Safety

Real-time information on traffic conditions is vital in construction, ATMS, ATIS and other
operational or design activities. Traditionally, at most permanent installations such information is

captured by in-pavement sensors and transmitted through land based communications. However, as an alternative to the permanent sensor  and camera systems, temporary detection and surveillance is often needed at construction sites, special events, or during communication/sensor failures. In such cases, there is a need for temporary, reliable, low-cost detection and surveillance. Recent advances in wireless  technologies enabled development of portable detection and surveillance systems. Such systems  need to detect traffic, collect measurements, capture live video and transmit this information  back to the supervising  station wirelessly to facilitate rapid, inexpensive and efficient deployment. However, robustness, ease of use and functionality need further improvements while cost needs to be reduced for widespread use. In this paper a low cost, easily deployable detection and surveillance system is presented. The system integrates machine vision sensors for  data collection, compressed digital video for surveillance and wireless communications for information retrieval and remote control. Furthermore, it can be placed on existing or mobile structures and assembled with off-the-self components. Four of these advanced detection systems were deployed at a 1.7 mile long site for wireless, continuous coverage allowing detailed real time data collection and surveillance. This data and video intensive deployment currently serves as a live laboratory for applications ranging from evaluation of new technologies (sensors, video, wireless communications and others) to the testing or refinement of advanced traffic simulation models and accident prevention studies.

University of Minnesota

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

Regional emergency evacuation of population away from risk areas
involves the movement of people to safe places or shelters in response to a natural or a
man-made disaster.  It is crucial to understand the behavior and decision-making process
of the evacuees. Planning evacuation requires develop sound evacuation strategies that
can best serves the purpose of reducing risk and protecting lives. Evaluation of the
effectiveness of evacuation strategies is one of key tasks to the success of evacuation
planning. Traffic simulation model is the nature choice to fulfill the evaluation task.  
Traffic simulation is a disaggregate means for developing evacuation plans, and enables
the planners to evaluate multiple scenarios. This study focuses on developing a prototype
of GIS-based evacuation simulation system that integrates evacuee behavioral patterns,
transportation network, and regional land-use information to develop a flexible
methodology for evacuation planning using GIS and traffic simulation system. The
integrated system has shown much more efficient for evaluation of regional emergency
evacuation plans than isolated simulation model because GIS not only can integrate
spatial related data but also provide visualized results. The evaluation includes the
evacuation routes, network capacity and shelter capacity, traffic control and management
strategies, and ITS technologies.

Daniel Consultants, Inc.

Jilin University

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

In 2003, Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) conducted a comprehensive evaluation of
the City of Scottsdale’s arterial street Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS).  
The paper summarizes the conclusions of the various evaluation analyses but focuses on
how the system has facilitated partnering and leveraging of resources among law
enforcement and traffic operations staff.  Findings in two areas are featured:  special
events and incidents (traffic crashes). The ATMS consists of a centralized traffic signal
system, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and dynamic message signs (DMS),
monitored and operated from a Traffic Management Center (TMC).

Battelle Memorial Institute

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

The benefits of a closer integration of emergency services and traffic management
activities have been an issue of discussion for many years.  Throughout the country,
significant improvements have been made in developing closer ties and operational
coordination between traffic management and Emergency Management Services (EMS)
personnel.  However, the integration of traffic management and emergency management
systems has progressed much slower.  There are many reasons for the slow progress in
integration of Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS) and EMS
Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems.  While there are a few systems with a limited
level of integration (i.e that pass incident type and location information from the CAD to
the ATMS), this has not provided the level of integration that is typically desired.  In
addition, it is very easy to find agencies that have long overdue integration plans.

National Engineering Technology Corp.  (NET)

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority

National Engineering Technology Corp.

Geac Public Safety

Illinois Dept. of Transportation

National Engineering Technology Corp.

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas

General Dynamics is under contract with the New York State Thruway Authority
(NYSTA) to provide an integrated incident/event coordination system in the Buffalo/Niagara
Falls/Southern Ontario region. This system will enhance both traffic operations and emergency
management. The system, which is scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2004,
provides an automated mechanism for exchanging information in real time between the Niagara
International Transportation Technology Coalition (NITTEC) Traffic Operations Center (TOC)
Automated Traffic Management System (ATMS) located in Buffalo, New York and the Erie
County Central Police Services (CPS) computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, which services
police agencies in multiple cities, towns, and villages within Erie County, New York. The
mechanism makes use of elements of the Integrated Incident Management System (IIMS) that General Dynamics developed for New York City under contract to the New York State
Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to provide an IEEE Standard 1512 (IEEE 1512)
conforming center-to-center (C2C) interface between the ATMS and CAD.  Reference 1
provides a description of IIMS.

General Dynamics

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, April 26 - 28, 2004 San Antonio, Texas