Washington State DOT were integrating their State CAD system to their statewide traveler information system (CARS) by using National ITS Standards. This project involved ENTERPRISE states discussing such topics as the expansion to state using CAD systems from different vendors (ie. Is the data coming out of CAD standardized?) as well as examining the use of the same standardized interfaces to send data to other condition reporting / statewide information systems.
Many ENTERPRISE states now operate statewide traveler information systems. Most often, these traveler information systems consist of some combination of 511 phone service, Internet dissemination system, and other possible dissemination mechanisms such as Highway Advisory Radio (HAR). The operation of a statewide traveler information system requires the assembly of statewide information on the conditions and events impacting the roads around the state. The State Patrol in most states operates a statewide Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system that allows dispatchers to enter and view all current events reported to the State Patrol. Most states recognize that while there would be a strong value in relaying all the serious (accident impacting) events entered into the State Patrol CAD through the traveler information systems, there is no direct link and therefore would require double entry.
Washington State performed an FHWA sponsored project to integrate the CAD system with their statewide traveler information system by creating a filter that decides what events merit being automatically sent to the traveler information system, and then filtering out any sensitive information about the event that should not be relayed to the traveling public. The intent of this ENTERPRISE project was to work with ENTERPRISE states to facilitate the transfer of the results and end product of the FHWA sponsored Washington project.
The goal of this project was to help ENTERPRISE states benefit from the results of the FHWA CAD-TMC project to the extent possible, with the following detailed objectives:
- To share early lessons learned in Washington CAD-TMC project with ENTERPRISE states
- To assess the Potential for CAD-TMC Integration in ENTERPRISE states.
- To develop a Concept for how CAD-TMC exchange could be implemented In ENTERPRISE state
Project Activities
The work completed as part of this project is as follows:
Task 1: Sharing early lessons learned in Washington CAD-TMC project with ENTERPRISE states
Efforts in Task 1 shared the information on the exact agreements between Washington DOT and Washington State Patrol regarding the sharing of data, the filtering of sensitive information, and the standardized formats for output provided by the CAD vendor in Washington.
Task 2: Facilitating Discussions with Key Staff in ENTERPRISE States to Assess the Potential for CAD-TMC Integration.
Efforts in Task 2 facilitated research and discussions with the ENTERPRISE states to understand
1. The level of interest in the electronic sharing of data between State Police and DOT Operations, and
2. An understanding of the cooperative working relationships that exist between State Police and DOT’s to determine the likelihood that a data sharing arrangement is possible, and
3. The CAD systems in use within the states with the intent of understanding the output information that is available and the likelihood that this data could be shared with the DOT TMC system.
Task 3: Development of Concept for How CAD-TMC Exchange Could be Implemented In ENTERPRISE States
Efforts in Task 3 presented an Implementation plan that defines the high level scenario that could be used by ENTERPRISE states to integrate the CAD and TMC systems. For example, this plan defined the output formats of data from the CAD system, a proposed draft agreement for information exchange among agencies (based on the experiences of the Washington project and the earlier research conducted in Task 2, and a proposed use of either the TMDD or ATIS standards for exchanging data with the TMC system.
CAD-TMC Field Operational Test Final Report: Washington State – July 2006