Cross-cutting Issues

This study quantifies the impact of placing ramp meters along an interstate in Atlanta, Georgia. The segment analyzed includes 11.5 miles of I-75 located 11 miles north of down town Atlanta. Atlanta already has 5 ramp meters and this paper studies the feasibility of placing 5 new ramp meters. Thus, using past & present data the projected ramp meter additions along the corridor were simulated. The complete 11.5 miles of corridor was analyzed as an integrated and interdependent system to determine the impact of different ramp meter configurations. These configurations vary in ramp meter location and timing. The study documented a 2 to 5 minute reduction in travel time (depending on the ramp meter configuration). This reduction in travel time generates a cost saving range between $116,000 and $907,000 per year. The cost saving was calculated only due to the reduction in travel time (this study did not take into consideration fuel consumption or effects on air quality). The cost saving was then related to the capital investment on ramp meter. A single capital investment of $40,000 per ramp meter was considered. This $40,000 does not include any ramp’s geometric changes. An amortized value over the $40,000 and annual operating cost of $6,050 were used to obtain the benefit/cost ratio for one year. The benefit/cost ratio resulted between 2.3 and 20.8. This wide spectrum of benefit/cost ratio is correlated with the wide range of ramp meter configuration possible in 11.5 miles of Highway.

Georgia Department of Transportation

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

As one of the four priority corridors originally established by the US Congress under the ISTEA legislation, the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee (GCM) Corridor has been the scene of numerous, ITS projects. One of the largest and most complex is the Gateway Traveler Information System (TIS) which is being led by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Parsons Transportation Group is assisting IDOT in their work. It involves the collection of transportation related data within a three state area and distribution of this data back to the sources as well as to the public and information service providers. It also includes provision for joint control of field devices across jurisdictional boundaries. While the Gateway interfaces with traditional traffic data sources such as traffic management centers, it also interfaces with non traditional/non standard sources such as 911 centers and weather sensors. This paper details the identification of these sources, the identification of what useable data these sources could provide, the identification what data these sources could possibly use and the process of arranging for data to be shared. Details are provided on how data filtering is applied, development of memorandums of understanding and negotiations with source staff that are unfamiliar with ITS. Sources which have been successfully interfaced include Northwest Central Dispatch (regional 911 center), the Illinois State Police, and IDOT’s weather detectors. Discussions are currently underway with Chicago 911 and the Chicago Transit Authority.

Illinois Department of Transportation

Parsons Transportation Group

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

In fiscal year 2001, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Transportation Operations (HOTO) Road Maintenance Management Program began a project to develop a conceptual prototype winter road Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) tailored for winter maintenance decision makers. The program was extended into 2002 with the objective of developing and demonstrating a functional prototype MDSS and releasing the prototype technology on a non-exclusive basis to the surface transportation community. The MDSS technologies (Release-1) were made publicly available in September 2002. The next step in the development process was to plan and conduct a field demonstration of the MDSS to evaluate its maturity in a live winter environment and to provide feedback to the development team identifying areas of the system that need additional work. The field demonstration of the MDSS occurred between 3 February and 4 April 2003 in Iowa on winter maintenance routes near Ames and Des Moines.

National Center for Atmospheric Research

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

As one of the four priority corridors originally established by the US Congress under the ISTEA legislation, the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee (GCM) Corridor has been the scene of numerous, ITS projects. One of the largest and most complex is the Gateway Traveler Information System (TIS) which is being led by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Parsons Transportation Group is assisting IDOT in their work. It involves the collection of transportation related data within a three state area and distribution of this data back to the sources as well as to the public and information service providers. It also includes provision for joint control of field devices across jurisdictional boundaries. While the Gateway TIS involved many traditional areas such as interfacing other traffic management systems, it also involved many unique areas. These areas included one of the first applications of NTCIP standards using CORBA; the use of an ACCESS database to provide construction/maintenance information from several different data sources; the connection of multiple, similar databases; and the use of state procurement procedures to obtain hardware and software for the project. This paper details each of these unique areas and provides lessons learned for projects considering similar implementations.

Illinois Department of Transportation

Parsons Transportation Group

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

The purpose of this paper is to present the evaluation results for the before and after deployment scenarios of the Orion Transit Itinerary Planner System (TIPS). TIPS is an automated transit itinerary planning service that provides detailed, personalized transit trip plans and other transit-related information for the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota. It was developed for operation by Metro Transit’s Transit Information Center (TIC) and became operational in December 1999. The service operates through a telephone interface with representatives at the TIC.

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

Minnesota Department of Transportation

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida