Completed

Variable Message Signs (VMSs) are widely used to advise motorists of roadway conditions and incidents so that appropriate actions can be taken by the driver to enhance the safety and efficiency of transportation operations. VMSs are often supplemented by Highway Advisory Radios (HARs) in urban and recreational areas to provide a comprehensive Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). While extensive work had been done studying the use of the VMS technology for incident scenarios, little or no known work had been done to define practices and policies for use of VMS and HAR during non-incident conditions.

Variable message signs are often used in both urban and rural applications to provide information to motorists related to incidents. An incident is any non-recurring event that causes a reduction in roadway capacity or an abnormal increase in demand. Some examples of incidents include traffic collisions, disabled vehicles, spilled cargo, highway maintenance and construction projects, weather-related concerns, and special events attracting large numbers of vehicles. Significant research has been done in the art of displaying and formatting messages for incident applications; these messages typically include a location and problem description in the message.

Many state transportation departments and other local and municipal agencies have been at the forefront of ATIS implementation, providing motorist information in order to create a more efficient and safer transportation system. Numerous agencies also maintain a large number of urban and rural permanent VMSs, as well as a number of HAR transmitters, during construction and incident-related conditions. However, many agencies, such as the Arizona DOT, only made limited use of their ATIS infrastructure for non-incident-related conditions. Because there were no official documents and information related to the non-incident use of VMS and HAR, this research provided guidance to the ENTERPRISE members in developing policies for non-incident use of VMS and HAR.

Project Activities

The work completed as a part of this project included the following:

Task 1: Literature Search

A thorough literature research was conducted to identify pertinent documents related to non-incident usage of VMS and HAR.

Task 2: VMS and HAR User Surveys

This task identified and made telephone contacts with VMS and HAR users at all 50 State transportation departments to learn what each department’s current polices and practices were related to non-incident usage of VMS and HAR. Some examples of questions that practitioners were asked include:

• How many VMSs or HARs are you responsible for?
• Do you use your VMSs and HARs during non-incident conditions?
• What types of non-incident information do you display on your VMSs?
• How are your HARs used during non-incident conditions?
• Do you have warrants for each type of message you disseminate?
• Do you have examples of formats of the common messages used during non-incident conditions?
• Can you identify any difficulties with VMS or HAR usage during nonincident conditions?
• What is the public perception of the ATIS program, which you operate?

It was anticipated that more detailed follow-up questions would be asked of those practitioners who make frequent use of non-incident-related messages for their ATIS operations.

Task 3: Draft Report

A concise draft report was developed to document the results of the literature search, and practitioners’ interviews. The report contained summaries of the responses received in tabular and graphical formats. A main focus area of the report was recommendations for non-incident use of the VMS and HAR ATIS technology. The consultant also endeavored to qualitatively identify the benefits of non-incident use of the technology. The report included an Executive Summary of key findings.

Task 4: Final Report

Following review by ENTERPRISE and other interested parties, the project consultant incorporated comments and prepare a final report. The report was presented both electronically and in hard copy formats. The consultant developed a PowerPoint presentation of the project findings for public presentation.

Deliverables

• The following products were delivered from this project:
• A Final Report that can be used by ATIS operators to develop policies and procedures for non-incident use of VMS and HAR.
• A public presentation of the report’s findings to an appropriate national technical audience, as recommended by the ENTERPRISE group.

The ENTERPRISE Travel Time Best Practices Research Project involved contacting numerous State Department of Transportation (DOT) representatives to discuss best practices for travel time data collection, processing, and information reporting. The final report summarizes the results of the conversations and lessons learned.

In addition to simply documenting the practices implemented in each state, research was also conducted on the specific approaches used for monitoring and reporting information. Therefore, there are a number of matrices in the final report, each one presenting a different perspective on the topic of travel time prediction and reporting.

The intent of this research was not to develop a lengthy white paper on the topic of travel time reporting, but rather to present quick facts in an easily referenced format to support ENTERPRISE member agencies in understanding what has worked and what has notworked in the field of travel time reporting.

The explosive rate of deployment of digital personal communication services (PCS) worldwide, is creating new opportunities for deploying ITS technology in remote locations otherwise unreachable by economically viable methods.

The digital PCS data services are cost competitive and offer a means of reducing the recurrent costs of existing distributed ITS systems. Several agencies in Ontario, including the City of London and York Region are interested in verifying this communications technology for traffic signal control systems (TSCS) communications.

The purpose of this project was to test the next generation of digital wireless technology offered by PCS (personal communication service) service providers and determine if it can support the communications requirements for the urban traffic signal control systems utilizing legacy NEMA traffic signal controllers.

Phase 1

During 2007, the ENTERPRISE Program funded an evaluation of the Kansas Rural Transit Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) currently being operated in Hays and Hutchinson, Kansas.  The intent of the evaluation was to document the users perceptions and experiences with the system in order to help the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) determine if and when to expand the ITS technologies to other locations throughout the state. 

The technologies operated by the Kansas rural ITS project include Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) on transit vehicles, Mobile Data Terminals (MDT) in the transit vehicles and data communications between the dispatch center and vehicles, and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems.

Phase 2

The findings of the 2007 evaluation activities confirmed that the ITS technologies provided benefits to dispatchers, supervisors, drivers, and riders in both Hays and Hutchinson.  However, nearly every individual commented that the systems had many instances of failures in either the equipment or the communications systems.  In order to better understand these system failures, a second evaluation effort was performed to document what systems are having problems, and ideally to help lead to resolving the problems.

The objective of this project was to examine whether a typical DMS can be reliably powered by a solar/wind HRPG. The project location was near a State highway and hasdan easy access to utility grid power, and thus the location was not selected based on the needs and cost benefits of an HRPG but rather selected based on the convenience of field tests and availability of a DMS for testing. Since solar/wind HRPGs were not available on the market, the researchers designed and put together a solar/wind HRPG using off-the-shelf products. Installation was done with the help and resources provided by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT). The DMS was originally designed and installed to be powered by a grid AC source.
Consequently, power efficiency was not a concern in the design. This project replaced the grid AC power supply with a solar/wind HRPG.

Over the past few years, many transportation agencies have been extensively using RWIS for snow and ice control. These agencies were then facing issues of how best to utilize and integrate their RWIS equipment and the different equipment of their own and other agencies. This equipment could be placed in the same region or be across jurisdictional boundaries.

Because of the proprietary nature of some RWIS information and the inability of different systems to easily exchange information, many agencies found it difficult to exchange information and receive full value from their RWIS investment. An example is in Arizona where there is more than one type of RWIS sensor in the field. This requires each sensor to have its own CPU that functions independently of any others. The ideal was to have all sensors reporting to a single CPU where information can be integrated and processed. The INCH project may address this issue for new equipment, but this project examined how states are integrating existing equipment.

The RWIS Guidance and Reference Document examined best practices and success stories of provinces and states in North America. It looked at innovative approaches to collecting and providing road and weather condition information for diverse users. It focused on how agencies have successfully integrated various weather information sources, both within their jurisdictions and outside. It also discussed how agencies get RWIS information to their maintenance crews, other response agencies and the general public.

This project referenced success stories in a way that helped agencies be able to utilize RWIS equipment and data for multiple purposes.

Project Activities

The goal of RWIS Guidance and Reference Document was accomplished through three tasks. These tasks include literature and Internet review, in-depth interviews and surveys with RWIS developers. It developed the guidance document and distribute it over the Internet and at conferences.

Task 1. Literature and Internet Review
The consultant looked through available RWIS literatures and existing Internet web sites to identify current best practices for integration, data collection, presentation and dissemination. Best practices were defined by complexity, ease of understanding, and agencies’ ability to incorporate information from multiple types of equipment. The purpose was to find solutions for a range of agencies with varying expertise and needs from RWIS.

The review also looked at best practices in disseminating RWIS information to users. It did not focus on display technologies, but in how states have developed simple, automated systems for disseminating RWIS data. It also examined the state of the practice for integration of RWIS with equipment such as dynamic message signs, highway advisory radio, speed warning systems and condition reporting systems (e.g., FORETELL, CARS). Traditionally, it has been difficult to get data to some dissemination systems because each RWIS type is collected and processed by different workstations.

Another aspect of the document review was to identify practices in agencies that share information across jurisdictional boundaries. It also examined how agencies may provide information to the National weather Service. Many agencies struggled with how to easily share essential information and the document will detail how it was done successfully in some areas.

Task 2. In-depth Interviews and Surveys with RWIS Developers
The consultant conducted in-depth interviews and surveys with RWIS developers in states with best practices in order to know about their system and functionality. The surveys focused on identifying the challenges and issues that arose during the development of their RWIS systems.

In particular, this effort examined jurisdictional and proprietary information issues. It examined how some agencies successfully overcame the difficulties in integrating data form different systems.

The surveys and interviews also examined the costs of developing means for exchanging and disseminating information.

Task 3. Develop the Guidance Document
Based on the above review and findings, the consultant developed a reference guide. The RWIS guidance document was targeted at agencies that were developing or expanding their RWIS capabilities. The final document was disseminated in electronic form to the public through the ENTERPRISE web site. It was also made available at conferences and to ENTERPRISE members who would like to share it with other interested agencies.

Deliverables

• A document summarizing the findings about current best practices of RWIS.
• A document summarizing interviews and surveys findings.
• The final report in electronic and paper form