Personal Mobility

Real-time transit passenger information systems are intended to improve the level of service provided by transit agencies. Such systems provide real-time information on when buses on specified routes are expected to arrive to a bus stop. Although such information is assumed to be of benefit, methods for evaluating these benefits under various conditions are limited. This paper expands upon the functionality and application of an evaluation methodology recently developed by the authors. The methodology focuses on the potential benefits of bus arrival information systems to passengers waiting at bus stops under various supply and demand characteristics. Transit bus operations and passenger arrivals are modeled as a stochastic system where the operator uses real-time bus location data to provide to waiting passengers bus arrival time information that maximizes passengers’ utilities. Simulation results reveal the nature of the dependence of the value of such information systems on the type of real-time data available to the operator, bus operations characteristics, and demand patterns. These results indicate that while the first two influence the value of information to passengers, demand patterns do not have a significant impact.

Rabi G. Mishalani, Mark R. McCord, and Sungjoon Lee

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

Freeway congestion is an ever-increasing problem. With limited funding, building bigger roads is not always an option. So we look to traffic management strategies in order to optimize traffic flow efficiency and safety. Of those strategies, this paper addresses Motorist Information. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) has been on the leading edge with their Motorist Information efforts.

Within this paper we will provide background information regarding Mn/DOT’s Traffic Management Center. Again, Mn/DOT was on the leading edge when it was opened in 1972. But the truly impressive expansion of the system came during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Our surveillance increased from 32 CCTV cameras to now more then 240. In addition, we have a fully automated system of more then 400 ramp meters, a continually expanding changeable message sign (CMS) system and the previously mentioned Advanced Traveler Information Systems are described.

This paper will also explain how the low power Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) was initially considered for dissemination of traffic information. But it was determined it would not be as effective as would be needed. So the concept of partnering with the Minneapolis Public Schools (MSP) was presented. There had been nothing like this previously or since. Mn/DOT’s Traffic Radio is the only one of it’s kind in the United States. The partnership includes an amount paid by Mn/DOT to MPS for traffic reports, originating from the Mn/DOT Traffic Management Center, to be broadcast at ten minute intervals from 6:00-9:00 A.M. and 3:30-7:00 P.M., Monday through Friday.

Once Traffic Radio was established it was decided that we needed to provide more options for motorists to receive our information. The idea was that we would provide the most accurate information to everyone regardless of where they were. So through our own development and partnerships we now have Motorist Information available through the Internet, television and the telephone. This paper will identify and describe each of these strategies. And finally, what the future holds.

Minnesota Department of Transportation

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

Using a lateral driver assist system for snowplow operators as an example, the impact on driver performance of subtle changes in control laws was explored. The display for the driver assist system provided integrated information on current lateral position, road orientation and curvature, and a prediction of future location. Changes in driver performance were seen by modifying the gains for terms within the prediction control law. Most notably, removal of the prediction feature or road orientation led to substantially decreased performance. Gain increases above one in the road orientation term led to improved speed, lateral positioning, and steering wheel standard deviation due to the stability improvement of the driver assist system.

University of California, Berkeley - California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH)

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

As one of the four priority corridors originally established by the US Congress under the ISTEA legislation, the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee (GCM) Corridor has been the scene of numerous, ITS projects. One of the largest and most complex is the Gateway Traveler Information System (TIS) which is being led by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Parsons Transportation Group is assisting IDOT in their work. The Gateway is one of the largest, most complex TIS ever implemented. It involves the collection of transportation related data within a three state area and distribution of this data back to the sources as well as to the public and information service providers. It also includes provision for joint control of field devices across jurisdictional boundaries. In implementing the Gateway, several issues needed to be addressed, many of which have national significance. This paper presents an overview of these issues and details the actions taken to mitigate the effect of these issues. Among the issues discussed are the results of the Corridor’s efforts to exchange geographically based data across several different databases. This is a necessity if information is to be transmitted electronically from computer to computer without any operator intervention. Currently, there are at least eight different location referencing systems in use within the Corridor. The Gateway is not the only system in the US facing this problem, and as a result, a national Location Referencing Messaging System (LRMS) developed by Oak Ridge Laboratory under a contract with the Federal Highway Administration has been implemented in the Corridor. Other issues addressed in this paper include: the need to be NTCIP compliant, specifically what is meant by this; how the design accommodates changes in National Transportation Communication for ITS Protocol (NTCIP); and what is considered as the baseline for NTCIP compliance. Additional issues addressed include: data fusion/verification; consensus building amongst diverse participants and procurement difficulties.

Illinois Department of Transportation

Parsons Transportation Group

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

Traveler information is exchanged between public sector agencies, private companies, and private citizens. The World Wide Web is one of the most widely used dissemination mechanisms, along with voice telephony. Wireless Web access is rapidly growing. Most Web-based information exchange, however, can be classified as semi-automated. The information is primarily formatted for, presented to, and used by a human. The information is formatted for presentation using HyperText Markup Language (HTML). It is difficult to cost-effectively automate the processing of large amounts of HTML coded material, because the HTML doesn’t provide information about the meaning of the data, just how to present it. For this reason, the Web has not been a particularly attractive mechanism for fully-automated exchange between computer systems.

This paper describes the TripInfo proof-of-concept prototype. TripInfo has successfully demonstrated the applicability of XML to traveler information integration. TripInfo uses XML to integrate traveler information from multiple sources, and provide trip-based, rather than inkbased reports. The rational for the project, the project itself, and the lessons-learned are described.

Mitretek Systems

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