Commercial Operations

In 2008, heavy trucks were found to be 3.2 times more likely than other vehicles to be struck from behind in two-vehicle fatal crashes (1). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) contracted the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) to perform Phase III of the Enhanced Rear Signaling (ERS) for Heavy Trucks project which was directed at investigating methods to reduce or mitigate those crashes where a heavy truck has been struck from behind by another vehicle. The focus of this paper is to discuss the dynamic evaluation of the final ERS countermeasure system on the public roadways of Virginia. Results indicated the system was robust in real-world driving situations. The system performed well at detecting rear-end crash threats, activating a trailer-positioned warning-light system, drawing the gazes of distracted following-vehicle drivers back to the forward roadway, and resulted in minor following-vehicle unintended consequences. An increase in false alarm rate was found for the warning light activation system during low-speed, high-traffic-density scenarios and the propensity of these false alarms should be addressed prior to a Field Operational Test (FOT).

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida

Camera/Video Imaging Systems (C/VISs) display live video images collected from cameras mounted on a truck’s exterior to drivers using monitors mounted inside the truck cabin. C/VISs are designed to provide a low-cost countermeasure to crashes resulting from improper lane changes and backing maneuvers by increasing drivers’ visibility of the area around their truck.  Under the United States Department of Transportation’s indirect visibility research program, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) was contracted to investigate the utility of C/VISs and drivers’ acceptance of them. At the onset of this program in 2003, C/VISs were -2- already commercially available, yet little was known about their effectiveness. VTTI identified drivers’ C/VIS needs and developed numerous C/VIS concepts. A series of usability tests and controlled experiments were then performed over three major research phases. The findings from each phase were used to iterate the C/VIS design and produce system requirements for a C/VIS that simplified the driving task and improved drivers’ spatial awareness. This paper documents the human factors and systems engineering approach followed throughout the C/VIS research program, where C/VIS requirements were incrementally developed using an iterative and controlled process that involved collaboration between multiple disciplines and focused on the drivers’ needs.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida

World Fiber Technologies, Inc. began construction of Georgia’s initial High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lane project in September 2010. This project converted 16 miles of the existing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes to HOT Lanes, as well as a 2-mile HOV to HOT Lane conversion on SR 316. This paper discusses the construction challenges faced with this project, including:

Schedule

Traffic Control

Existing Conditions

Conduit Network

Power Service

Structural Design/Fabrication

Structural Installation

Battery Backup System

Signage

World Fiber Technologies

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 6 (southeast Florida including Miami Dade County) is implementing an express lanes project on the major Interstate-95 (I-95) corridor. The purpose of the I-95 Express Lanes (95EL) project is to manage demand to provide a high level of service on the managed lanes (two of five) by varying the toll collected on those two lanes. The 95EL project is a phased development of roadway, infrastructure, and software. This paper describes the SunGuide® Pricing Subsystem (PS) which manages the toll displays, communicates with an external toll calculating application called Express Lanes Manager, provides current toll information to the toll collection software (Patron) and creates a historical record of the tolls set.

Southwest Research Institute

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida

The Pennsylvania Department Transportation (PennDOT) and Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA) leveraged the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to complete the

intelligent transportation system (ITS) along 51 miles of Interstate 95 in the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania between the Delaware and New Jersey State lines. The existing ITS along I-95 in

Pennsylvania was aged and provided sporadic coverage of the corridor. PennDOT and FHWA

had plans to complete the ITS coverage along I-95, as well as upgrade the existing ITS, but the

construction funding was tied to reconstruction projects and would have taken over two (2)

decades to complete. Once the legislation was passed, PennDOT and FHWA utilized three (3)

major design-build contracts to complete the work that totaled over $54,000,000, and the design

and major construction was completed for the entire corridor within 18 months.

PennDOT

Federal Highway Administration

Jacobs Engineering Group

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida