Cross-cutting Issues

This paper details an interactive traffic simulator that draws on real-time traffic inputs. We introduce the system framework and three individual modules: the online traffic estimation and forecast system for the Salt Lake City region, the virtual ATMIS testbed and modeling of the countermeasures including ramp meters and VMS, and the web-based user interface for traffic monitoring and control decision commands. The design of one training scenario for freeway incident management is illustrated and a typical training session introduced. We conclude with a feature summary and discussions of how we can accommodate more decision support needs for real time traffic management.

Mygistics, Inc.

University of Utah

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

This paper presents the new Variable Advisory Speed Limit (VASL) system being operated in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and its preliminary field assessment results. The new system has been designed to prevent the rapid propagation of the shock waves, emanated from fixed or moving bottlenecks, by gradually reducing the speed levels of the incoming flow. Using the traffic data collected from the loop detectors every 30 seconds, the system examines the deceleration patterns of the traffic flow in a given corridor and determines the locations and of the VASL control zones, whose lengths can vary depending on the current deceleration and speed levels at each zone. The VASL values of the available speed limit signs in each zone are calculated such a way that the effects of the speed control on travel times could be minimized. The preliminary analysis results with the before and after field data indicate that the average maximum deceleration in the VASL corridor during a peak period has been significantly decreased, while the increases in travel time have been moderate. Further, the peak-hour volume at a bottleneck in the VASL corridor has shown a slight, but significant increase compared to that of the before VASL period.

Authors: Eil Kwon, Chongmyung Park, Doug Lau, Brian Kary

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

We present experimental results for an
active control Intersection Collision Avoidance (ICA)
system implemented on modified Lexus IS250 test
vehicles. The system utilizes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)
Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) to
share safety critical state information, allowing for
distributed implementation of our provably safe algorithms.
Safety is achieved in potential collision scenarios
by controlling the velocities of both vehicles with
automatic brake and throttle commands. Automatic
commands can never cause the violation of predefined
upper and lower speed limits.

Authors: M.R. Hafner, D. Cunningham, L. Caminiti, D. Del Vecchio

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

ParkPGH is a smart parking system that uses historical parking and event data in a prediction model to provide real-time information on the availability of parking in eight parking facilities within the Pittsburgh Cultural District. The project’s unique characteristics include the collaborative efforts of funders, academia, nonprofit and for-profit entities that are involved in the project, the environment in which the product is deployed and the richness of the data from which the prediction model and the robust evaluation strategy draw upon. The paper describes the pilot phase of the project along with preliminary results, as well as the next steps to be taken for a full project implementation.

ParkPGH

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

In 2009, the Minnesota Department of Transportation selected an Arterial Travel Time
Measurement System using Bluetooth Technology as part of its 2009-2010 ITS Innovative
Idea Program. The project deploys 8 Bluetooth readers along CSAH 81 together with a
central web based analysis software. One key goal of this project is to demonstrate how the
travel time information may be used as a performance measure for arterial traffic
management and operations. This paper provides the results of this deployment and draws
conclusions for the use of Bluetooth based data collection for arterial traffic operations and
performance management.

Author: Michael Wieck

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