Completed

A key element of the success of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) is the ability to exchange traveler information between in-vehicle systems, traffic, transit information providers, traffic control centers, police and fire departments, and transit authorities. The ability to exchange information is becoming increasingly important as fully integrated ITS systems are deployed.

Effective standards help promote compatible ATIS products and the rapid development of the ITS industry. When compatibility between vendors is encouraged by standards, more choices are available to the consumer. The traveler is able to buy products from a wide range of products that can communicate with other travelers who may be using a wide variety of products.

The ITIS efforts of the ENTERPRISE Program have been underway since the early 1990s. These efforts initially translated the similar standards that had been developed in Europe, where standardized data exchange had been used prior to its use in the United States. An ITIS Committee inside ENTERPRISE worked to translate these standards and develop draft standards for the American ITS industry by talking with member states to understand their needs. Early projects such as Trilogy in Minnesota benefited from these standards, and still use the ITIS codes today. Once developed, these standards were offered to the standards development agencies working on National standards within the United States. These have tremendously influenced what has now come out of the standards agencies.

ENTERPRISE ITIS efforts have translated towards supporting the ENTERPRISE states by representing their needs towards the National Standards development. The ITIS Eye project focused on this effort.

Project Duration: 1992-1996

Inform

The Inform Project followed the ENTERPRISE Simple Solutions project and focused on disseminating the cost effective, low tech solutions for rural transportation community through the development of a website. Through the Inform web site, local agencies could enter information either on the local characteristics or the recognized needs of their area. Based on user input, the Internet site recommended and offered information on those simple solutions most applicable to the local agency. The web site proved to be very popular, receiving thousands of hits and dozens of serious inquiries from rural transportation professionals. Through it, ENTERPRISE provided a much-needed link between the ITS community and rural transportation professionals.

Inform also promoted the simple solutions and ITS through the network of Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) / Technology Transfer (T2) centers. The centers in some ENTERPRISE states were used to provide feedback on the scope and the “look and feel” of the web site, and to disseminate the simple solutions to their constituents. In total, there were thousands of individual project descriptions and full Simple Solution reports distributed in the United States and Canada, and the Inform project was a major success story.

Inform Next Step

Now that rural communities had access to ITS solutions that they can implement, the logical next step was to make widespread rural ITS a reality. To facilitate that, the Inform Next Step project helped rural transportation professionals identify a wider range of potential applications, plan ITS strategies and utilize the national ITS architecture and the applicable standards by enhancing the Inform website. Strong, usable tools provided all rural planners with the ability to create cohesive plans that build strength by integrating different ITS elements and existing infrastructure. By ensuring architecture compliance, ENTERPRISE and the FHWA promoted system compatibility among various rural jurisdictions that might not have the time or money to work together to achieve it on their own.

Project Duration: 1997-2001

The Herald Field Operational Test (FOT) tested AM radio as a low-cost way to broadcast traveler information in rural areas. It tested the feasibility of broadcasting data on the inaudible portion of an existing AM broadcast. Two systems were tested, the Herald system developed during the FOT, and a system from Mikros Systems Corporation. Both systems proved it is technically feasibly to broadcast data over AM without degrading the audio programming. And both systems proved to be strong candidates for low-cost rural traveler information dissemination.

Project Duration: 1995-1997

This ENTERPRISE project developed a guidance document on the deployment and operation of low-visibility warning systems. Research and evaluation was conducted on the effectiveness of the visibility detection hardware and methods of providing advanced warning of low visibility events to motorists. A workshop was held that convened transportation professional that have first hand knowledge of the operation on low visibility warning systems. The results and input gathered at the workshop as well as the research and evaluations of deployed systems, contributed to the development of the visibility warning systems guidance document.

Type III transponders are a suitable means for two-way communication between vehicles and road infrastructure. The transponders are small and are mounted on the interior of the vehicle windshield. Currently they are used for parking management and for data exchange for commercial vehicle border crossings. Because of these existing uses, there is a large number of Type III transponders already in use in commercial vehicles, and the infrastructure for the two-way communications is in place. Additionally, because of their current uses, Type III transponders are available in production quantities at competitive prices.

This project developed and evaluated a system for providing real-time, in-vehicle safety warnings to travelers through the use of Type III transponders. The development and evaluation performed in this project lead to recommendations for a full operation test deployment.

The project identified the appropriate structure and format for safety warning transmission to Type III transponder equipped vehicles. The Bearer Application Protocol (BAP) form data transmission developed the safety warning message list. An interface and software program provides and displays in-vehicle safety warnings. Finally, the
project made recommendations for a full test deployment.

The Colorado Mayday Field Operational Test was intended to develop and test an invehicle device that could be manually triggered in an accident or emergency and would report the vehicle location along with other vehicle-specific information. The project was proposed to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in January 1994, and testing commenced in early 1995. Three phases were planned, of which two were completed. The first phase assessed the design and technical performance of the Mayday system through limited testing. The second phase tested the system in real-world conditions on a small scale basis. The final phase was to be a full-scale test involving 2000 motorists that would use the system in actual emergencies.

Other elements of the project included evaluating the system’s fit within the National ITS Architecture, the feasibility of marketing a low-cost system, and expanding the program to a nationwide program.

The low-cost Mayday system is comprised of three principal elements, defined as follows:

Mayday in-vehicle unit
The in-vehicle unit housed the low-cost location device which provided the GPS data from which the vehicle position could be derived; the button box used to operate the system and request assistance; and the interface equipment used to control the
communications system.

Communications system
A two-way communications link transmitted, request information to the control center and receive confirmation messages from the control center.

Mayday control center
The control center received all emergency assistance requests originating from the invehicle units. The requests were processed, identifying the vehicle location and type of assistance required. The control center then routed the request to the appropriate response agency and notified the motorist of the action taken and the anticipated response time.

The results of the Colorado Mayday project proved the concept, and established a series of functional requirements for how such a system would need to operate on a national level. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Mayday Project Manager, Neil Lacey, participated in the Multi-jurisdictional Mayday Group, in order to share these lessons learned with private sector Mayday products and services.

Project Duration: 1995-1997