Personal Mobility

The GCM Gateway TIS is currently being developed as the central traveler information hub for the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Corridor and will be operational this fall to replace an existing legacy system. The Gateway TIS collects transportation related information from geographically widely distributed agencies of varied natures, validates and fuses the information collected, and disseminates it to interested public and private entities and the general public via internet and intranet. The Gateway handles a wide spectrum of data types, including traffic related incidents, roadwork and special events, vehicle detector data, DMS (Dynamic Variable Sign) and HAR (Highway Advisory Radio) messages, weather sensor data, traffic operational parameters derived from electronic toll collection system. Eventually, The Gateway will also provide real time video services.

This paper presents at a high level the CORBA based system architecture design of the Gateway system primarily from the perspective of ITS Center-to-Center interoperability. It also introduces the object oriented Gateway external data model that is specified in CORBA IDL (Interface Definition Language) and the Gateway Publisher/Subscriber based message oriented middleware for data collection and distribution. In addition, the Gateway’s decision on the selection of object oriented DBMS (Database Management System) versus relational DBMS is also discussed.

Illinois Department of Transportation

Parsons Transportation Group

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

The Traveler Information Center (TIC), known as SmarTraveler, is one element of the Orion Program for deploying Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The TIC is an example of an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) providing real-time traveler information via telephone and Internet services. It has been operational since November 1998. The project is under the overall supervision of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and its management consultant/private sector partner, Lockheed Martin of Canada (LM). The TIC is owned, managed, and operated by SmartRoute Systems under subcontract to LM.

The purpose of this paper is to present the evaluation results which tested the accuracy of the data being provided by the TIC. The hypothesis of the evaluation is that the TIC is providing reasonably accurate information, and that the quality of this information will improve over time. This hypothesis was measured by conducting travel time runs on designated routes covered by the TIC, and comparing the travel conditions observed with the conditions reported by the TIC at the beginning and the end of the travel run. The measures evaluated for accuracy were travel time, accidents, incidents (breakdowns), and construction. The travel time runs were conducted in the spring and fall of 1999.

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.

URS

Minnesota Department of Transportation

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

This study investigated the pre-trip and en route decision processes that typify driver decision making about route choices and route diversion. Verbal commentary methods were used to expose on-going perceptual and evaluative activity while participants made normal trips, unaccompanied, in their own vehicles. The trips included morning home-to-work commutes, evening work-to-home commutes, evening or weekend trips to an unfamiliar shopping mall, and weekday, off-peak trips to a downtown business area. Twenty-four paid participants took part, all in the greater Washington, DC, area. Each participant received extensive training, via a training video and a supervised training session, before being provided with an in-vehicle video recording system and recording specified trips. The information collected included pre-trip information sources and decisions, and continuous en route commentary on information sources, decisions, questions, strategies, major concerns, information needs, and errors. At the conclusion of each trip, additional information was collected on the driver.s perception of various aspects of the trip and the related information sources and needs. Each participant also completed a set of spatial ability tests at some point during the study. The analysis revealed a variety of findings regarding the information drivers use or desire, and its timing or location. Differences among trip types and driver categories (familiarity, age, spatial ability) were also noted. The findings are related to information needs that may be addressed by Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS).

Westat

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

Congestion on urban freeways, which adversely affects the economy, environment, and quality of life, continues to be a major problem in the United States. Minor incidents, such as minor traffic accidents, stalled vehicles, and special events, account for the majority of urban freeway congestion. Due to the problems associated with freeway incidents, many large metropolitan areas have implemented Incident Management Systems (IMS) to alleviate congestion and safety problems associated with incidents. These systems provide motorists with timely and accurate information to avoid incident locations. Therefore, motorists will experience reductions in travel time and secondary accidents, while increasing speeds and capacity during an incident. Incident management systems have been implemented mainly in large urban areas; however, little is known about the possible benefits in smaller urban areas (second-tier cities).

This study examined the feasibility of implementing IMS in small/medium size urban areas using a case study of the I-29 corridor in Fargo, ND. Due to the lack of knowledge and information regarding the possible benefits of implementing an IMS in smaller urban areas, the evaluation was performed using a simulation model to compare base cases to ITS enhanced cases. The INTEGRATION simulation model was used to estimate the potential benefits of an IMS which employs Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS). The study simulated a hypothetical one-lane-blocking incident having a duration of 20 minutes.

The case study analysis revealed that the combination of ATIS and ATMS provided the most favorable network benefits under the 20-minute incident. The IMS reduced incident travel times by 13 percent (city arterials), 28 percent (freeways), and 18 percent (overall network); average trip times were reduced by 20 percent (overall network); and average speeds increased by 21 percent (overall network).

North Dakota State University - Advanced Traffic Analysis Center - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

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

The general architecture of the cognitive and control human driver model, which we are incorporating into SmartAHS1, is presented to allow simultaneous simulation of vehicles controlled by drivers and semi-automated systems. Among seven principal modules in the model, perception, tactical, and operational modules are investigated in more detail and are used to describe driving behavior in car following.

The tactical and operational modules consist of multiple layers, based on a hierarchical structure. They communicate to each other by means of flag, channel, and messages. In particular, a computational driving schema in the tactical module is designed by use of a finite state machine in order to deal with its hybrid structure. Moreover, the schema is chosen through a categorization process. A proposed regional decision map allows transition of states in the schema. Based on the perception module and decision in the tactical module, time gap control and range-rate control are used in the operational module to achieve a local goal for car following task.

The proposed modules have been implemented in the SmartAHS framework by use of SHIFT simulation language to perform the car following simulation. For the purpose of simulations, the design parameters for car following have been chosen through a literature review. However, they can be adjusted through real field test of a driver. This method permits to obtain realistic micro-level simulation results, and then, to describe an individual driving style.

University of California at Berkeley - California PATH

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Institute of Transportation Studies

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