Cross-cutting Issues

Transportation agencies in Metro Detroit were early adopters of intelligent transportation systems technologies, but the use of these technologies to support regional transportation operations depends on the involvement of a wide range of partners with similar interests in safe and efficient traffic movement.  This recognition led to the establishment of a traffic incident management program and a regional concept of transportation operations to organize both transportation agencies and public safety partners to promote safer, more efficient operations.  This organization provides the institutional support to sustain continuing regional transportation operations.

Author: Richard F. Beaubien, PE, PTOE

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

This paper aims to apply Social Network Analysis method in an investigation of interagency relationship in regional ITS system development. Government agencies who are involved in policy making, planning, and implementation of ITS systems rely on inter-agency cooperation to achieve their goals and expectations. From a network analysis perspective, these agencies build up ties with others and form networks for a specific purpose. We suggest a network-based approach to investigate the inter-agent interactions in regional ITS communities. Data on interagency relationships are based on direct observations and historic data. The network analysis approach enables us to recognize key groups/communities, identify key nodes and links, and discover structural holes with the potential of recommending new ties between agencies. The New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region is a very unique example of complex transportation systems, where agencies are involved in multiple levels of policy making, planning, and implementation of activities in the transportation domain. By studying the centrality measures and component partitions of the individual networks and their combination, we found some agencies who were appointed to address regional issues function effectively and are active in assisting interagency communication. It was also observed that some agencies present themselves in more favorable positions when they participate in the regional ITS developments, while others are not as powerful in terms of controlling and monitoring information exchange in the network. The result of this research may facilitate the improvements of collaboration mechanism between agencies to achieve higher effectiveness.

Author: Xi Zou

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

We study the problem of congestion in metropolitan areas and propose an adaptive Intelligent Transport System for Metropolitan Areas (ITSMA) – a traffic congestion management system that manages high occupancy vehicular traffic, commercial truck traffic and helps in coordination of commuter and ride share traffic. Most of these components are already available in parts – in form of stochastic algorithms for managing truck traffic, systems for ride share coordination using 5.9 GHz Vehicular Area Networks and numerous systems for HoV and toll management. The proposed ITSMA system consists of a prediction engine that takes multiple real time indicators to build a traffic congestion model. The decision engine component of ITSMA system takes the traffic congestion model, and using a database of previous actions and their impacts, proposes and implements actions in real-time. The outputs of the ITSMA system can be used to suggest routes, control high occupancy restrictions, traffic light durations, toll rates and access of commercial traffic. It can also aid in coordinating ride shares and public transportation units. Such a combined system can best leverage the investment at a metropolitan level and provide the best traffic congestion management solution.

Author: Amrinder Arora, DSc

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

The transportation system of the United States has had significant impacts on the nation’s development, both geographically and economically. Yet inefficiencies and inherent dangers of that system cost billions and perhaps trillions of dollars every year, as well as thousands of lost lives. Automated Electric Transportation (AET) is a solution which addresses and has the potential to resolve many of those issues, particularly in relation to human factors in driving, for future transportation. However, in developing this new transportation system, new challenges arise that must be addressed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the concept of AET and emphasize its potential impacts on transportation safety and mobility. It also addresses specific challenges that this new transportation system will face as it moves through its development. The discussion of these challenges, including deployment/transition strategy, environmental hurdles, incident response, and future expansion provides a springboard for further research and development in Automated Electric Transportation.

Authors: Derek Freckleton, James Fishelson, Kevin Heaslip, P.E. Ph.D.

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

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology has been in development for several
decades; however, there are notable barriers to its widespread deployment. To advance ITS
beyond its current scope, research efforts in the 21st century will need to pursue an agenda that integrates social, political/legal, energy/environmental, and economic/technology realization factors in the technical design process. The Integrated Active Transportation System (IATS) project seeks to achieve this agenda towards creating a seamless transportation system by incorporating a broad interdisciplinary approach to the development of a long-term vision for transportation in the United States (U.S.). As part of this effort, researchers examined previous ITS projects; interviewed experts in the field; formed and consulted with a project steering committee; and conducted two expert scenario workshops to develop plausible futures and to understand their possible effects on the transportation system. Barriers and opportunities for implementing advanced seamless transportation systems were identified for the 20- and 40-year timeframes. The most significant barriers identified were funding, technology adoption and obsolescence, and social acceptance. Opportunities include natural disasters; climate change; and adaptable, integrated technology/infrastructure deployment within the transportation system. Equipped with this understanding, researchers are now developing a research roadmap for U.S. transportation systems that address both technical and non-technical factors to the realization of IATS in the future.

Authors: Susan Shaheen, Ph.D., Madonna Camel, Kunik Lee, Ph.D.

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