Safety

The Southeastern Michigan Snow and Ice Management (SEMSIM) Project uses the latest in fleet management technologies and applies them to winter maintenance activities. SEMSIM is a Partnership which includes the City of Detroit, the Wayne County Department of Public Services, the Road Commission of Macomb County, and the Road Commission for Oakland County. These four agencies are responsible for maintaining over 10,000 miles of roadway in metropolitan Detroit. In addition to the four road agencies, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) is key transit player. SMART is providing the 900 MHz radio channels which will act as the communications back bone for SEMSIM.. SEMSIM is striving to use technology as an ally in the fight against winter storms. The ability to centrally monitor fleet movements and activities in real-time is a powerful tool that is just beginning to be utilized. The associated result is better resource management which directly correlates to safer roads at lower costs.

Road Commission for Oakland County

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

The Elizabeth River Midtown Tunnel Approach TMS system is designed to manage and monitor traffic in Pinners Point area on the Portsmouth approach to the Midtown Tunnel. The system is also designed to automatically detect a tunnel approaching over-height vehicle early enough to automatically execute predefined safety measures to prevent accidents. Due to the complexity and limitations of the geometry, a control logic was developed and incorporated into the TMS system design to achieve the operational and safety objectives of the automated system. This paper presents the control logic and overall TMS system design functions. The control logic developed can be applied by other transportation practitioners to similar tunnel approach control systems.

DKS Associates

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

The most significant federal investment in intelligent vehicle R&D in the U.S. is being conducted by the US Department of Defense (DOD) through the Demo III autonomous scout vehicle program. Demo III is an aggressive development effort in autonomous tactical ground vehicle technology R&D.

Robotics has been identified by numerous DOD studies as a key enabling technology for future military operational concepts. The Demo III program is a multiyear effort encompassing technology development and demonstration on testbed platforms, together with modeling, simulation, and experimentation directed toward optimization of operational concepts to employ this technology. The primary program focus is the advancement of capabilities for autonomous mobility through unstructured environments, concentrating on both perception and intelligent control technology. The program has developed the Experimental Unmanned vehicle (XUV), a small technology testbed vehicle. The XUV design couples multisensor perception with intelligent control to permit autonomous cross-country navigation at speeds of up to 32 kph during daylight and 16 kph during hours of darkness. The system design also encompasses onroad operations at up to 64 kph, including the capability to respond intelligently to other traffic and obstacles. When it concludes in 2002, Demo III will provide the military with both the technology and the initial experience required to develop and field the first generation of semiautonomous tactical ground vehicles for combat, combat support, and logistics applications.

The Demo III program has a high potential for technology spinoffs to civilian transportation, particularly in the area of obstacle detection and intelligent machine perception. This paper includes a description of the program approach, the sensor suite, progress in the last year; and potential spinoff areas to ITS.

Richard Bishop Consulting

General Dynamics Robotic Systems

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

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), in cooperation with the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is conducting a major Field Operational Test (FOT) of Intelligent Vehicle Initiative technology. The vehicle technology assists drivers in low visibility conditions including blowing snow, rain, fog and darkness by providing lateral guidance and warnings to avoid collisions. The FOT is focusing on specialty vehicles and their operators – snowplows, State Patrol squad cars and ambulances. The field operational test is scheduled to begin fourth quarter, 2001 on fifty miles of rural and exurban State Trunk Highway 7 between Hutchinson and Minnetonka, Minnesota as well as on some adjacent county roads. The project will evaluate the ability of this technology to reduce collisions, enhance operations, and improve overall public safety and mobility.

This paper provides a project status report of completed activities including:

• System design
• Human factors testing
• Roadway infrastructure (pavement tape, DGPS, etc.) and vehicle systems design/installation
• Evaluation Plan

Minnesota Department of Transportation

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