Completed

Wireless communication has changed dramatically since the late 1800s when the first wireless communication began via the photophone and radio transmissions. Significant progress has been made over the past decade in improving the breadth and quality of cellular coverage, yet challenges still remain with using such communication in rural areas to support Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices.

Phase 1 of this effort outlined an initiative to identify, demonstrate, and evaluate one or more emerging communication technologies that could be used by transportation agencies to communicate with ITS devices in rural areas. Per direction from the ENTERPRISE Board, the project was separated into two phases in order to properly assess issues and potential solutions before coordinating a deployment and evaluation.

Phase 2 completed two distinct efforts:

• Evaluated commercially available products for transferring full motion video over cellular utilizing a temporary test deployment coordinated by the Iowa DOT and North Dakota DOT, to evaluate these products in real-world settings. An Evaluation Report was developed and documents the evaluation conducted.
• Explored potential solutions for checking the operability status of ITS devices from a remote location, by conducting research, survey, and/or interviews to document DOT practices and to investigate products used in the utilities industry. A technical memorandum was developed and distributed to the ENTERPRISE member agencies summarizing the research conducted.

Transportation agencies across the country have deployed numerous Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) devices and systems, some of which have been in place for more than 25 years. As technology changes, it is important to evaluate these “legacy” devices and systems to determine if needs have changed; whether these devices and systems should be replaced, reused, or evolved in other ways; or whether it is beneficial to continue their operation.

The ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund Study conducted this research to help increase members’ understanding of agency practices for evolving and phasing out ITS devices and systems. This project documented nearly 60 case studies, including decision factors, criteria, approaches, and tools transportation agencies use to help guide decision-making when evolving and phasing out ITS devices and systems. Based on the case studies, a set of criteria and applicable tools was developed for ten common ITS devices and systems. These criteria are intended to assist agencies with identifying and navigating through multiple considerations while assessing ITS devices and systems to determine potential evolutions or eliminations. In addition, multiple overarching tools used by agencies to guide decisions for managing ITS devices and systems were documented.

Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (ICWS) are used to warn drivers on the mainline road of the presence of traffic at stop-controlled intersections and/or warn drivers at stop-controlled approaches of the presence of traffic on mainline roads. ICWS deployments are still relatively new with few deployments prior to 2010, however the number of deployments has increased in the past several years nationwide.

The ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund Study has completed several ICWS related projects from 2011 – 2015 including design and guidance for ICWS, system engineering documents for ICWS, and overall coordination and outreach with national standards groups, industry associations, and other pooled fund programs. Building off these previous efforts, ENTERPRISE conducted this project to identify and document issues related to the development and deployment of next-generation approaches to ICWS. This information was utilized to develop a roadmap of prioritized next steps to help guide future ICWS deployment efforts.

Related Documents/Links

For a listing of related documents and links to this intersection warning conflict systems (ICWS) ENTERPRISE project click here. For more information about the other phases of ENTERPRISE work with intersection conflict warning systems go to:

• Phase 1 – Developing Consistency in ITS Safety Solutions – Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (ICWS): The purpose of this project was to develop a consistent approach for accelerated, uniform deployment and further evaluation of intersection conflict warning systems (ICWS), and to recommend preliminary standards for MUTCD consideration. This work was initiated through a webinar and two in-person workshops. Participants included ENTERPRISE pooled fund states, other states that have deployed systems, FHWA, NCUTCD, AASHTO and NACE.
• Phase 2 – ICWS Coordination and Systems Engineering: This project furthered supported the standardization of ICWS by coordinating among the various national standards and association groups, and by developing a concept of operations and system requirements for the four types of ICWS identified in the Design and Evaluation Guidance for Intersection Conflict Warning Systems developed in Phase 1. 
• Phase 3 – ICWS Support and Outreach: This phase will continue coordination with national standards groups, industry associations and other pooled fund programs that have been engaged through the ENTERPRISE ICWS work. Phase 3 will also continue to provide ICWS deployment support to ENTERPRISE members.

In recent years, probe data generated by fleet vehicles and travelers themselves is being aggregated by third-party data providers and offered to agencies as comprehensive, real-time speed data. Before third-party data became available, the costs associated with deployment and maintenance of detectors often limited the coverage area for which state and local DOTs could monitor traffic. The benefits of this new probe/speed data include statewide coverage without the need for wide scale deployment of detectors. As many agencies have begun to use real-time speed data from third-party providers, the uses of the data have increased.

This ENTERPRISE project “Assess Speed Data for Traffic Management” first involved conducting an online search and contacting individuals at agencies to gather information on the use of real-time third-party speed data in operations. Then, these findings were analyzed to document and share common practices, challenges, and solutions to these challenges. Specifically, the objectives of this project included efforts to understand:

• Which DOTs are using the real-time speed data provided by third-party providers?
• How are DOTs using the data, especially for real-time traffic operations?
• What benefits are DOTs recognizing from the data?
• What challenges are DOTs facing (e.g., conflation of data) and how have these been addressed?
• How is speed data being combined with detector data, and what is the potential for speed data to supplement a more limited deployment of detectors for volume collection?

This project presents recent applications of new procurement practices, or traditional procurement practices applied in new ways, to partner with emerging technology providers. The final report includes information that may be useful to project managers as they carry out individual projects, to program managers exploring ways to proactively engage industry, and to contracting and procurement staff wanting information about new and innovative practices. The case studies and resources highlighted in this report were selected for how they addressed recent procurement challenges identified by ENTERPRISE members. The resources provide guidance on process, specialized information for specific technologies, and examples of procurement training. They represent a cross-section of general procurement and technology-specific procurement to help articulate agency needs, identify prospective partners, determine contracting processes, and guide projects through procurement when partnering with emerging technology providers. Case studies are presented in terms of the challenges that they address, and key procurement practices are also highlighted. They include a variety of innovative contracting approaches and project specific applications of different procurement processes.

The process of gathering information about road conditions during a winter storm typically involves plow operators, enforcement or other traffic operations staff reporting on conditions that they observe while on the road. These staff perform several critical functions during road weather events and reporting road conditions for traveler information is often less critical than other functions. This frequently leads to inconsistent, inaccurate and untimely reports. ENTERPRISE sponsored this effort to research what transportation agencies are doing to leverage technology and automate or assist with winter road condition reporting. Phase 1 of the effort focused on gathering information about how agencies were approaching automated and assisted classification of road conditions. Phase 2 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. This was achieved by establishing a list of available data sources, providing an overview of the types of data available from each source, describing common characteristics for various types of data, and gathering information about agency experiences with data to automate the reporting of winter road conditions.