Personal Mobility

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies can produce benefits to many groups of Americans. However, significant training and marketing campaigns are needed to be developed to attract older persons, who may not be familiar with available services, identify barriers and gaps in technology and techniques that can provide accessible transportation for the elderly. Research should identify functional limitations and special customer needs, and to suggest improvements to boost this service to this market and effective coordinate with the various agencies required and currently addressing the aging American transportation needs.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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

The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and its Las Vegas area partners have identified a need for a freeway management system (FMS) to help manage traffic during fluctuating periods of vehicle demand on freeways and arterials, as well as provide enhanced incident response capabilities. The Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation (FAST) will combine the existing LVACTS (Las Vegas Area Computer Traffic System) with the new Freeway Management System (FMS, currently being designed) into one integrated system, maximizing mobility.

This paper describes the purpose of dynamic trailblazer signs and the types of signs that were considered. It then discusses the communication media that were considered for the signs, and reasons for selecting an existing 800-MHz voice and data radio system for use with the signs. A program to test prospective sign vendors’ compatibility with the radio system is described. Both an analog and digital means of communication were tested. Our experience with each sign vendor is discussed, and our team’s lessons learned are presented. To date, six vendors have tested their equipment with the NDOT radio system, and four are prequalified.

Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

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

Motorists in Moorhead, Minnesota frequently experience delays of up to five minutes due to train operations in the downtown area. The Moorhead Train Detection and Traffic Control System will reduce motorist delay and improve emergency vehicle response in the area. The project utilizes video-based detection of train movements to monitor each train’s presence, speed, length and direction. Data from the detectors is transmitted to the system’s central processor, where algorithms calculate the predicted blockage time at several crossings within the downtown area. This information is used in three different applications. First, alternative traffic signal timing plans are deployed when trains of a minimum length are detected. Second, emergency dispatch personnel are notified of crossing status, allowing for more effective emergency vehicle dispatching and response. Third, a future phase of this project will alert motorists to potential delays with strategically placed variable message signs.

Minnesota Department of Transportation

SRF Consulting Group, Inc.

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

Traditional driver performance data collection methods have ordinarily relied on experimenters riding with drivers to collect data. Such methods are limited because drivers may exhibit performance that differs from that while driving alone. Alternatively, naturalistic observation methods can be employed by the use of vehicle instrumentation to collect data in an unobtrusive manner.

This paper outlines the data types, data collection, data analysis, expected results provided by these data, and how these data can be used by designers in the development of safe, naturalistic Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) of the future. Additionally, this paper includes an overview of a lane change and passing study that is currently taking place. The study involves 16 commuters who drove to and from work for 20 business days, for a minimum of 50 miles round trip each day. Starting in September 2000, ordinary drivers drove instrumented vehicles instead of their normal vehicles during their commute to and from work. Data collection was fully automated and equipment was unobtrusive. Both a sedan and an SUV were used in this study.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

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

Until recently the focus in traffic signal preemption and priority has been on developing and extending the capabilities of various technologies and studying their impact on real or hypothetical traffic flows. As these technologies have been implemented, however, institutional issues both before and after implementation have been recognized as significant. This paper examines the differing issues, needs, and concerns that elected officials and transit, traffic and emergency personnel in the Washington, D.C. region have regarding the implementation, installation, maintenance and use of both types of systems. Based on interviews with 37 area officials, system objectives and requirements were identified. The agencies and jurisdictions represented have very different levels of familiarity and experience with preemption and priority systems. For a signal preemption system the objectives identified were that it shall significantly reduce response time to emergencies, improve the safety and health of emergency personnel, and reduce accidents between non-emergency vehicles due to the passage of responding emergency units at intersections where it is installed. Stakeholders also suggested four policy requirements for priority systems. A signal priority system for transit shall improve schedule adherence, improve the efficiency with which buses run, be part of a lager ITS system that includes improved rider information and other services, and increase the overall efficiency with which the road network is used by contributing to an increase in bus ridership. The interviews also revealed that in order to achieve these objectives the systems were required to meet a number of requirements such as regional interoperability and the potential to hold users accountable. In all six system requirements were clearly defined.

George Mason University

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

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