Cross-cutting Issues

The success of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) depends on the availability of timely and accurate estimates of prevailing and emerging traffic conditions. To meet the traffic information needs and to address complex traffic control and management issues in the information-based, dynamic ITS environment, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated a Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) research project to develop a deployable real time Traffic Estimation and Prediction System (TrEPS). Two TrEPS prototypes, DynaMIT and DYNASMART-X, have been developed and are currently being planned for testing in the field environment. This paper provides a brief introduction to the DTA research project and the status of the TrEPS development and deployment.

Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation

This paper explores impacts of ramp metering on urban land use. A regression-based transportation model is developed to capture changes in accessibility caused by ramp metering on a highway network. A Land Use Change Indicator (LUCI) model is modified to estimate how the spatial distribution of employment and housing would change in response to the redistributed accessibility in five hypothetical urban areas with various initial land use patterns. Results show that ramp metering can affect land use in various ways depending on initial land use conditions. Ramp metering can exacerbate decentralization, but not necessarily sprawl.

University of Minnesota

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

No system is designed to be a liability, yet far too many systems end up as white elephants; systems that are one of a kind, understood by only a limited few, limited in their ability to fulfill the needs of an organization, and destined for early obsolescence. One term used to describe these systems is “fragile” systems. This paper examines the following factors that contribute to the fragility of a system, and suggests ways to minimize the effects of these factors as systems they are designed, developed, deployed, and just as importantly, maintained.

1. Time: One of the greatest enemies of any software system is time. Software never wears out, but the continuous change around it can make it obsolete. 2. Complexity: While complex problems often lead to complex solutions, complexity in a software system is something that can, and must, be managed. It is critical to manage complexity throughout the entire lifecycle of the system. 3. Standardization: Standards cover almost every aspect of a system’s design and deployment, and can greatly increase the usability of a system. Standards provide many benefits to a system, however, their misuse can put a system at risk of becoming a “fragile” system.

Open Roads Consulting,Inc.

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

This paper provides an overview of how ITS systems have historically been deployed and describes current trends to introduce a more formal systems engineering processes. The paper provides an overview of a state-of-the-art process and introduces the importance have having independent validation and verification in order to ensure that the project results in a successful deployment that meets user needs and expectations.

Trevilon Corporation

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Corridor simulation is a complex undertaking in traffic engineering practice especially in ATMS deployment projects. In this paper the feasibility of corridor simulation is examined in terms of data availability and practicality. Using a methodology presented here, corridor simulation was performed starting by estimating an O/D matrix and two scenarios (with and without ramp metering) were evaluated. The results from the simulation of the selected corridor are presented in detail. They indicate that ramp metering is beneficial even at the corridor level and not just for the freeway. It was found however that even though synthetic methods for estimating traversal O/D matrices can be employed for facilitating corridor simulation, essential traffic flow measurements on adjacent arterials needed for adjusting these are usually not collected on a routine basis. The lack of such basic data also limits simulator calibration. This raises questions concerning the feasibility of corridor simulation for proper deployment of ATMS and points to the need for establishing data collection policies not only for this purpose but also for improved traffic management in general.

University of Minnesota

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota