Personal Mobility

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and Ford Motor
Company are planning a project to demonstrate how vehicles can be used as sensors.  
The project will evaluate the effectiveness of using probe vehicles to collect a variety of
real-time information on the roadway network.  Of specific interest is the collection of
travel time and roadway surface conditions.  This information will be used to provide
traffic operations staff and motorists with better, real-time information with the aim to
improve travelers’ route choices, to assist traffic operations staff in better identifying
control strategies, and to improve maintenance response to poor roadway surface
conditions.  The envisioned system will augment roadway infrastructure-based data
collection methods such as in-pavement loop detectors, as well as provide information
on roadways where the cost of permanent sensors is prohibitive.

Minnesota Department of Transportation

Ford Research and Advanced Engineering

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

Transportation engineers and planners worldwide are faced with the challenge of improving transit services in urban areas using low cost means. Transit signal priority is considered to be an effective way to improve transit service reliability and efficiency. In light of the interest in testing and deploying transit signal priority on a major arterial in Northern Virginia, this research focuses on the impacts of transit signal priority along the U.S.1 corridor in Fairfax County, in terms of benefits to transit and impacts on other traffic. Using a simulation tool, VISSIM, these impacts were assessed considering a ten second green extension priority strategy. Also, this assessment is being supported by a field study giving researchers an opportunity to compare simulation and field study results. The results of the simulation analysis indicated that the Fairfax Connector buses benefit from the green extension strategy with little to no impact on the other non-transit traffic. Overall, improvements of 3.61% were found for bus service reliability and 2.64% for bus efficiency, while negative impacts were found in the form of increases in queue lengths on side streets by a maximum value of approximately one vehicle.Preliminary field results show a comparable improvement in bus efficiency of 2.38%. While evaluating the impacts of provision of priority to transit buses this research emphasizes that ‘green extension’ strategy provides constant benefits with little to no disbenefit to other traffic. This research tries to provide a comparative depiction of results consistent with past studies showing ‘green extension’ as aviable option, even in most congested corridors without disrupting non-transit traffic.

Wilbur Smith Associates

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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

The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission recently conducted a study to inventory and review transit-related ITS projects in the region, evaluate the performance measurement approaches, research the benefits associated with these projects, and establish an ongoing performance monitoring process.  The project included interviews with transit managers and vendors, and an intercept/mailback survey of Northern Virginia transit riders.   
This paper summarizes the results of the survey conducted in April 2003.  Surveys were distributed to over 14,000 Northern Virginia transit riders at a number of large transit stations over the course of several weekdays.  Approximately 16% of the transit riders who received the questionnaire responded.  Specifically, the survey instrument addressed the following:

•  Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics;
•  Use of computers and the Internet;
•  Attitudes towards the current use of technology on transit;
•  Importance of various uses of technology;
•  Behavior changes as a result of transit ITS;
•  Familiarity with and frequency of use of various ITS applications in Northern Virginia; and
•  Usefulness and ease of use of ITS applications.

Overall, the survey respondents were widely supportive of the current use of technology on transit services in the region and to a large extent of expanded use of technology.  The currently offered transit ITS applications have generally been viewed as useful and there is widespread feeling that they are easy to use. This is an important accomplishment for the region.

TranSystems Corporation

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

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) is assessing new traffic control
strategies for lane closures in work zones. The traditional work zone performs adequately
as long as the traffic demand does not exceed the capacity of the single lane closure.
When congestion occurs, dangerous travel characteristics develop due to incompatible
driver behaviors and presumptions about correct merging procedures.
The objective of this project was to develop, test, and evaluate a traffic control system
that dynamically incorporates the best aspects of both the Early and Late Merge systems.
The Dynamic Late Merge System (DLMS) is a fully automated system that utilizes
Doppler radar and Remote Traffic Microwave Sensors (RTMS) to collect data on the
current state of traffic. Under predefined traffic conditions, Changeable Message Signs
(CMS) display lane-use instructions to drivers in the section of roadway preceding the
lane closure.
Implementation of the DLMS was very brief.  During this time, a noticeable change was
observed in driver behavior. Drivers were beginning to utilize the lanes in accordance
with the instructions on the CMS as the construction period progressed.  Unfortunately,
drivers never continually approached the merge point to take turns merging.  This first
deployment in a series did yield some useful knowledge about sign placement and data
collection for use in future operations of the DLMS.  This initial deployment was the first
step in assessing the overall effectiveness of a Dynamic Late Merge System.

Minnesota Department of Transportation

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

The focus of this report began with the initial task of identifying and recommending potential
alternatives for the replacement of the functionality that is provided by a Javelin video matrix switch.  This task was triggered by an end-of-life announcement from the switch manufacturer.  While this announcement underscored the need to address the issue in a timely manner, the planned 100-200% increase in the number of required video input and output ports resulted in the more urgent need to upgrade this design.

UDOT

TransCore

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