Safety

FAST(Fast Emergency Vehicle Preemption System) is a system for supporting the travel of emergency vehicles, such as patrol cars, and its main functions are providing information, including  emergency vehicle route guidance and priority control of signals. The implementation of FAST is expected to reduce the number of accidents from emergency travel and to reduce the degree of severity of accidents by facilitating quick arrival at the scene, quick resolution of incidents, and speedy rescue activities.

A verification test was conducted in 1999, and FAST is scheduled for implementation in the Tokyo metropolitan area to support patrol cars in 2001. This paper discusses the verification results and the implementation of the system in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Traffic Management and Control Division,Traffic Bureau - National Police Agency of Japan

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

The Freeway Incident Response Services Tracking (FIRST) system is a project to design and implement an advanced traveler information system and an advanced traffic management system (ATIS/ATMS) to provide data on roadway incidents in Los Angeles County, California, to allied agencies, first responders, and the media, and support incident management by facilitating two-way communication between the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the entities that are involved in clearing the roadway.

The system advances the state-of-the-art in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies by using open systems, standards-based designs, and best-of-breed commercial off the-shelf hardware and software. It is designed as a three-tier system employing Web technologies for client interfaces, component-based and asynchronous messaging middleware, and database server backends. The system is designed for extensibility and flexibility so that it can take advantage of changing ATIS/ATMS requirements and technological advancements.

GIS/Trans, Ltd.

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) acquired a CAD/AVL system that became fully operational in 1996. The CAD/AVL system added radio channels and covert alarms in buses, located vehicles in real time, and monitored schedule adherence. The Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, DTS-79, U. S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, with the support of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) Program, examined the human factors consequences of RTD employees’ use of the CAD/AVL system.

Dispatchers spend more time communicating about a greater variety of topics. The RTD dispatchers receive and transmit more calls as well as trace transit operations occurring both in real time and retrospectively. Having information, accurate in place and time, meant that the dispatchers could provide accurate information about on-street operations. RTD initially expected that accurate representation of transit operations would reduce the number of street supervisors. Because the street supervisors access to real-time information from mobile data terminals (MDT) in their vehicles, they have assumed more duties. Because they have more autonomy, they perform their jobs more effectively in the field.

Installing information technology in a transit operation leads to many benefits, not all of which can be anticipated. This paper highlights the additional benefit that was realized as a result of installing information technology in a transit operation. The provision of accurate real time information enhanced the resources that employees had to do their jobs. It made it possible for them to act more effectively to support the delivery of transit service. This outcome corresponds to what has happened when information technology was introduced in other sectors of the economy.

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

A Pilot Study of Advisory On-Board Vehicle Warning Systems at Railroad Grade Crossings is undertaken as an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) initiative to improve safety at railroad grade crossings. The pilot study aims to evaluate the importance/necessity of providing in-vehicle warnings to the drivers that a train is approaching a railroad grade crossing. The advisory on-board warning system is designed to supplement existing railroad grade crossing warning systems. The issues encountered during the development and pre-deployment phase of the pilot study and their resolutions are discussed in this paper. This study experienced unusual conditions that needed to be overcome before system deployment was possible. Since this pilot study is safety related, it requires a high level of accuracy, reliability, and system performance. It was observed during the system design that one system configuration is not applicable to every crossing and situation. Every crossing has a different layout that requires a unique configuration for the trackside transmitter at that location. The pilot study involved many agencies, thus requiring time and effort for multi-agency coordination.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Office of Planning and Programming

Raytheon Systems Company

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

Research and development related to side collision warning systems has been directed at light vehicles and long-haul trucks. In this paper, we present evidence that supports our hypothesis that the side collision warning systems for transit buses are very different as they must focus on detecting pedestrians. This includes a preliminary analysis of pedestrian- bus accident claims data for the Port Authority of Pittsburgh, interviews with bus drivers, and an evaluation of what a driver can actually see. Past research, as well as experience with a collision warning system developed for long-haul trucks and installed on a bus, provides some partial solutions to these problems. A review of relevant literature and an evaluation of existing systems are presented. Based on the results of this preliminary research, a plan for developing a performance specification for a side collision warning systems for buses is presented.

University of Minnesota - Department of Civil Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University - Robotics Institute

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA