to improve their fleet operations and the
efficiency of public road maintenance.
SEMSIM involves the use of satellite-based fleet management
technology to track more than 400 winter road maintenance vehicles
covering over 5,500 miles of roads and serving a population of more
than three million people.
SEMSIM involves the region's largest local public road
agencies collectively using intelligent transportation technologies
to improve the region's winter road maintenance. The partner
agencies include:
- The City of Detroit
- The Road Commission for Oakland
County (RCOC)
- Wayne County
- The Suburban Mobility Authority
for Regional Transportation (SMART), the suburban Detroit bus
system
How Does it Work?
Since full implementation in 2006, all of
the winter road maintenance vehicles of the partner agencies are
equipped with advanced fleet management and weather monitoring
technologies. SMART provided a 900 MHz radio system to transmit
data between the trucks and base stations and also relies on new
winter road condition data transmitted from SEMSIM.
Among the technologies utilized by SEMSIM are:
- Satellite-based GPS vehicle
tracking;
- Air and pavement temperature
sensors to determine if salting is required;
- Computerized salt spreaders that
regulate the amount of salt spread based on the vehicle's
speed;
- On-Vehicle sensors that collect
data about vehicle activities and transmit in real time to fleet
managers;
- The ability to remotely track
fleet location and activities in real time on computerized
maps;
- The capability of sharing data in real time
between partner agencies.
The SEMSIM Map-Based Computer
The GPS system allows the partner agencies to track vehicles
in real-time so they can see exactly where they are and what they
are doing at any time, allowing the agencies to better manage their
truck fleets.
Each SEMSIM truck is equipped with a number of sensors that
record air and pavement temperature and whether the front and
'underbelly' plows are up or down. This data is fed continuously to
management computers via the SMART radio system. Additionally, the
computerized salt spreaders continuously tell the management
computers the amount of salt being spread.
When a fleet manager looks at his computer screen, he sees a
map with colored "traces" that show him where his/her trucks are
and have been. The color of the trace tells him how long it has
been since the truck was in that location and what the truck was
doing when it was there. For example, a blue trace might indicate
the truck was plowing, while a red trace might indicate the truck
was salting. After 30 minutes, the trace would change to either
dark red or dark blue, to indicate time passage. After an hour,
the traces would change to gray. If the computer screen is "live"
it would show the traces moving as the truck travels. This
provides a wealth of information for the managers, which allows
them to better manage their fleets.
The SMART bus dispatchers also receive real-time data from the
trucks providing instant information about road conditions during
winter storms. This allows the dispatchers to make informed route
and scheduling decisions based on the most current data.
Additionally, the fleet-management software being used can
automatically notify fleet managers where the nearest three support
vehicles are when a truck breaks down. It also provides the ability
to "play back" fleet activities to monitor and review all
maintenance work.
How Has SEMSIM Benefited The
Region?
SEMSIM partner agencies all report improved
maintenance as a result of the cooperative effort. In the past, the
agencies all worked independently. With the new ITS technologies,
improved communications and monitoring, and collaborative work,
winter snow and ice removal has improved to the benefit of the
entire region.
SEMSIM is also having an impact beyond the
metropolitan Detroit region. Because it is the first multi-agency
project of its kind in the nation, SEMSIM has helped to expand ITS
applications into winter road maintenance operations in other parts
of the country as other public agencies become aware of the
project.
SEMSIM Is Setting the Standard for ITS Winter
Maintenance Deployment
"While the East Coast and other
regions around the nation have experienced major snow storms and
massive transportation disruptions this winter, these Michigan road
agencies are setting the standard for the creative use of
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and interagency
cooperation to create a streamlined winter maintenance system for
the three million people in their region," said
ITS America President and CEO Scott
Belcher.
For additional information about this project
contact:
- Road Commission for
Oakland County (MI)
Craig Bryson (248) 645-2000 ext. 2302
- Wayne
County (MI)
Mike Rogers (734) 955-2280
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- City of
Detroit
Charles Harmon (313) 434-1263
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America
represents more than 400 member organizations including public
agencies, private corporations, and academic institutions involved
in the research, development, and deployment of technologies that
improve safety, increase mobility, strengthen the economy, and
sustain the environment. http://www.itsa.org