Completed

This project began with a focus on ITS and was revised to explore ITS as enabling technology for the broader applications of Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) in planning and operations. This reflects a more comprehensive view of ITS which allows agencies to collaborate in active management of the transportation system according to regional operations objectives.

New TSMO strategies are continually being developed and technology continues to rapidly evolve. This makes it challenging for transportation planning and operations staff to stay abreast of the latest information and factor it into their processes. ENTERPRISE recognized that planning and operations staff may not have adequate tools to support their decision making regarding which TSMO strategies may be appropriate to address certain transportation challenges. For example, a planner in a regional office may be reviewing a growing freeway congestion issue and may not know how best to determine if the most appropriate TSMO strategy is managed lanes or ramp metering.

This project identified resources that are currently available to support the consideration of TSMO operations objectives and strategies. With input from the USDOT Planning for Operations Program, it was determined that a decision support tool  based on Advancing Metropolitan Planning for Operations: The Building Blocks of a Model Transportation Plan Incorporating Operations – A Desk Reference would further support the consideration of TSMO strategies to solve transportation challenges. Additional selection criteria, strategies and reference resources were incorporated into the tool along with existing material from the Desk Reference. The decision support tool developed for one TSMO area – Traveler Information – to allow for evaluation before developing other TSMO areas. The final report presents feedback on the preliminary tool and recommendations for consideration if a decision support tool is further developed.

The ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund Program conducted this project to help increase members’ understanding of current practices for wrong-way driving countermeasures on freeways, including those that utilize Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies. The goal of this project was to create a repository for wrong-way countermeasure deployments to help ENTERPRISE agencies increase their understanding of countermeasure types, evaluation efforts and results as available, agency coordination efforts, feedback on the deployments from local motorists, and lessons learned.

A webinar was held on November 21, 2016 to share the results of this project documented in the Project Summary Report, including key findings and details on selected DOT deployments from agency representatives. Presentations provided as well as the webinar recording are included below.

• Webinar Recording
• Webinar Presentations
  • Project Approach and Key Findings – Linda Preisen, Athey Creek Consultants
  • Agency Deployments
    • Iowa DOT: Wrong-Way Driving Testbed – Willy Sorenson, Iowa DOT
    • Florida DOT: Statewide Efforts and Countermeasures – Raj Ponnaluri, Florida DOT
    • Arizona DOT: Pilot Deployment of an Integrated Detection and Warning System – Jim Windsor, Arizona DOT

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), enacted in July 2012, has created a surface transportation program with additional emphasis on performance-based measures. MAP-21 calls for U.S. states to establish performance goals and then report to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on progress towards meeting these performance measures. The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has issued several notices of proposed rulemaking that will eventually lead to specific requirements for agencies to measure and report on their performance in the national goals areas of safety, infrastructure condition, congestion reduction, system reliability, freight movement and economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and project delivery.

Although notices of proposed rulemaking have not yet been issued as of April 2016 for system performance and freight movement, these national goal areas may have implications for performance at international border crossings. In addition to security and safety interests, border crossing wait times are a strong focal point for commercial, passenger, and pedestrian traffic. 

There are several international borders shared among the ENTERPRISE members (Washington State Department of Transportation, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Michigan Department of Transportation, Ministry of Transportation Ontario, and Texas Department of Transportation).  These agencies had a shared interest in learning the roles, practices, and technologies for managing traffic in relation to performance measures at international border crossings.

The objectives of this project were to:

• Identify the current aspects of the transportation performance that are monitored at border crossings;
• Determine what and how wait time measurement technologies are used to support performance management at border crossings; and
• Investigate opportunities for ENTERPRISE to share information about this project’s findings with other entities to enhance future interactions.

Transportation agencies typically use an Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) for activities such as monitoring conditions (e.g. through detectors, cameras, and third-party data) and managing traffic (e.g. through dynamic message signs (DMS), lane use signs, ramp metering).  As technology changes and systems age, agencies may purchase or upgrade their ATMS.  The process of procuring a new or upgraded ATMS typically involves a systems engineering approach of defining needs, developing a concept of operations, then developing detailed requirements that can be used in procurement.

Agencies generally share a common, core set of similar needs, operational concepts, and requirements for ATMS software solutions.  The purpose of this project was for members to collaboratively develop a set of common needs, concepts, and requirements to serve as model systems engineering documents. The resulting document was not intended to be inclusive of all possible ATMS capabilities, but rather a baseline of common capabilities to be used by the member agencies to support their systems engineering process and ATMS procurement. 

The project developed a Model ATMS Concept of Operations (ConOps) that provides a user-oriented view of the ATMS. It describes the ATMS operation in relation to how different stakeholders will use and experience the system. The ConOps is a key element of the Systems Engineering process. The ConOps is a direct input into the development of system requirements also included in the document, which define the required high-level functionality of the ATMS. The ConOps is also used to validate that the deployed ATMS performs the expected operations and meets the needs of the ATMS stakeholders, while the system requirements are used to verify the deployed ATMS meets the required specifications.

This ENTERPRISE project “Real-Time Integration of Arrow Board Messages into Traveler Information Systems” outlines an effort to integrate Arrow Board status information (e.g. direction of arrow) from the field into existing and future traveler information systems to alert Transportation Management Center (TMC) operators and travelers in real-time of for example a lane closure. Per direction from the ENTERPRISE Board, the project was separated into three phases in order to properly assess needs and potential solutions before deployment and evaluation at one or more ENTERPRISE agency sites.

Phase 1 of this project involved agency collaboration (i.e. ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund members) to generate Model Concept of Operations and Model Requirements documents for a system to report Arrow Board status information to TMC staff for improved traveler information dissemination and performance reporting, that would not require significant agency staff time in the field or at the TMC. These model systems engineering documents were developed for ENTERPRISE agencies to use and modify when implementing solutions to integrate active work zone notifications into their current traveler information dissemination systems. These model documents are likewise expected to enable Arrow Board manufacturers and third-party integrators to develop systems that are flexible to meet the various needs of multiple agencies.

The objective of this Phase 2 project was to generate an Evaluation Plan for examining the process, effectiveness, lessons learned, and benefits of Arrow Board Reporting Systems once they are deployed. The Evaluation Plan is expected to guide future evaluations of one or more pilot deployments conducted by ENTERPRISE agencies.

The Evaluation Plan will be used in Phase 3 of this project to facilitate and evaluate deployments of this concept in select ENTERPRISE member states. It is recommended that each deploying agency develop a concept of operations and requirements document based on the model documents as well as conduct a separate, detailed verification test to document requirements that are met (or not met) to establish a baseline for the evaluation in understanding the variations and capabilities of deployed Arrow Board Reporting Systems. Additionally, it is important to note that the developed evaluation strategy and plan is for use by each agency testing a deployment, however components may be modified once deployment details for an individual agency are finalized.

One of the most significant challenges with providing travelers reports on winter road conditions is the collection of information for such reports. Classifying winter road conditions for operations and traveler information has primarily been a manual process based on staff observations while performing maintenance activities. It is a resource intensive action, often required during the busiest times of winter storm response. Because reports are based on staff observations, they can also be very subjective. This leads to inconsistent and outdated reports that are of less value to travelers.

The introduction of road weather information systems (RWIS) at fixed locations along the road, mobile sensors and cameras on fleet vehicles, and advanced weather reporting have increased the availability of data for DOT staff to better understand road conditions in addition to staff observations. As the automobile industry prepares for wider deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV), the transportation industry anticipates the opportunity to gather even more mobile data about road conditions from private vehicles.

For these reasons, ENTERPRISE commissioned this project to research the state of practice on automating or assisting staff with the classification of winter road conditions for traveler information. The objectives for the project were to assemble a Project Team to guide research and support contact with related efforts; and, research current approaches for automating or assisting winter road condition classification.

Phase 2 of this project explored specific attributes of data that can be used to automate road condition reporting with the intent of increasing agencies’ understanding and evaluation of this data.