Personal Mobility

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

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

This project sought to develop algorithms to improve the robustness and accuracy of travel
time predications in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Advanced Traffic Management
Systems (ATMS) in support of Advance Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). First the
project explored various techniques to synthesize missing data from traffic detection systems,
finding that simple linear spatial interpolation provided better results when compared to
quadratic or cubic spatial interpolation or temporal extrapolation; however better results are
obtained when historical data is available that meets existing traffic conditions. Further, the
project explored techniques to relate travel time computations using current detector data to
travel time calculations utilizing “aged” data finding inconclusive results under steady state
conditions (free-flow and congestion), but very promising results mining historical data
during transition from free flow to congestion and the reverse. The “standard” against which
improvements were compared was the method of travel time computation utilized in the
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) SunGuide® ATMS.

Southwest Research Institute

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) are currently being deployed in metropolitan areas for both highway and transit systems. Now, traveler information systems are being examined for their applicability to all phases of the longer distance trip between metropolitan areas. Work now underway at the I-95 Corridor Coalition is examining the needs of the traveler for longer distance trips by modes other than the private automobile.1 Work currently underway at the Transit Cooperative Research Program is examining a wide variety of strategies useful to the designer of public transportation services to airports, including the need to get information to the user about alternatives to the automobile trip.2 Based on the work at these two organizations, this paper reviews the application of elements of ATIS programs to aid the traveler in the provision of a multisegment public mode trip (i.e. a trip requiring several modes) which provides the user with an alternative to the automobile trip. The examples illustrate the technology available to improve the utilization of public modes to major airports.

Matthew A. Coogan - Consultant in Transportation

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

High quality transit service requires two feedback loops. The first loop, which works in real time, is operational control – taking measures to restore service to schedule. The second loop, which works off-line over a longer time frame, is service planning – making a schedule that reflects realistic operating conditions, is achievable, and allows for and expects interventions for operational control.

At the heart of both quality loops is a performance monitoring system based on an on-board computer with location tracking capability. It communicates in real time its location and deviation from schedule; for service planning, it records its trajectory during the day and uploads it at night into a database used for service planning.

This paper shows how service planning can be integrated with operational control using simple illustrations based on the systems that are in place in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The operational control systems used there are holding at timepoints, and conditional priority at signalized intersections. Late buses request, and are given, priority, while early buses experience normal intersection delay, thus restoring service to its schedule. The analysis and planning system used is TRITAPT (TRIp Time Analysis in Public Transport), a program developed at the Delft University of Technology.

Delft University of Technology - Traffic and Transportation Research Laboratory

Northeastern University - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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