Thinking Highways - North America Edition - March/April 2014

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thinkinghighways.com
Volume 9 Number 1 March/April 2014
NORTH AMERICA
EDITION
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND ADVANCED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
OR UNDERDEVELOPED?
How do you measure the progress
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really getting smarter?
Guy Fraker investigates
Paul Hutton on whats possible (and whats not)
in the realm of smart safety solutions
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North America Vol 9 No 1 thinkinghighways.com 1
THE VIEW Foreword Thinking
Kevin Borras
Listen now to
the Thinking
Aloud
podcasts at
thinkinghighways.
com/podcasts
Join the
Thinking
Highways
LinkedIn group
at
linkedin.com
Kevin Borras is editor of Thinking Highways and
editorial director and co-founder of H3B Media.
kevin@h3bm.com; www.thinkinghighways.com
Editor in Chief
Kevin Borras (kevin@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9482
Art Editor
Barbara Stanley (barbara@h3bm.com)
Contributing Editors
Richard Bishop, Paul Hutton, Andrew Pickford,
Randy Salzman
Contributors to this issue
Bruce Abernethy, Max Azizi, Richard Bishop,
Kenneth Button, Jay Calhoun, John Chipperfield,
Bruce Dressel, Ariana Drivdahl, Guy Fraker,
Paul Hutton, Mark Johnson, Bob Kelly, Iain Levy,
Jerry Maschka, Bob McQueen, Richard Mudge,
Jos Pap, Elena de la Pea, David Pickeral,
Nick Reed, Shelley Row, Daniel Scholz,
Rick Sterrett, Bernie Wagenblast
News and Web Editor
Gareth Hayward (gareth@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9484
Sales and Marketing
Luis Hill (luis@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9485
Duncan Ingram (duncan@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)1258 268561
Subscriptions and Circulation
Kerry Hill (kerry@h3bm.com)
Accounts/Office Manager
Kerry Hill +44 (0)20 3463 9486
Group Publishing Director
Kevin Borras
Group CEO
Luis Hill
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Twenty-eight years after leaving
school, I might have just discovered
the value of x
A
t school I was never particularly
good at algebra (or many other
things other than English and
sports involving a round ball). I didnt
really see the point of it. I lef school in
the summer of 1986 and have never had
to fathom the value of X, or any other
letter, for that matter, since that day I
walked out of the school gates for the last
time and threw my tie into the pond.
I was never destined for a career of
any kind in which deciphering algebraic
formulae was going to comprise a
signifcant part. I guess there has to be all
manner of professions where working out
if a+b2=a2 contains any fundamental faws
but I have never been involved with any of
them. I have genuinely never had to solve
such a riddle since but then again, my career
path (subeditor for a defence publishing
house > stand-up comedian > football
journalist > rock singer > logistics journalist
> 16-year veteran of the ITS scene) isnt the
most obvious for someone in my position
and hasnt included a stint as an engineer on
a space programme so its no real surprise.
However, I have discovered the
value of X in a Tinking Highways
context, you will be relieved to know.
Why has X become a letter associated
with mystery and indefnability?
Take the phrase the X factor as
an example. Te X in this case means
something that you cant put your fnger
on, something you cant quite explain,
something you are looking for but wont
know what it is until you have found it.
Hence the title of the frankly horrifc UK
TV show of the same nameyes its a
singing competition (apparently, having
never seen a second of it I am quite proud
to say) but its not just about the quality of
the singers voice. Its thatwell, X factor,
that the judges are looking for. And its also
the case with our brand new venture.
We are very
pleased to
announce
that we are
launching
a new app-
magazine
called THx.
So what does
the X stand
for? Thats
just it. It can
be anything
We are very pleased to announce that

we are launching a new digital multimedia
magazine called THx. Te TH stands for
Tinking Highwaysbut what does the X
stand for? Tats just it. It can be anything.
It can be eXtra articles that we just
didnt have room for in the printed
edition of Tinking Highways. It can be
eXpanded versions of articles that have
appeared in the printed edition of Tinking
Highways: the frst edition will feature a
longer version of the cover story from the
Europe/Rest of the World edition, Bob
Williams fascinating investigation into
vehicle data ownership (its not lost on
me that Bobs company is called CSI).
THx will also feature especially
commissioned articles that need far more
room to breathe than is possible in the
pages of a printed publication. One of the
frst subjects to be tackled will be crisis
management. Genuinely eXciting rich
media elements will bring the stories
to life in a way that the constraints of
magazines that are made of trees just
cannot do. And all presented in a really
attractive app format that will mean
you wont just press an arrow key to go
the next page, therell be all kinds of
pushing, swiping and pinching to do.
And thats not all. Im not the editor
of THx. Oh no. I fgured that you had
probably had enough of my ramblings and
made the very sensible decision to appoint
an editor with the gravitas, knowledge,
writing skills and, dare I say it, contacts,
to make THx the roaring success we are
very confdent that it will be. It wasnt the
most typical of interviews once we had
decided who we wanted to take the reins.
So what is THx then?
Its what you want it to be.
Ohright. Ill take it.
Tats a rather simplifed version of
events but we are really looking forward
to seeing how THx develops in what are
very capable hands. Whose hands are
they, you ask? Lets just call him Mr X.
01_TH0114_NA_Foreword NO JB.indd 1 16/04/2014 14:28
thinkinghighways.com 2 Vol 9 No 1 North America
CONTENTS Volume 9 Number 1
TECHNOLOGY STATE CHAPTERS AND AUTHORITIES
COLUMNS & SERVICES
4
SMART SAFETY
Paul Hutton talks to five
experts in the field of smart
safety solutions to discover
whats real and whats fantasy
12
SMART SAFETY
Using wireless technology for
smarter safety for buses and
other modes of transportation,
by Ariana Drivdahl
38
GRAPHICAL ROUTE
INFORMATION
Jerry Maschka looks at
how Arapahoe County,
Colorado addressed an
all-too familiar problem
48
ITS FLORIDA
The emergence, success
and future of one of the
most progressive ITS
states
1
FOREWORD
Kevin Borras ponders the
value of x
54
THINKING ALOUD
Paul Hutton has the latest
from the Thinking Highways
podcast team
16
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
CENTERS
Scottsdale, Arizonas new traffic
management center was born
out of necessity
20
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
CENTERS
What does the future hold for
the TMC in the face of full-scale
connected V2X deployment?
52
IR2B SECTION
Elena de la Pea
introduces the goals
and ambitions of the
International Road
Research Board
56
SHELLEY ROW
57
BOB KELLY & MARK
JOHNSON
60
IR2B: JOS PAP
61
RICHARD BISHOP
62
IBEC: RICHARD MUDGE,
KEN BUTTON, MAX AZIZI
63
BOB MCQUEEN
64
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
IN THIS ISSUE
FEATURES & OPINION
Penny Farthing
Innovation for better mobility
Invented in 1871 by British engineer,
James Starley, the Penny Farthing
was the first really efficient bicycle,
consisting of a small rear wheel and
large front wheel pivoting on a
simple tubular frame with tires of
rubber.
SmartCycle combines vehicle and bicycle video detection without
requiring manual call buttons at the signal. Extend phase time only
when cyclists are present, permitting them to safely travel through the
intersection. Multiple outputs allow optimal signal timing activated
only when a bicyclist is present, ensuring no traffic flow interruption.
SmartCycle
ISO 9001:2008
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
SmartCycle_Intertraffic_MarchApril2014rev.ai 3/5/2014 12:55:51 PM
2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:34
34
PLATOONING
Is platooning the panacea
to a whole range of
transportation-related
issues? Rick Sterrett
certainly thinks so
44
TRAFFIC INFORMATION
Bernie Wagenblast, the
traffic reporters traffic
reporter, reflects on the
changes he has witnessed
first hand
24
ITS DEPLOYMENT
David Pickeral on how to
truly measure the progress
of ITS
28
SMART MOBILITY
Guy Fraker attempts to
establish the smartness of
smart technology
02_TH0114_NA_Contents.indd 2 16/04/2014 14:29
Penny Farthing
Innovation for better mobility
Invented in 1871 by British engineer,
James Starley, the Penny Farthing
was the first really efficient bicycle,
consisting of a small rear wheel and
large front wheel pivoting on a
simple tubular frame with tires of
rubber.
SmartCycle combines vehicle and bicycle video detection without
requiring manual call buttons at the signal. Extend phase time only
when cyclists are present, permitting them to safely travel through the
intersection. Multiple outputs allow optimal signal timing activated
only when a bicyclist is present, ensuring no traffic flow interruption.
SmartCycle
ISO 9001:2008
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
SmartCycle_Intertraffic_MarchApril2014rev.ai 3/5/2014 12:55:51 PM
2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:34 02_TH0114_NA_Contents.indd 3 16/04/2014 14:29
TECHNOLOGY Smart safety solutions
04-11_TH0114_NA_Hutton Safety.indd 4 16/04/2014 15:02
thinkinghighways.com 5 North America Vol 9 No 1
Smart safety solutions
E
verythings smart these days
our phones, the meters which
monitor our energy use, our
televisions and now our vehicles and
infrastructure. Its all due to the rapid
improvement in communications that
allow data to be shared real-time.
When it comes to road safety, were
constantly bombarded by so many pre-
dictions and new technology announce-
ments that it becomes difficult to
differentiate between fact and fantasy, the
present and the future.
Firstly, we need some definitions of
what exactly smart safety is all about.
For me a smart safety system is one
that helps a driver to get to their desti-
nation effectively, and unobtrusively
guides them and ensures they reach their
destination without any undue problem
says Nick Reed, the Principle Human
Factors researcher at TRL.
For Vitronics Sales Director Daniel
Scholz, its about flexibility: From our
point of view a smart safety system is a
system that is flexible in the way you can
use it in the locations where you can use
it and also in the traffic violation scenar-
ios that you can enforce, he says. That
means that for the product that we have
we have speed enforcement products,
red light enforcement and beside that
there are also other traffic violations that
we can or will be able to enforce in the
future, this includes for example weigh-
in-motion scenarios, section speed con-
trol and what we think is a smart safety
system is a system which allows the
authority or Police to enforce a whole
range of different traffic contraventions.
John Chipperfield, chief technology
office for Swarco, defines a smart sys-
tem is one which takes full advantage
of technology: I believe that smart is
microprocessors, better use of data, inter-
connection of systems and communica-
tion to the travelling public.
And Nick recognises the key fact that
smart doesnt depend on location. A
smart safety system could be something
that has a guidance from infrastructure,
or it could be vehicle-based, he says.
Paul Hutton sets out to identify whats real and
whats fanciful in the smart safety solutions sector
by talking to five experts from different parts of the
industry with a real interest in ITS
A safer
future
What were seeing now is more and more
progression in vehicle-based systems as we
move towards semi-autonomous and
eventually fully-autonomous vehicles but its
likely that infrastructure will play a role in
supporting those systems as well
What were seeing now is more and more
progression in vehicle-based systems as
we move towards semi-autonomous and
eventually fully-autonomous vehicles but
its likely that infrastructure will play a role
in supporting those systems as well.
AFTERMARKET SAFETY
But what about the in-vehicle systems? Iain
Levy is Director of Business Development
at ADAS manufacturer Mobileye: Today
we work with about 85 to 90 per cent of
the vehicle manufacturers around the
world using our technology to integrate
into their system and then provide them
with the highest level of ADAS in the mar-
ket today, he explains. As well as that,
weve developed an after-market product
that can be retro-fitted into any vehicle
and provides the same level of technology
that we provide to the top-level vehicle
manufacturers.
The system provides life-saving tech-
nology such as forward collision warning,
alerting the driver when theres a vehicle
in front and theres an imminent collision,
lane departure warning and lane keeping
when you go outside your lane without
using your turn signal, unintentionally. As
well as that with the after-market system
were able to provide a safety apparatus
called headway monitoring warning and
what this is, is it measures the time to the
vehicle in front of you to promote to the
driver keeping a safe distance and ensure
that we prevent the collision happening
well before it is imminent.
And Nick Reed agrees that in terms
of safety, this approach is where the real
improvements will come from: Where
we are now is starting to be diminishing
returns from the traditional approaches.
And if we look at the accident statistics we
see that human error is a contributory fac-
tor in probably more than 90 per cent of
collisions on the road. And if we can start
to address that, if we can start to look at
ways in which we can reduce the risk of
humans making errors, whilst driving we
might get to reduce those casualty figures
even further.
For Iain Levy, one of his selling points is
the relatively simple interactivity his sys-
tem has with the roadside: We have what
we call traffic side recognition, now this is
where we can actually read the traffic signs
for instance speed limit signs and send
the driver a warning if they are going over
the speed limit. Now unlike a GPS system
where this has to be pre-mapped, we actu-
ally read the speed limit sign and therefore
can send the driver a warning if they are
going over that speed limit and its accurate
for that actual road rather than any kind of
pre-mapping.
Now lets meet Guy Fraker, the Chief
Learning Officer at a company called
AutonomouStuff and also the CEO of the
shared-mobility software company Get To
Kno to put the importance of the subject
into perspective: Ever since the vehicle hit
the road a hundred years ago the safety of
the vehicles has all been largely depend-
ent on human capability and at a very
basic level humans can only see one direc-
tion at a time, he says. With the autono-
mous control systems you have essentially
360 degree view, a 360 degree perception
of whats going on inside and outside of
the vehicle and the car can augment that
human error and human judgement and
prevent probably 85 to 95 per cent of all
crashes. This is vital, he says, to arrest a
massive human tragedy. Right now were
losing about 1.2m citizens a year globally
on the roadways. Weve repeated the fatal-
ity count of the Second World War twice
since the war ended through car accidents
and with the computer capabilities that
we can connect these technologies to, the
vehicle is capable of making judgements,
preventing human error and preventing
Our panel of experts, from left: Daniel Scholz, sales director, Vitronic; John Chipperfield, chief technology officer, Swarco; Guy Fraker, chief learning
officer, AutonomouStuff/CEO, Get2Kno; Dr Nick Reed, principal human factors researcher, TRL; Iain Levy, business development director, Mobileye
Mobileye provides life-saving technology
including forward collision warning
these horrible losses from taking place.
Thats a subject well come back to, but,
as Vitronics Daniel Scholz says, at present
most vehicles on the road have few, if any,
smart solutions on board, so its important
to maximise the quality of roadside solu-
tions. The networking of the system is
an important feature which adds a lot of
smart to these systems, because we see
a lot of movement in the sector towards
more and more networked solutions. The
enforcement system, be it speed enforce-
ment or red light is no longer sitting alone
somewhere on the street and from time
to time somebody stops by and gets the
data from it, or even the wet film if you
look back more than 10 years. Today these
systems are more or less all connected to
a central operations centre, to a central
enforcement centre, therefore the author-
ity can directly use the violations that are
produced and has also a very good view
on the status of the whole system and the
status of the road safety situation.
John Chipperfield agrees that technol-
ogy need not only be used for sending out
tickets, but is vital for real-time, Swarco is
a full-line traffic product systems and serv-
ice provider. So we do everything from
traffic lights, which is certainly not smart,
up to full Urban Traffic Control systems
where were using adaptive traffic control
algorithms which I do believe is an appli-
cation of smart technology, he says. On
the freeways, things like adaptive speed
control are another very good example of
smart safety solutions slowing down the
traffic as the volumes increase, using the
overhead gantries, using information to
the motorist, thats how I see smart tech-
nology and thats a great application from
Swarco.
And he adds that technology contin-
ues to improve: The area where this is
improving with smart traffic solutions
is we can now get data about whats hap-
pening on the motorway not just from
the fixed detectors which weve used in
the past but from other new technologies
like video, like Bluetooth and indeed from
the vehicles themselves using cooperative
systems.
INFLUENCING BEHAVIOUR
Daniel reckons that by having a real-time
view of the situation its possible to make
even better influences on the traffic behav-
iour. So that means when we talk about,
for example, section speed control situ-
ations an authority is able to set, by other
traffic management systems like variable
speed signs, set the speed limit applica-
ble to the current traffic situation and by
connecting the section speed control or
even the spot speed system to this vari-
able speed limit you can ensure that this
speed limit is also obeyed by this traffic,
Vitronics expert explains. This makes the
overall traffic smoother and improves the
traffic safety.
Another way to improve safety, accord-
ing to Iain Levy, is to help the driver spot
moving obstacles outside the car, 25 per
cent of fatalities on the road are what we
call vulnerable road users, they are bicycles
and pedestrians. Protecting these people is
really an important part of our technology,
he says. One of the biggest draw cards of
the mobileye technology, and where we see
is what we call pedestrian detection. This
is actually pedestrian and bicycle detec-
tion where we send the driver a warning
that there is an imminent collision with
a pedestrian or bicycle rider. Now this is
very important technology where were
actually able to identify a pedestrian on the
road and rather than having false warnings
Safety systems: Vitronics PoliScan family of traffic enforcement measures (above), red-light
enforcement (top right) and AutonomouStuffs mobile speed enforcement application (right)
Smart safety solutions
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Advance Detection Plus
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Combines Stop Bar and
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One Single Radar for both Stop
Bar and Advance Detection
Stop Bar Detection
Up to 6 Lanes
Replaces Loop Detectors
Handles Moving and Stopped
Trafc
Most Advanced Trafc Radar Technology.
Four Sensor Models.
Numerous Trafc Applications.
Exceptional Performance.
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SMART MI CROWAVE SENSORS
of poles of anything of those sorts we can
actually identify what a pedestrian is.
Its not just the potentially unpredict-
able behaviour of those outside the car
that needs addressing. Drivers themselves
can very much vary in their performance
depending on their mood, the familiarity
with their surroundings, how tired they
are, or dare we say, how much theyve had
to drink.
Nick Reed believes letting the car take
more of the decisions has a massive effect
on safety standards, Looking at the acci-
dent statistics we know that alcohol and
fatigue still play a big part in causation of
collisions on the road, and fatalities, he
explains. If vehicle automation can help
reduce the impact of those so that the
vehicle will support the driver and help to
avoid collisions occurring in the first place,
whether theyre impaired by alcohol, by
fatigue or a driver wants to engage in an
alternative task. Were all very time-pres-
sured these days, smart phone use is ever
increasing, the automation might allow a
driver to engage in secondary tasks and
use their smart phone whilst the vehicle
takes care of the less exciting parts of driv-
ing, so in a traffic jam or on a monotonous
highway journey that time becomes pro-
ductive, useful and the vehicle takes care of
the travelling.
Guy Fraker thinks theres even more
safety-related opportunity to let a drivers
car, effectively, become an ambulance:
What often happens with people who
are impaired for whatever reason is that
when they pass out or drop conscious-
ness behind the wheel, their car continues
to move, now totally uncontrolled very
often crossing the centre line and causing
a head-on collision. We have the capabil-
ity I know two auto manufacturers now
who have developed prototypes where
if somebody does just suddenly become
unconscious the vehicle recognises it, the
vehicle can reroute the person to an emer-
gency room and the vehicle can take the
person and can call the hospital ahead of
time and tell that the persons on the way,
so that they can meet them outside. Well
were going to have to set some lifestyle
questions like alcohol or drug use aside
and understand that yes these vehicles
will enable some of those behaviours but
theyre replacing the inability to be safe
with the capability to be safe.
And Nick and Guy both think that
autonomous vehicles do not only improve
safety, but inclusiveness too: The intro-
duction of vehicle automation may help
drivers whove had difficulties in, or had
to stop driving. The less-able and older
drivers may be able to gain access again
to independent mobility that may benefit
them socially, might benefit their access to
healthcare and just greatly increase their
quality of life, explains Nick, while Guys
interest is very close to home:
Back in 2009 I thought I had a pretty
good handle on the pace at which these
technologies were evolving and it was my
son who was 25 at the time, whos autistic,
brought me his laptop to show me the first
New York Times video clips of the Google
Car. I said, Well Patrick, what do you
think? and he said, Dad, it means I get to
own a car someday. I realised that he was
seeing potential for up to 15 per cent of the
US and European adult households could
suddenly be independent contributors to
society with safe, on-demand autonomous
transportation.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
So how do the advancements vary around
the world? Its become a theme in these
features to discover that one of the main
bugbears among industry experts is the
lack of standardisation. In this case, John
Chipperfield explains that its largely down
to the fact that technologys been imple-
mented in different ways over the years,
that some places are playing catch-up:
In the northern hemisphere, in places
like Sweden, there is already a very good
understanding and theyre looking for
additions to systems they already have,
the Swarco CTO says. They have most of
If vehicle automation can help reduce the
impact of those so that the vehicle will
support the driver and help to avoid collisions
occurring in the first place, whether theyre
impaired by alcohol, by fatigue or a driver
wants to engage in an alternative task
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2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:35 04-11_TH0114_NA_Hutton Safety.indd 9 16/04/2014 15:02
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Turbo Ring
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V2422
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Serial Device
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the traffic control systems, theyre looking
to improve them, theyre trying to get the
extra few per cent to improve safety. When
youre going into Africa or the Middle East
youre really starting in a lot of cases from
Ground Zero so you are putting in much
simpler systems, youre basically putting
in the groundwork, the framework that
allows those people to build. The sys-
tems are not so different, its more about
whether theyre used just as the starting
point, or whether theyre used as a devel-
opment tool.
But he adds that the simplest implemen-
tation can have an effect on safety beyond
its direct requirements, As you start to
install things like traffic lights and with
them the systems that go over the top of
them you also start to educate the driv-
ing public about how to drive sensibly.
One of the biggest issues weve had in the
past is that drivers are supposed to stop at
red lights. Once you start to get that kind
of message over you can actually start to
reduce road death.
And Nick Reed thinks that, because of
legislation, even in Europe there are differ-
ent advancements in different countries:
My understanding is that the UK is in
quite a unique position, certainly within
Europe, in that although we have signed
the Vienna convention on road traffic, we
havent ratified the convention and that
means were not quite so constrained to
be guided by its principles, he explains.
It is quite clear that in the convention a
driver has to be in control of a vehicle at all
times and if we can step aside from that and
make progress in systems where the driver
isnt necessarily in control at all times then
were in a good position to make progress.
In the US several of the states are starting
to enact laws to allow companies to under-
take research into driverless cars on their
roads, whilst in Japan theres more of a
focus on driver support systems so drivers
still in the loop, still involved in the driving
task but with more support systems to help
their safety.
TO ASSIST AND NOT REPLACE
Iain Levys solution is not to over-prom-
ise what his system can do: In terms of
legality we say and are very clear with
the Mobileye system that it is there as an
advanced driver assistance system it
is there as an ASSISTANCE system and
not there to replace the driver. Often
you see in marketing information about
Mobileye its seen as a third eye for the
driver and not as a first or second eye. It
doesnt replace the driver, the responsi-
bility is still there on the driver to make
sure that they are paying attention and
that they avoid the collisions and they
drive in a safe manner.
Daniel Scholz says Vitronic would love
to see countries agree with each other:
The issue of legal background and cer-
tification issues, if you talk about Europe
or about other parts of the world, were
always faced with sometimes very differ-
ent rules for certification and in nearly
every statement we make publicly we call
for a more harmonised environment.
John Chipperfield hopes itll all come
down to common sense: There is of
course a duty of care on behalf of the
supplier to make sure that theyre provid-
ing something that if it fails doesnt sud-
denly cause, for example, green lights in
both directions. And thats why we work
very hard to make sure that not only do
our systems meet all the relevant speci-
fications legally but we also test them
ourselves to make sure that those kind of
things cant happen. Ultimately there is
also a duty on behalf of the driver.
And TRLs Nick Reed hopes that
common sense will prevail, Vehicles
becoming more and more autonomous
is competitively relevant for the vehicle
manufacturers so theyre all keen to get
ahead and be the first one to introduce
more and more autonomous systems. So
theyre keen to see this technology out
there.
If liability in the event of a collision
ends up constraining the development
of those technologies such that the social
benefit isnt achieved, thats when you
can look to policy makers to help and
encourage the manufacturers so they can
understand the level of liability to which
they are exposed and then determine
how much risk theyre willing to take on
and hopefully youll see the full benefits
of vehicle automation coming through.
Guy Fraker doesnt think itll be easy to
overcome the vested interests: No expo-
nential technology has ever faced big oil,
big insurance, government-funded regu-
latory bodies.
No technology of this kind of break-
through has ever faced this powerful-a-
collection of incumbent industries. The
stakes are huge and the battle lines are
being drawn.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hutton is associate editor of
Thinking Highways and presenter of
all three versions of Thinking Aloud,
the Thinking Highways podcast
paul@phinitiatives.com
Assist, not replace:
in Japan there is
a focus on driver
support systems
rather than entirely
driverless vehicles
so drivers are
still in the loop
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Integrated Networking and Communications
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IP-Based Communication over Wireless,
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In intelligent transportation projects all over the world, Moxa
hardware is connecting traffic devices and cameras to
control centers over wireless, fiber, DSL, copper, and more.
Thanks to our experience with hardened fanless design,
wide temperature outdoor operation, and high-performance
redundant topologies, city and state governments count
on Moxa for highly reliable networks and maximum uptime.
Contact a Moxa rep or distributor to learn more.
EDS-619
16+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Traffic
Controller
Speed
Radar
Camera
EDS-611
7+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Turbo Ring
(Recovery time < 20 ms)
LED
Controller
VPort 461
1-ch H.264/MJPEG
Video Encoder
Traffic
Controller Box
V2422
x86-based
Embedded
Computer
NPort IA5250A
Industrial Serial Device
Server
AWK-3121
Industrial IEEE 802.11a/b/g
Wireless AP/Bridge/Client
ioLogik W5340
GPRS Micro RTU Controller
Gigabit Fiber
Ethernet
I/O Signal
Serial
CCTV
Ethernet
Switches
Wireless Access
Points
Embedded
Computers
Serial Device
Servers
Remote
I/O
IP Cameras
TECHNOLOGY Traffic management centers
Scottsdale, Arizonas new traffic management center
was born out of necessity, as Bruce Dressel explains
Whole in one
T
wenty years ago, the Phoenix
Open moved to Scottsdales
Tournament Players Club in
Scottsdale, Arizona to create additional
parking and adopt a stadium style golf
experience for spectators. The weekly
attendance averaged 30,000 during that
time and traffic/parking was handled
mostly within a square mile of the course
by local police officers.
Today, the now-sponsored Waste
Management Opens attendance exceeds
over a half million for the week. Friday
and Saturday attendance tops 150,000
each day. Watching the legendary 16th
hole on TV gives one an understanding
of this tournaments epic proportions.
As the Waste Management Open is
the best-attended golf tournament in the
world, with more than double the attend-
ance of its nearest rival, to accommodate
these record crowds offsite parking has
been expanded to three large areas up
to three miles away. Bus shuttles run on
10-minute intervals to deliver spectators
to the main entrance gate. The world-
renown Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auc-
tion, the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show
and other high-profile events are held
in the same general area. These events
also draw very large crowds and are held
shortly after the golf tournament.
In 2015, Arizona will once again be
hosting the Super Bowl in nearby Glen-
dale. This will happen during the same
week as the Waste Management Open.
Many Super Bowl events will take place
in Scottsdale and create the potential for
a real traffic nightmare!
LIVING THE NIGHTMARE
When the golf tournament moved to
Scottsdale, the average number of police
working event traffic was 50 officers.
There was no freeway access and almost
all of the officers were physically control-
ling signalized intersections. The crea-
tion of Scottsdales Traffic Management
Center (TMC) changed that. It consisted
of only two analog PTZ CCTV cameras
and a signal system capable of manually
reprogramming basic timing parameters
on the fly. The control center consisted of
a closet with two computers, a TV and
a video system that linked two cameras
via microwave antennas. All of the sig-
nal communications were on leased tel-
ephone lines.
Within two years, most of the uni-
formed officers were freed from con-
trolling signals and the Scottsdale TMC
became a powerful resource in the effort
to manage special event traffic employing
18 pre-programmed, directionally based,
timing plans that could be instantly
implemented depending on prevailing
traffic patterns.
The idea of Intelligent Transporta-
tion Systems had not yet been discussed,
nor coined as the technology solution
to traffic congestion. Scottsdales traffic
engineers soon discovered that signal
timing manipulation during these events
worked for everyday traffic as well.
Signal timing plans are best developed
when the traffic engineer can actually
watch traffic patterns from the camera
monitors located in the TMC. The timing
plans were developed using Trafficwares
Syncro Studio, then deployed and modi-
fied by watching platooning traffic where
cameras were available. Special event
traffic signal timing plans were devel-
oped over time that best served the golf
and auction traffic. These timing plans
consisted of 18 different versions that
were all directionally based.
These plans soon evolved to include
progression offsets for emergency pat-
terns 1118. The AM, mid-day and
PM plans, (1 through 10) are typical
plans used daily and are specific to each
intersection. The emergency plans are
deployed when incidents or accidents
block lanes, and are also specific to each
intersection. When traffic reaches a point
where typical timing plans are ineffec-
tive, an operator can implement a remote
stop-time to hold an intersection in a
specific direction of traffic for extended
First Scottsdale
TMC, circa 1996
18 time of day plans, including plans
for emergency traffic events
12-15_TH0114_NA_Scottsdale TMC.indd 12 16/04/2014 14:31
Traffic management centers
Over the course of the last 20 years, the relationship with the Police
Department has grown to a point where the TMC provides direct
information to the officers in the field about collision locations, missing
persons and drivers under the influence
periods of time to help clear the delays
caused by the event.
A STATE-OF-THE-ART TMC
Scottsdale continued to expand the ITS
capabilities in 2014 by building the new
Traffic Management Center, replacing
the old center of 15 years. It is closer to
the physical center of the city and the
Police Departments main district office
that houses 911 Operators.
Over the course of the last 20 years, the
relationship with the Police Department
has grown to a point where the TMC
provides direct information to the offic-
ers in the field about collision locations,
missing persons, and most recently, driv-
ers under the influence that pose a direct
threat to the traveling public.
The new TMC controls 150 CCTV
cameras, soon to be all IP-based, 300
signalized intersections, 46 Dynamic
Message Signs, (DMS) and 130 high-
bandwidth capacity Firetide radios to
the last mile intersections. Highway Advi-
sory Radio (HAR) will be added soon. It
will eventually replace the DMS to warn
drivers of delays on the road ahead of
them. All of the leased phone lines have
been disconnected and replaced with
165 miles of fiber optic communications,
along with the last mile radios.
The TMC staff includes five specially
trained professionals that consist of one
Manager, one Senior Traffic Engineer,
two ITS Analysts and one ITS Senior
Technician. Each has a specific assign-
ment to operate and maintain the Citys
ITS facilities. All have the shared respon-
sibility to control traffic during incidents
and accidents. Emails are sent to a large
media and staff list that describes the
details of the incidents/accidents in real-
time, while providing updates about
changing conditions and when the inci-
dent/accident has been cleared.
Arizona DOT and Scottsdale have
established routing and Incident Corri-
dor Management (ICM) protocols in the
event of a major freeway closure. This
was tested in February 2014 when the
freeway through Scottsdale was closed
to investigate the collision of a Scotts-
dale motorcycle officer. ADOT posted
exit information on freeway DMS, while
Scottsdale changed timing plans along the
specified arterials to move traffic off the
freeway and guide drivers back onto the
freeway at the specified entrance points.
Both ADOT and Scottsdales centers were
in constant communications to make this
transition seamless for drivers.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Along with fiber and radio communi-
cations, the new Scottsdale TMC has
deployed the latest technologies in traf-
fic management. Transcores TransSuite
Traffic Control System has been a long-
time staple in signal and traffic manage-
ment control for Scottsdale. The latest
upgrade to the system was approximately
three years ago.
This was followed by the installation
of Econolite ASC3 rack mount control-
lers that replaced the older model 170-
type controllers about two years ago. It
allowed for the development of 98 dif-
ferent timing plans per intersection that
expanded upon the previous 18 timing
plans to include up to six different pro-
gression direction options.
All of the existing DMS are from Sky-
line; the City uses the Skyline software
interface to place messages on the signs
that warn drivers of delays.
Video control and video wall process-
ing are by Replicam. Sharing video has
always been the number one goal of
Scottsdales new Traffic Management Center, 2014
12-15_TH0114_NA_Scottsdale TMC.indd 13 16/04/2014 14:31
TECHNOLOGY Traffic management centers
Scottsdale and its neighboring cities,
Maricopa County and the state. Repli-
cam provides off-the-shelve software that
allows us to accomplish this goal.
The City provided the virtual server to
run Replicam, which in turn also drives
the video wall. The City avoided the cost
of the typical video processor black box
options and gained the capabilities of
sharing and controlling video though
Internet browsers that point to the server.
Replicam has recording capabilities on
request. However, recording only happens
when an operator requests it and no video
is stored or recorded for longer than five
minutes unless requested by the operator.
Power and cooling requirements have
been significantly reduced since there is
only one virtual server and mini-com-
puters run the video wall. All servers/
switches are maintained by the Citys IT
Department.
To date, a vendor has not yet been
selected for the Highway Advisory Radio
system. The thought is to replace the
fixed DMS with simpler HAR capabili-
ties and signs that reduces maintenance
cost and provides for more (recorded)
detailed information to the driver in real
time. The fixed DMS provides great cov-
erage but simply cannot cover the entire
city in a cost-effective manner.
Thanks to technology, the cost of
rebuilding the new TMC was about two-
thirds less than the cost of Scottsdales
original TMC. The City took advantage
of a job-order-contractor, CS Technolo-
gies, LLC, to provide the design and
build the new center.
This helped reduce cost and also cre-
ated buy-in from the contractor to com-
plete the project in record time -- and
keep it within budget. Green products
were used for interior walls and all light-
ing was replaced with LED fixtures.
Crestron was used to control all lighting
and AV equipment, which includes an
80 touch screen used for presentations
to the public, staff and elected officials.
THE INTEGRATED CITY
As a result of the large fiber and radio
communications infrastructure that was
built in Scottsdale, many City depart-
ments are taking advantage of the vast-
ness of the network. The Citys ITD
uses 12 strands of every fiber backbone
to connect critical computer networks
to other City departments. Some of
the fiber has been routed for the Police
Department, allowing its own video net-
work to be deployed at the golf tourna-
ment and other events. This helps in
crowd control, preventing ticket scalping
and other challenges related to special
events. Plans are underway to share the
communications network with the Citys
Water Department for critical infrastruc-
ture security.
The cost to the public has been mini-
mal. Franchise agreements with dark fiber
providers have yielded many miles of City
owned fiber at no out-of-pocket cost to
taxpayers. When private fiber provid-
ers approach Scottsdale, the agreements
require that they install fiber for the City.
In turn, the City provides existing empty
conduit to the providers. The cost savings
has been in the millions of dollars.
The TMC now allows the Police
Departments 911 dispatchers to moni-
tor and control traffic cameras. Because
of the simplicity of the Replicam Video
System, this was accomplished by allow-
ing specific computers to connect to the
internal traffic camera server, (also Rep-
licam).
Since the Police Department typically
will look for incidents and accident loca-
tions and details, this becomes a force
multiplier for the TMC and the Police
Department. The camera network is
not being used or recorded for enforce-
ment. It simply provides verification of
an existing event that can be shared with
responding emergency services person-
nel, thus reducing response time and
increasing situational awareness.
With the popularity of traffic incident
management (TIM) gaining steam with
the federal government and local juris-
dictions, recorded videos can be used to
train first responders on how to secure
accident scenes, protect first responders
and clear scenes faster.
CONCLUSION
Scottsdale has been in the learning mode
for 20 years. Its been found that technol-
ogy can increase safety and reduce delay.
Having the ability to respond with the
right people and equipment to the right
place at the right time not only saves
money, but it also saves lives and increases
the safety of the traveling public. Todays
technology is making it possible.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Dressel is Manager of the
Scottsdale Traffic Management
Center and ITS Manager at the City
of Scottsdale, AZ
bdressel@scottsdaleaz.gov
http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/
The TMCs 80
presentation
touchscreen,
and to the right
the test signal
cabinet that
allows operatives
to check
signal timing
configurations.
TMC staff host
around 30 tours
a year with the
touchscreen
one of the
most popular
attractions
What happens today is in your hands. Whether youre
faced with congestion, accidents or severe weather,
its your job to keep the trafc moving. And its our job
to help you. Our smart trafc monitoring solutions will
take you straight to the heart of the action, so you can
make the right move, at the right time every time.
Make your next move now,
visit www.axis.com/yourtrafc
Your Trafc.
Your Move.
axis_ad_traffic-overlook_thinkinghighways_210x260_en_1403.indd 1 5/03/2014 3:39:31 PM

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INTERTRAFFIC PREVIEW CROWDSOURCING FINLAND CALM TWO NEW COLUMNS
Possessive case
Bob Williams investigates the curious
case of vehicle data ownership
Protect
and survive
Made in
Taiwan
Paul Hutton talks
smart safety solutions
with a panel of experts
How to reap the
benefits of a user-pays
ETC system
EUROPE AND REST
OF THE WORLD
EDITION
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS AND ADVANCED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
TECHNOLOGY
Keeping a watchful eye on
Marseilles crucial tunnel network,
p22
MOBILITY
How ecomobility is helping
Europe steer towards a more
sustainable future, p32
DESIGN
What needs to be considered
when creating a new traffic product,
p52
RESEARCH
Elena de la Pea introduces
the International Road Research
Board, p66
COVERS.indd 1 14/03/2014 14:11 12-15_TH0114_NA_Scottsdale TMC.indd 14 16/04/2014 14:31
What happens today is in your hands. Whether youre
faced with congestion, accidents or severe weather,
its your job to keep the trafc moving. And its our job
to help you. Our smart trafc monitoring solutions will
take you straight to the heart of the action, so you can
make the right move, at the right time every time.
Make your next move now,
visit www.axis.com/yourtrafc
Your Trafc.
Your Move.
Your Trafc.
Your Move
axis_ad_traffic-overlook_thinkinghighways_210x260_en_1403.indd 1 5/03/2014 3:39:31 PM

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Possessive case
Bob Williams investigates the curious
Protect
and survive
Made in
Taiwan
Paul Hutton talks
How to reap the
ETC system
EUROPE AND REST
OF THE WORLD
EDITION
TECHNOLOGY
Keeping a watchful eye on
Marseilles crucial tunnel network,
p22
MOBILITY
How ecomobility is helping
Europe steer towards a more
sustainable future, p32
DESIGN
What needs to be considered
when creating a new traffic product,
p52
RESEARCH
Elena de la Pea introduces
Board, p66
COVERS.indd 1 14/03/2014 14:11 12-15_TH0114_NA_Scottsdale TMC.indd 15 16/04/2014 14:31
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Future TMC
Bruce Abernethy wonders what the
function of the Traffic Management
Center will be after full-scale connected
V2X deployment
At the center of
everything...
W
ith vehicles intelligently communicating with
each other and with intelligent infrastructure,
changes must surely occur with the operational
functions of Traffic Management Centers (TMC). One vision
is that the intelligence of vehicles will be so significant that
they can make real-time decisions on how to avoid accidents
and through group coordination can manage to minimize
delays along corridors. Similarly, intelligent intersections will
have a real-time understanding of traffic demand and flow
and can coordinate and adjust signal timing to support effi-
cient movement of platoons of vehicles with minimal delays
on suburban and urban corridors.
Emergency vehicles will be able to communicate with intel-
ligent intersections at distances to allow heavy/large vehicles
to clear the intersection cross corridor prior to preemptive
red and informing other vehicles approaching the intersec-
tion in all directions of its location, direction of travel and
speed. Intelligent infrastructure will have sensors integrated
with Roadside Equipment (RSE) that inform vehicles of road
conditions and even roadside conditions that may impact
safety. With everything talking intelligently to everything
is there even a need for TMCs and if so, what will be their
responsibilities?
While many may argue the technology that will be used,
connected vehicles and highways will be deployed. It will
occur over the expected life of a vehicle that varies from 10
to 18 years (depending on the country and its economics).
Not all vehicles will be equipped with V2X communications
with supporting applications processor and navigation unit
within the next 15 years.
Similarly, related infrastructure technology deployment
will not cover every signalized intersection or location of a
potential road hazard. The cost of deploying new, intelligent
infrastructure is in the billions of dollars, not considering the
maintenance support and perhaps increased communica-
tions bandwidth required to link RSEs with support infra-
structure such as security certificate authority(s) and service
authorization certificate authority(s) as well as other RSEs.
Certainly vintage car collectors will still drive and show off
their vehicles on sunny weekends but in their case the only
intelligence will be the driver. And there will also be those
vehicle owners that are in no rush to have a failed onboard
equipment (OBE) repaired. So TMCs will also not see a
revolutionary change and traffic engineers will still be doing
signal timing and evaluating the measures of effectiveness
of corridor timing, as well as evaluating corridor and traffic
conditions and providing information to travelers via trave-
ler information channel links. For many years we will need
visual dynamic message signs (DMS) to communicate with
vehicles that do not have OBEs or have failed OBEs. Perhaps
we will always need DSM to communicate with drivers that
have a failed OBE based on a response query from an RSE
(as has been done on toll roads for many years if a toll tag is
defective).
EVOLUTION OF TRAFFIC AND CORRIDOR
CONDITIONS INFORMATION
Based on SAE J2739 messaging standards, TMCs will receive
probe data from intelligent vehicles that provide real time
information on traffic conditions. As vehicles become more
intelligent, they may evolve with forward looking sensors
(such as LIDR and/or radar) that can detect pot holes in the
road, ice on the road and/or debris on the road, reporting
it via an RSE to a TMC for evaluation prior to validation
and distributing the information. However, since the vehi-
cle owner pay for these sensors, deployment may be slow to
come. Providing false information to vehicle is not a good
16-19_TH0114_NA_Abernethy TMC.indd 16 16/04/2014 14:35
Future TMC
Perhaps we will always need DSM to communicate with drivers that
have a failed OBE based on a response query from an RSE, as has
been done on toll roads for many years if a tag is defective
safety practice and for this reason we have had traffic engi-
neers evaluate sensor data prior to preparing messaging to
drivers. Sensors have errors and create false positives and
negatives. With multiple vehicle sensors providing informa-
tion on the roadway, statistical analysis can assist in resolving
false positives and negatives.
Today the traffic engineer in the TMC utilizes CCTV
video to validate information provided by other sensor tech-
nologies and the trend to deploy high definition CCTV cam-
eras along corridors. Most likely sensor data evaluation and
validation and overall corridor surveillance will be a func-
tion continued in the future TMC. We have probe data of
opportunity provided to TMC from toll tags on vehicles and
from MAC addresses of communications devices (such as
Bluetooth) operating in vehicles that currently support TMC
decision making information. OBE probe data will provide a
much richer data base for evaluating corridor congestion.
Prediction is that there will be more vehicles on corridors in
the future pushing level of service towards F during peak
traffic. The only alternative is use of alternate corridors as
currently evaluated by traffic engineers and distributed to
drivers for their consideration. Many jurisdictions do not
support directing vehicles onto alternate corridors unless
there is a major safety reason such as detour because of road
work or road closure because of a major accident that is in a
clearance status.
OTHER FUNCTIONS PREDICTED TO BE
PERFORMED IN A FUTURE TMC
The M in TMC is for management. There are many vari-
ables in a deployed V2X. Sensors drift out of calibration, and
fail. Communications devices can have sensitivity changes
and reduced RF emission due ageing of electronic compo-
nents and antenna connection problems. Configurations of
deployed hardware and software will evolve requiring config-
uration management of deployed devices. Because a vehicle
must be able to seamlessly travel across many jurisdictions,
configurations must be compatible on a national basis. Many
have experienced challenges of configuration compatibility
issues related to software upgrades in their home computers.
The M (management task) will just get bigger because the
consequence of inadequate management may impact every
vehicle with OBEs within the jurisdiction. One function of
a TMC traffic engineer may be to advise vehicles via RSEs
of OBEs addresses that are performing erratically and Basic
Safety Messages may be in error. The following are some of
the functions that are predicted to be performed in the future
TMC:
Evaluating traffic flow and corridor information provided
by deployed RSE and non-RSE related sensors, providing
an overall assessment of safety and efficiency of flow;
Preparing-downloading appropriate messages to be com-
municated to vehicle OBEs via specific RSEs and DMS
(which support vehicles without OBEs or with failed
OBEs);
Evaluating Probe Vehicle Information, validating infor-
mation from HD CCTV imaging of the corridor(s) and
preparing appropriate messages for RSEs and for use by
511 Centers (which will provide traveler information via
radio, television and telephone/cell phone access);
Evaluating effectiveness of signal timing plans at non-
intelligent intersections and associated corridor flow;
Evaluating performance of intelligence at intersections
with RSEs and modifications that may be necessary to cor-
rect noted issues;
Observing, managing and coordinating motorist assist-
ance on corridors (must manage multiple demands for
Something to ponder:
todays traffic
engineers use CCTV
to validate information
provided by other
sensor technologies
will this still be the
case in 2020?
16-19_TH0114_NA_Abernethy TMC.indd 17 16/04/2014 14:35
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Future TMC
service based on seriousness of needs and impact on traf-
fic conditions);
Coordinating Incident Response with Emergency Man-
agement and preparing-downloading messaging to RSEs
and DMS;
Extinguishing out of date messages;
Preparing-downloading RSE and DMS messaging as
requested by emergency management and Homeland
Security
Extinguishing safety messages on roadside messaging
devices that are no longer appropriate;
Coordinating and overseeing work zone RSE deployment
location and messages used by contractors;
Managing use of Public RSEs for services and validating
that conditions for use have been met (including service
certificate is valid and current);
Managing security certificate currency for jurisdictional
RSEs;
Evaluating traffic flow patterns/volumes as related to cor-
ridor level of service, developing plans for RSE deploy-
ment;
Providing Quality oversight/configuration management
of RSE messaging to assure that it is in compliance with
SAE J2735; IEEE J1609 and IEEE 802.11p (or as applica-
ble) standards changes;
Validate messaging is compliant with version of standards;
Monitor operation of deployed, sensors, communications
and messaging devices and coordinate repair of failures;
Monitoring erroneous BSM data as validated by roadside
sensors and informing connected vehicles of the address
of a OBE with problems;
Coordinating traffic functions with adjacent jurisdictions
including strategy for seamless traffic flow and consist-
ency of messaging drivers;
Planning will continue to be a major function associated with
TMC operations. Traffic Engineers will still have to develop
warrants for signals, evaluate traffic impact studies, and con-
duct corridor traffic studies to determine corridor improve-
ments needed. The future will include new technologies to
be considered such as RSEs and supporting software in the
TMC. It will most likely require communications linkages
to other centers such as one that issues security certificates.
Determining which businesses use a jurisdictional RSEs
service channels, for what purpose and what compensation
the jurisdiction may get for providing channel advertising
and bandwidth is an additional management task.
The traffic engineer in a future TMC will have a large
and real time updated data base to work with and options
for actions to support travel safety. Information process-
ing to fuse data, thus improving accuracy and confidence
level must be developed. But future management decisions
made in the future TMC will be based on a much broader
and accurate understanding of the corridor system because
of V2X deployment.
Many experts on connected vehicle-highway systems are
predicting that no TMC will be needed in the future. Vehi-
cles will just intelligently progress where they want to go,
progressing with minimum delay and avoiding collisions.
Unfortunately there will be many vehicles on the corridors
with different degrees of intelligence, different accuracy of
navigation devices, and different accuracy/ranges of collision
avoidance sensors that have similar objectives and compro-
mises must be made related to speed and perhaps stop times
at signals to achieve system safety. There will always be vehi-
cles with failed electronics because electronics fail with age
and environmental stress.
Traffic assessment and management will be needed in the
future and tools to manage will be much improved. Number
of vehicles on corridors will grow in the future and deploy-
ment of more concrete will lag, thus negatively impacting
level of service. There is not too much an RSE-OBE can do
with vehicle on a service level E or F corridor other than the
driver accepting a suggestion from a traffic engineer to use an
alternative corridor. The era of connected vehicles-highway
will bring about additional management functions which
will require more extensive coordination with adjacent juris-
dictions, most likely supported by council of governments
(COGs)/Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs).
The traffic management staff will have significantly more
data to support management decisions and software will be
needed to fuse the large volume of data into a form that
supports human assessment and decision-making.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Abernethy is principal of VASI, based in Allen,
Texas
babernethy@ieee.org
Experts are predicting that we are heading towards a TMC-less future
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SMART SAFETY Wireless comms
Using wireless technology for smarter safety for buses and
other modes of transportation, by Ariana Drivdahl
Safety in numbers
W
hen it comes to transportation safety, most peo-
ple think about the basics do my brakes work, is
my seatbelt functioning properly, is the highway
smooth and free of hazards? Beyond these basics, ensuring
transportation safety requires the ability to know and respond
to any abnormal circumstances that affect the safety of pas-
sengers or surrounding vehicles. Tools like in-vehicle and
electronic roadside signs alerting drivers of danger are increas-
ingly relied upon to ensure public safety. On demand or con-
stant communications have become a necessity for operators
to make the best use of these tools, and there are different ways
to achieve these communications. The predominant types of
communications are Wi-Fi (both traditional frequencies and
public safety frequencies) and cellular technology.
As an example, access to live in-vehicle video surveillance
feeds would be invaluable for authorities to respond quickly
and effectively to a vehicle emergency or hostage situation on
a public bus. High bandwidth wireless technologies are now
making it possible to stream live video surveillance from a
vehicle to a command center. This not only allows authori-
ties to see what is happening in real-time, it allows for them
to formulate and execute a plan of action.
QUALITY IMAGE, DURABLE HARDWARE
Onboard video streams from buses and other public trans-
portation vehicles are increasingly being sent from cam-
eras that deliver high-resolution streams and are designed
for harsh environments. Because some cameras are also
installed on the outside of the buses, it is crucial they are
able to withstand the same type of environmental conditions
Hawaii bus
data offload
20-23_TH0114_NA_MOXA.indd 20 16/04/2014 14:36
Wireless comms
In a fleet-monitoring situation, it is critical from both a safety and
logistics standpoint to have constant communications with trucks
and/or mobile devices
as the bus itself, whether that be in searing heat or freezing
cold. When this type of a camera network is connected to a
wireless access point, the access point and its corresponding
antennas need to be graded to the same degree of durability.
PUTTING SECURITY FIRST
Older forms of wireless communication have known secu-
rity weaknesses, but these issues have been addressed with
updates in wireless technology that allow for secure opera-
tion. Using the 4.9GHz frequency, which is governed by the
FCC and reserved for public safety applications, users can
ensure that standard wireless devices will not be able to con-
nect to that network as they do not support that frequency.
This ensures that not only will traffic sniffing will be elimi-
nated, but that bandwidth can be prioritized for that safety
traffic. Users simply need to work with the FCC to obtain
permission to use those frequency bands. In addition, with
the advent of dual radio technologies (having two independ-
ent radios in one unit), one radio on an access point can be
reserved for the live video surveillance feed accessible by
authorities only, while the other radio can be opened up for
public use, (eg web access to passengers, downloadable video
feeds, user information and so on).
HIGHER BANDWIDTH, BETTER VIDEO
With the advent of 802.11n, which supports much higher
bandwidths than older 802.11 protocols, it is possible to
network many cameras on the bus, whether they are inside,
outside, or both. Reaching speeds of up to 300Mbps, this is
the perfect protocol to use when streaming video, as it can
handle multiple video streams at a time without sacrificing
quality. Additional specifications in the 802.11n protocol
allow for more reliable communication as well as increased
range, making it ideal for this type of application.
Aside from ensuring the safety of passengers and opera-
tors, high-bandwidth wireless communications can provide
additional benefits. For example, it is an excellent way to
retrofit old buses to bring them into modern communica-
tions. As budgets get tighter and tighter, local transportation
authorities are seeking ways to bring their old equipment into
line with newer equipment. High-bandwidth wireless com-
munications is a relatively simple retrofit of older buses, light
rail, and trains, extending their useful life while still allowing
them to communicate effectively with modern interfaces.
ADOPTION ACROSS MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES
With relatively simple modifications, wireless can be applied
to many different types of applications. For example, in a
metro or underground scenario, it is possible to install leaky
coax along the length of a track to ensure constant commu-
nications. In a taxi scenario, a camera can be tied to a cellular
modem to provide constant monitoring if needed.
The downside to Wi-Fi is that its range is limited; unlike
longer-range technologies like cellular, satellite, or 900 MHz,
Wi-Fi only works in the general area that its installed in. If
you are looking to cover a large area, the cost of installing
Wi-Fi can certainly be large. However, Wi-Fis flexibility,
high security, and fast speeds make it ideal for many safety
and transportation applications.
CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY HAS ITS PLACE
Wi-Fi has started to become more and more popular in a vari-
ety of transportation applications. From toll ways to rail lines
and everything in between, there is growing use of Wi-Fi as
a networking and communications medium. However, other
wireless technology options are available and are being uti-
lized for transportation systems. As 3G and 4G (LTE) coverage
become more widespread, many transportation applications
have adopted cellular technology as a viable communication
medium. This is especially true in roadside sign applications
and fleet tracking, where widespread coverage is essential.
In a fleet-monitoring situation, it is critical from both a
safety and logistics standpoint to have constant communica-
tions with trucks and/or mobile devices. Because fleets cover
a large area and can even span entire continents, its impor-
tant that companies have the ability and option to keep track
of them.
Having a cellular connection that includes GPS will allow
not only constant monitoring of locations, but also the ability
for drivers to reach out and connect with a dispatch center or
with emergency services should the need arise. Some com-
panies are going a little further and including devices that
include Wi-Fi as well as cellular.
With this type of technology, it is possible to have the truck
communicate via Wi-Fi whenever there is a connection
available, and fall back to cellular when that connection is no
longer possible. Many devices include a buffer to account for
that small timeframe when changing from one connection
type to another, ensuring that no data will be lost.
20-23_TH0114_NA_MOXA.indd 21 16/04/2014 14:36
SMART SAFETY Wireless comms
KEEPING DRIVERS SAFE
In addition, cellular communication is increasingly used in
scenarios where roadside signs are needed, often in front
of an accident or to alert drivers to changing driving con-
ditions. For example, in areas where fast changing weather
often means rapidly changing road conditions, it is impera-
tive that transportation centers be able to update these signs
quickly and alert drivers to these changes. However, most
of them are serial based, or accept some sort of simple text
input via an Ethernet port. The ability to create a virtual serial
port, or use a TCP/IP connection over cellular has removed
that requirement, allowing messages to be changed almost
instantly from a remote location. In the past, when this type
of issue arose, someone would have to physically be present
at the sign to change the message.
While cellular has become an increasingly popular option
for safety and transportation solutions, there are a few down-
sides to the technology. One is the cost; unlike Wi-Fi, which,
once installed doesnt incur monthly fees, cellular is a pay
per use type of technology. Though providers are starting to
offer larger data plans, getting a data plan is still not as easy as
it could be since most providers focus on phone users rather
than purely data users. Furthermore, overage charges tend to
be high from a cost perspective. When you have hundreds or
thousands of locations needing data coverage, the quantity of
SIM cards required and the associated cost begin to add up
fairly quickly. Fortunately, most providers allow pooling of
SIM cards, which can help defray costs by allowing fleets to
share data rather than requiring a separate plan for each card.
The other difficulty with cellular is that in many cases a
public IP address is needed, which is something that carriers
prefer not to give out as IPv4 public addresses are limited
and dwindling fast. In the cases where a public IP cannot be
obtained, there are some options available. To communicate
to the devices behind a cellular connection, you can work
with the carrier to obtain a tunnel connection, or use a soft-
ware utility that is designed to allow private IP to private IP
communications.
Both physical safety of assets and passenger safety are key
concerns for transportation engineers, and wireless tech-
nology has evolved to help enhance their efforts towards
transportation safety. While each type of situation has its
own unique set of requirements and challenges, passengers
can rest assured that engineers will continue to adapt and
develop new communications technologies to ensure their
safety on buses, trains, and other modes of transportation.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ariana Drivdahl is Product Marketing Manager
Industrial Wireless, at Moxa
ariana.drivdahl@moxa.com
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Networked visualization leading to
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and data sources all over the world. That is why Barco designed
its networked visualization solution, the simplest and most ex-
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The result: faster and smarter decision-making.
Visit us at ISE, Hall 11 booth F78/H75
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SURVEILLANCE
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Networked visualization leading to
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A reliable networked visualization solution is indispensable to
monitor, analyze, and share an ever increasing number of video
and data sources all over the world. That is why Barco designed
its networked visualization solution, the simplest and most ex-
ible way to securely distribute any information to any location.
The result: faster and smarter decision-making.
Visit us at ISE, Hall 11 booth F78/H75
Learn more about networked visualization at www.barco.com/netviz
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OPINION PIECE Implementation
A
s the Smarter Transportation community world-
wide prepares to convene once again in North
America for the 21st World Congress on Intelligent
Transportation Systems in September, it is appropriate to
take stock of what has happened in the past few years since
the Orlando ITS WC. Since then, the
global economy has by most measures
improved. The transportation com-
munity aided by social networking,
wikis, crowdsourcing and other inter-
active media has become increas-
ingly focused on understanding and
planning the enhancements that must
be made to ensure ongoing viability
and sustainability.
Most importantly, operators under-
stand more than ever what is needed
to bring about the convergence of physical and digital infra-
structure that will be essential to optimize networks both
collectively and individually, greatly supported by a regula-
tory climate that fosters innovation.
The February decision by the US Department of
Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) requiring that passenger vehi-
cles built after 2015 must incorporate connected vehicle
technology
1
is indicative of that climate. NHTSAs action
underscores that we have every reason to be optimistic
that the framework is in place for real and positive
change.
Yet ours is and will ever remain an industry enam-
ored of gadgetry, and this does not
always serve us, or our constituen-
cies, well.
All too often, technologies are
developed, procured and deployed
in isolation, or, far worse, redun-
dancy. We can not afford another
cycle of the proprietary stovepipe
or siloed technologies that were
essential to incentivize first gen-
eration deployment of ATMS, ETC
and AFC systems over the past two
decades, but which would be a significant bar to progress
going forward.
Fundamentally, then, what is the true measure of progress
in ITS development?
Ours is and will ever
remain an industry
enamored of gadgetry,
and this does not always
serve us, or our
constituencies, well
NOTE
1 http://icsw.nhtsa.gov/safercar/ConnectedVehicles
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. So said
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President of the
United States and 120 years later his words still ring true when
you apply them to the global ITS efforts, says David E Pickeral
Defining development
Destination Detroit: the ITS community
is due to descend on North America
for the first time since 2011
24-27_TH0114_NA_Pickeral.indd 24 16/04/2014 14:38
WHAT DOES PROGRESS LOOK LIKE?
This point is worth exploring in detail. Terms like cloud,
analytics, virtualization and of course Big Data are pop-
ping up everywhere in transportation planning. Much of
the traveling population now grasps the potential of better
and more customized information to enhance their experi-
ence and welcome its availability. This is a good, even great,
development for those of us who have followed the fortunes
of ITS for multiple decades. However, it requires focused
and appropriate application at every phase of the process to
ensure this is properly channeled into technology selection
choices that stand the test of time.
The good news here is that being disruptive need not
offer a lot of disruption. Despite sending a clear message
that progress must be made, the NHTSA ruling recognizes
this, and acknowledges the reality that, more so than ever
before, industry, citizens and government at all levels are
collaboratively leading the process to find solutions that
are cost effective and both backward and forward compat-
ible. That is a significant positive indicator of progress, but
it is only part of the equation in defining the real state of
development.
INTELLIMOBILITY
ITS (an overused acronym, with its main redeeming char-
acteristic being less labored than IVHS or others that came
before it) and telematics emerged as parallel but distinct dis-
ciplines. The former grew up along the roadside with and the
latters lineage in V2X systems developed by OEMs. Now, the
distinction is blurred as in-vehicle systems become increas-
ingly connected to the ICT ecosystem at large, and in-vehicle
systems (along with personal mobile devices and an expo-
nentially growing array of sensors of all types) provide an
increasingly robust stream of data for roadside-and-beyond
Implementation
The distinction between ITS and telematics is blurred as in-vehicle
systems become increasingly connected to the ICT ecosystem at
large, and in-vehicle systems provide an increasingly robust stream
of data for roadside-and-beyond systems to analyze
The US Department of Transportation is requiring
all passenger vehicles built after 2015 to
incorporate connected vehicle technology
systems to analyze. Even in 2014, one wonders whether
these are really separate environments at all, to which I
would offer the rejoinder: does it matter anymore?
Call it IntelliMatics, or perhaps better yet (to underscore it
is not just about cars) IntelliMobility. This connectivity con-
tinues to evolve organically, both from technologists pressing
forward and end users working backward, taking advantage
of the ability of mobile devices and their networks to inter-
connect and interact through the benefit of open standards.
At this point ICT very well emulates a much older system of
systems: plumbing. How many bits and bytes can be moved
from one location to another; what is disposed of, recycled,
treated and otherwise and processed along the way; who
needs what sized pipe; how is contamination avoided or mit-
igated; and where in all of this process does storage, control,
apportionment and ownership take place?
While this model appears simplistic, it allows us to get
back at the root question hereunderstanding the state of
development. Just as human society evolved (sometimes
with fits and starts) from single household wells and privies
in the backyard to a largely transparent system of hydration
and sanitation, so too must the progress of ITS be measured
not from the metrics of the overlay of the entire transporta-
tion ecosystem it represents but as an aggregate of individual
success storiesliterally one traveler at a time.
COLLABORATION OVER CONSTRUCTION
While self-driving cars, Magnetic Levitation trains, and per-
sonal rapid transit vehicles and systems are now a reality, they
are for now niche markets for limited deployment and care-
ful study in the places where resources can support them.
Public and private sector leaders recognize that in serving
worldwide travelers, there is a lot of work to do before ubiq-
uitous deployment of these and other wow-factor technol-
ogies. Deployment of less glamorous, but absolutely essential
technologies is what has to happen in between.
Making the One Traveler vision a reality hinges on an
acceptance that what is doable is always the more straight-
forward than how. This admittedly obtuse point is perhaps
best illustrated by two anecdotes from my own experience in
my previous life as a management consultant:
Several years ago on an assignment for a major inter-
national development bank I was working with a former
state-owned post transport and telecommunications agency
(PTT) that had recently been privatized. The objective start-
ing out was to help the PTT expandinstitutionally and
technologicallyfrom an analog public switched telephone
(PSTN) network to a more modern service provider offer-
ing digital ICT services. As part of the assessment process,
local ICT entrepreneurs were sought out to determine what
they had already put in place. The discovery was quite a lot.
They had started very modestly with interlinking internet
cafes and personal WAN/PAN systems to create the initial
notes of the system. Then between satellite earth stations,
microwave hops, and selectively deployed new fiber rings,
these entrepreneurs had cobbled together a very effective,
interlinked, IP-based communication network within and
between these nodes. As my portion of the engagement con-
cluded, dialogue had just started about how the PTTs huge
customer base and operating authority combined with the
latest technology and thinking that the entrepreneurs had
quietly brought in through the back door could be combined
in a mutually beneficial yet still competitive environment.
Sporadic updates I get to this day from friends on the ground
there remain encouraging.
A few years later, I was working in a highly developed
Western European country developing the business model
for a new state-of-the art RUC system. A significant and
very expensive part of the project requirement involved
the deployment of dedicated fiber to connect the charging
points, back office, transactions clearing, control center, etc.
In exploring our options, the project team made a call on
the local commercial ICT service providers. It soon devolved
that one of them, desirous of putting in as much capacity as
possible for the expense of excavating its right-of-way, had
installed a significant amount of dark fiber that was ready
and waiting under the streets to support the new RUC
scheme. As we calculated the cost of long-term leases versus
from-scratch deployment, the reduction of this project cost
was tremendous, realizing huge savings for the scheme oper-
ator as well as rewarding the ICT provider for its foresight.
These two stories illustrate the single most impor-
tant aspect of this industry: The ambient state of available
The revamped Cobo Center in Detroit, MI, venue
for the 2014 ITS World Congress
technology should never be guesswork and it is always worth
time sometimes surprisingly little time to take stock of
what is really there. Both transport and ICT resources are
always there in some form, from 30-year old transit buses
to dark fiber loops and from buried copper strands to brand
new LTE mobile networks and devices perhaps just shipped
in by Amazon and unloaded at the airport this morning.
Likewise, there are smart, forward-thinking people all over
the world, and in every community, who are deeply involved
and highly committed to mobility. There are Jitney drivers
with no formal education but an intimate knowledge of their
communities, and where their passengers are, and want to
go. There are university research departments with tireless
PhD candidates building algorithms to synthesize petabytes
of data into comprehensible information sets as part of a doc-
toral thesis.
Leveraging all this talent and all these resources may not be
easy at least at first (hint: open meetings, forums, and collab-
oration sites erring on the side of inclusion with egos checked
at the door is a good start!) but dividends can immeasurably
outweigh the cost. To the extent that lead stakeholders, be
they government, industry or citizens, are willing to step
up as a clearinghouse of sorts, by gathering information,
facilitating partnerships, and above all providing a means to
compile data and turn it into real, useful information all
without (yet) laying down, a single meter of fiber, track, run-
way or roadway, or building a single new vehicle.
In the end, all of the regulatory decisions, ambitious
enhancement projects, industry rollouts and global initia-
tives come down to that one metricthe aggregate and indi-
vidual impact on the individual journey-taker, anywhere
in the world, through the routes they travel and the modes
they have, and with the devices they carry in or outside the
vehicle. Now. It is the synthesis of those real time adjustments
and Five Year Plan enhancements by which the true degree of
development is ascertained.
THE NECESSITY OF REINVENTION
The experience of the ITS community over the past two dec-
ades has underscored the need to bring about fundamental
institutional change to the industry rather than rely on a
series of disparate one-off use cases. As suggested previously,
the change stems from an ability to combine resources and
galvanize opinions to meet critical needsof reinvention by
necessity.
Since Orlando, ITS in North America has seen tremen-
dous innovation along these lines. ITS America, through the
Leadership Circle initiative launched last year, has provided a
unique forum that synthesizes both government and indus-
try both to provide their unique perspectives as well as pro-
vide a common synthesis for action.
ITS Canada has evolved significantly under the three year
leadership of Carl Kuhnke in bringing together industry,
national, provincial and local thought leadership. In both
cases as well as through the initiatives of ERTICO, ITS
Asia-Pacific and ITS organizations worldwide a culture
that facilitates collaboration over duplication has emerged,
and taken hold with a vengeance. When the 21st ITS WC
convenes in September, it will see a larger, more efficient and
better prepared ITS community than has ever been known.
The next important element in the collaboration will
be through better modal integration. As an advocate and
practitioner in the area of urban transport, I will attend
the American Public Transportations triennial Expo in
Houston, Texas a month after the ITS WC, and am looking
forward to seeing how what I know has been an ongoing
dialogue with the ITS community will shape the informa-
tion agenda of this industry. I am likewise looking for-
ward to see how the thinking of tolling, highway, port and
airport communities continues to coalesce implementing
their information strategies that gives real operational
context to the buzz words.
The experience of the ITS community over the past two decades has
underscored the need to bring about fundamental institutional change to
the industry rather than rely on a series of disparate one-off use cases
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Pickeral is Transportation Sector Lead for
the IBM Industry Smarter Solutions Team based in
Reston, Virginia, USA.
depicker@us.ibm.com
www.linkedin.com/in/pickeral
So how far has the industry progressed since the last time
the US hosted the ITS World Congress in Orlando, 2011?
Implementation
SMART MOBILITY Opinion piece
Is vehicle transportation really getting smarter, asks Guy Fraker. First,
shouldnt we clarify what smart actually means?
The eye of the beholder
A
t first glance, the answer to this question seems rela-
tively obvious given the accelerated rate of crash pre-
vention technologies, explosion of smart devices and
achievements in autonomous vehicle systems. A question
such as that found in the standfirst of this article is in fact,
not so easy to answer without first establishing both context,
some comparative data for baseline purposes, and finally
some clarity on the definition of smarter. For example, con-
sider additional questions that can contribute answering this
core question.
Vehicles operated by drivers are certainly and consist-
ently becoming more technologically capable. Significant
enhancements have been deployed over the decades in all
respects including control systems, materials, efficiency, and
safety. The car, as it is today, has even been described as the
most prevalent robot in use by consumers. Yet, regardless of
potential advances, the car is a machine. Technologists often
turn to the Turing Test to assess machine intelligence. The
Turing Test is a test of a machines ability to exhibit intelligent
behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a
human. The test was introduced by Alan Turing in his 1950
paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Using Tur-
ings work as a simple litmus test, the car is not yet capable of
qualifying as smart.
What about error rates in the human use of the machine?
Intuitively, one could argue, among all of the possible indi-
cators of a smart transportation system, safety would
be among the top priorities. The good news is that much
progress has been achieved. The statistic most often cited in
relation to vehicle crashes is the rate of human error. In other
words, 93 per cent of all vehicle crashes occur due to human
error. Is this statistic meaningful in answering the question
about smarter transportation? An argument could be made
that this particular stat is nearly irrelevant given the lack of
any alternative entity capable of actively controlling a vehi-
cles operation. Furthermore, this statistic has not changed
substantially since the advent of the model T, which at a min-
imum suggests the human use of vehicles certainly has not
grown smarter. However, such an conclusion would admit-
tedly be lacking in context and highly superficial. Would the
use of some comparative data lend some clarity around this
question?
A quick look across typical vehicle transportation stats
does yield a picture that appears to indicate an improving use
of vehicles. Figure 1 is a chart showing the number of US-
registered vehicles. Recent years indicate a more efficient use
of mobility. Many factors contribute to vehicle ownership.
However, ownership counts appear to have leveled off. A key
number is the ratio of registered vehicles to the total popula-
tion, which in the U.S. is 840 vehicles for every 1,000 people
Figure 2 is a chart of total vehicle miles traveled, or VMT.
As with the first chart, these statistics are both a result, and
an indicator of many relevant factors. One hypothesis is that
with the population growth in major urban centers, consum-
ers simply leverage alternatives to single occupancy, person-
ally owned vehicles.
As Figure 3 shows, the rise of licensed drivers over the
years has been far more steady than both the use of, and own-
ership, of vehicles. One consistency however, is the levelling
off in recent years. Research has shown this to be a direct by-
product of urban growth and the use of social media. When
viewed in combination, all three of these graphs provide a
snapshot of growth in the use of personally owned vehicles
by a growing population of licensed drivers. But what about
safety?
The change in the pure number of vehicle based fatalities
has not tracked with the growth conveyed in Figures 13.
More importantly, significant reductions have occurred over
the most recent three decades. When viewed in relation to
other key vehicle statistics, this more recent relative decline
is even more dramatic. Figure 4 indicates the change in vehi-
cle fatalities per vehicle mile traveled which is an impressive
decline given the growth in VMT. Figure 5 shows the his-
tory of declining fatalities per 1000 licensed drivers. While
not as dramatic as the decline in frequency by VMT, this is
an impressive trend against the backdrop of growth among
licensed drivers over the same time period. Likewise, US
crash rates have also not kept up with the pace of growth in
VMT, registered vehicles, nor licensed drivers which are all
positive indicators. However, improvement in pure incidents
has been incremental at best (see Figure 6). All of these stats
do indicate an improvement in safety, at least in the US. As
such, a reasonable hypothesis is that vehicle transportation
has trended towards a smart system in the context of crash
results.
What about the efficiency of vehicles? Ultimately, fossil
fuels are a limited resource. As such, another need for smart
mobility is an increase in fuel efficiency. Once again, some
improvement has occurred, with the bulk of the gains being
more recent. Figure 7 shows the number of miles traveled
28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 28 16/04/2014 14:48
Opinion piece
Figure 1 US Registered
Vehicles 1905-2011
Figure 2 US VMT
1905-2010
Figure 3: US Licensed
Drivers 1950-2011
28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 29 16/04/2014 14:48
per 1 gallon of gas. Figure 8 shows the history of annual fuel
consumption per vehicle, which once again indicates incre-
mental improvement.
While all of these metrics reviewed thus far certainly indi-
cate the growing intelligence of the transportation system,
these are US only metrics. The scale of truly smart transpor-
tation must be global. When the scope of issues being exam-
ined is global, the focus also shifts to those transportation
systems needed for much greater populations. At this scale,
the challenges facing the future of transportation are genu-
inely among the defining issues for the future of humanity.
Smart Transportation has to provide solutions in the most
challenging operating environments, among those popula-
tions who may be the least informed about the remarkable
technologies under development
According to a 2007 UN report, which is most certainly
still tracking, 90 per cent of the global population growth
will take place in cities. Two of the largest populations, those
in India and China, are already experiencing unprecedented
population shifts. In a 2011 McKinsey report, China is pro-
jected to experience a population migration from rural to
urban equivalent to the entire US population departing the
United States, i.e. 300,000,000 people. India is in the midst of
1m people per week relocating from the surrounding areas
into Indias cities. These are relevant to smart transportation,
once these numbers are viewed through the context of land.
CONSUMER ADVICE
Cities today account for 75 per cent of all global energy use,
generating 80 per cent of the carbon emissions. According to
a study by Imperial College, London, roughly 65 per cent of
the energy consumed across global cities is required by build-
ings and transportation. Limitations must be considered. Air
quality on the more notable days in Beijing is nearly equal to
measurements taken in the middle of a 2004 Alaskan wild-
fire. On any given day, pollution particles impacting air qual-
ity in Beijing ranges from 30- to 300-times above what the
World Health Organization considers healthy. These num-
bers are particularly striking when two additional numbers
are brought into the mix.
According to Dr. Ryan Chin, PhD MIT, China holds
approximately 58 vehicles per 1000 people, even though this
Figure 4 US Vehicle Fatalities
per VMT 1905-2010
Figure 5 US Vehicle
Fatalities per 1000 Licensed
Drivers 1950-2010;
28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 30 16/04/2014 14:48
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28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 31 16/04/2014 14:48
market as exceeded the US in new vehicle purchases every
year since 2010.
The average New York studio apartment is 400 sq ft. The
average Chinese housing unit occupies 645 sq ft, and in India
the average residential unit requires 440 sq ft. The average
automobile in any country requires a total of 1200 sq ft for
parking, pavement, and maintenance. According to the most
recent census per country, the average family in China is
three people, which means a population shift of 300m will
require roughly 64billion new sq ft of residential units. At 58
vehicles per person, thats 1.2 trillion sq ft for the additional
5m vehicles. This assumes no growth in actual vehicle count.
Should China reach a vehicle per person ratio of the United
States, the one nation will consume 100 per cent of the global
fossil fuel supply every 12 months. The ramifications on car-
bon emissions is catastrophic.
In India, the average household contains four family mem-
bers. Should Indias current population shift continue at 1m
per week, then level off at 200m (100m under the pace for
China) 22billion sq ft in new housing units will be required.
At only 15 cars per 1000, this represents an additional 16bil-
lion sq ft, once again assuming no increase in the vehicle
count per capita. The fact that these migration numbers are
happening simultaneously, and yet only represent two of
Figure 6 US Reported
Vehicle Crashes
Figure 7: Travel per 1
Gallon Gas 1950-2010
Figure 8: Annual Fuel
Consumption per Vehicle
1950-2010
28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 32 16/04/2014 14:48
Opinion piece
many nations with significant emerging middle class popu-
lations. These numbers highlight a simple reality, our current
version of a state of the art vehicle used in a model of low
occupancy and personally owned is just not viable. Continu-
ing without radically different approaches to democratized
safe and efficient mobility does not appear to meet any defi-
nition of smart mobility.
In conclusion, the issues of safety have to be revisited in the
context of global transportation. Roughly 1,200,000 vehicle
fatalities occur on the global network of roads, which trans-
lates into 3,287 people per day. Another 45m people suffer
injuries, with roughly 50 per cent of the fatalities and inju-
ries hitting those younger than 25 years of age. Admittedly,
these are difficult numbers to assess without some compara-
tive data. The Second World War was waged from 1939 to
1945, causing the loss of an estimated 60m lives. From 1946
to 2011, 80m people were killed in vehicle crashes. The
deadliest war in the history of humanity, and we are on track
to repeat the fatality count twice by 2017. The First World
War brought about 16m fatalities and 20m injuries. Road-
way fatalities repeat The Great War every 13 years, with
an equivalent injury count every 6 months. The toll taken
on the fateful day of 9/11/01 has been approximated to be
3,000 lives. While not diminishing the horror experienced
in those attacks, an equal number of lives are lost every day
in car crashes. Finally, the standard 3-class 747 commercial
airliner has a capacity of 416 passengers. Vehicle crashes in
the United States equal the downing of a 747 every four days.
Globally, this equals eight full 747 aircraft crashing each day.
Who would fly? Do these numbers not create a compelling
call to action for the development and adoption of truly
smart transportation?
Einstein once said, A problem cannot be solved with the
same thinking that created the situation in the first place.
Sage advice that can certainly apply to how smart transporta-
tion is defined moving forward. For the first time in the his-
tory of motorized personal mobility, technological solutions
do exist. The grand challenge of moving people from point A
to point B safely and efficiently can be achieved.
Many centuries back, transportation was the primary,
if not the only, efficient means of distributing knowledge.
Modern telecom changed this mission in mobility. Just pos-
sibly, smart mobility may be a more advanced return to
knowledge being moved with us, making us better than we
are on our own.
However smart transportation is ultimately defined,
reconciling the grand challenges will require much different
thinking than has been the hallmark of transportation
planning thus far.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Guy Fraker is Co-founder & CEO of get2kno Inc and
cre8futures, LLC
guy@get2kno.com
gfraker@autonomoustuff.com
http://get2knoblog.com>
http://www.linkedin.com/in/gfraker
Should China reach a vehicle per person ratio of the United
States, the one nation will consume 100 per cent of the global
fossil fuel supply every 12 months. The ramifications on carbon
emissions is catastrophic
28-33_TH0114_NA_Fraker.indd 33 16/04/2014 14:48
DRIVERLESS TRANSPORTATION Platooning
What if we could reduce fuel consumption, road congestion and driver
fatigue all at the same time? The technology is evolving that will do just
that and its called platooning. The bigger question is will our
governments and the insurance industry permit this technology
innovation to blossom? Rick Sterrett reports
Follow the leader
A
platoon, or convoy, of vehicles is a collection of vehi-
cles that for some period of time under coordinated
control drive closely together along the same path.
They are sometimes called road trains. It should be led by
a professional driver in a lead vehicle and be closely - and
safely - followed by other vehicles. In many prototype sce-
narios the lead vehicle would typically be a truck. The fol-
lowing vehicles could be cars or trucks, although the order
of vehicles is important to get safe and optimal performance.
Drivers in the following vehicles would relinquish control
of their vehicle once the platoon is formed. Software in the
vehicles measures the distance, speed and direction and
adjusts to those vehicles in front. However, the following
vehicle drivers would need to be able to take control of their
vehicle quickly when the platoon dissolves.
There are two basic reasons to form or join a platoon.
1. Improved Fuel Economy As vehicles drive closer
together in the same direction the wind resistance for
all the vehicles is less. The fuel required to move the car
the same distance at the same speed is less for a vehicle
in a platoon. This fuel economy savings varies by platoon
make-up, vehicle type and weight, speed, terrain, and espe-
cially by following distance. A California PATH Research
report published in October 1995 showed that four vehi-
cles traveling in a platoon one vehicle length apart could
reduce the total amount fuel used by 10 per cent. This is
precisely why trucks form informal un-automated con-
voys on our highways today.
2. Reduced Driver Fatigue Drivers in following vehicles
that are engaged in a platoon dont have to be actively
engaged in piloting their vehicle. However, they still must
The road train is the best of two worlds. You can
enjoy all the multi-tasking possibilities of public
transportation behind the wheel of your own car.
Its the perfect complement to the true pleasure
of driving a Volvo yourself - Erik Coelingh, Volvo
be ready to quickly take control of their vehicle if the pla-
toon dissolves in either a planned or emergency fashion.
Long haul truckers are limited from driving more than 11
hours in a 24-hour period by the US Federal Motor Car-
rier Safety Administration (FMCSA). This could change
in the future if the US Government could be convinced
that truck drivers fatigue is reduced when driving a fol-
lowing vehicle in a platoon. If trucking companies can
transport their freight with less mandated rest stops, they
will save significant amounts of money.
Platoons also lessen road congestion by reducing both the
average space between vehicles and the lag time required to
match changing speeds in heavy traffic.
CONSIDERATIONS
While the reasons in favor of platooning are straightfor-
ward, there are several operational and technical chal-
lenges to forming, operating and dissolving platoons.
Formation: To form a platoon all the vehicles must
negotiate and answer the following questions:
1. Where and when is the platoon initiated and
dissolved?
2. Who is going to lead?
3. How many vehicles in the platoon?
4. What is the order?
5. What are the financial arrangements?
Communications: Once the platoon
is formed, there is constant commu-
34-37_TH0114_NA_Platooning.indd 34 16/04/2014 14:49
Platooning
While it may not be considered an actual financial hurdle, there are
definitely entrepreneurial opportunities for a service that sets up
platoons and manages the financial transactions
nication between the lead vehicle and all followers. The lead
vehicle controls the speed of the platoon and therefore all
the individual vehicles speeds in the platoon. It also controls
the steering so that all vehicles stay in line through curves,
turns and lane changes. The communications for this control
(both steering and speed) require guaranteed control mes-
sage delivery and millisecond responses to assure that the
vehicles in the platoon dont collide.
Control: Each following vehicle will require some sort of
adaptive cruise control system that will be operated by the
lead vehicle automatically. Additionally, each following vehi-
cle will also have some sort of automated steering that can
be controlled by the lead vehicle. The lead vehicles steering
and speed will be the guide for the rest of platoon, so it must
have built-in sensors and the intelligence to relay the com-
mands to following vehicles. As part of the adaptive cruise
control systems, the following vehicles will need sensor sys-
tems, typically radar or lidar, which accurately measure the
distance between the vehicles in a continuous and automatic
process. The control algorithms needed to form a platoon,
keep it together and dissolve it safely will be very complex.
Remember the closer the vehicles can be to one another, the
more fuel you can save. The control algorithms must also
take into account emergency situations. What happens if a
following vehicle gets a flat tire or has some other kind of
mechanical problem?
There are also financial hurdles to overcome. The
technology will not come cheap at first. Some of
the required equipment, such as adap-
tive cruise control, is becoming
a common option in
luxury passenger cars, so this cost will decrease dramatically
over time as the volume of production grows. Volvo estimates
that it would cost about US$5,300 per vehicle to outfit it for
platooning today. One can assume the costs will drastically
reduce over time, but wont go to zero. There should also be
some kind of remuneration for the lead driver because he
bears the burden of driving (and maybe the liability) while
only getting some of the fuel economy benefits. While it may
not be considered an actual financial hurdle, there are defi-
nitely entrepreneurial opportunities for a service that sets up
platoons and manages the financial transactions.
PLATOON ENGAGED
Platooning technology is being studied and developed all
over the world. In Japan, a semi-government agency called
NEDO started a platooning research and development effort
in 2008. This included engineers from the University of
Tokyo, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Denso and Nissan. It held
a four-truck demonstration in early 2013. Their next step is
to obtain a permit and test their technology on pub-
lic roads surrounded by non-platoon traffic.
In Europe, a European Commission
project named SARTRE
(SAfe Road TRains
for the
Platooning example
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DRIVERLESS TRANSPORTATION Platooning
Environment) seeks to develop and integrate solutions that
allow vehicles to drive in platoons to reduce fuel consump-
tion, increase safety, improve road congestion and increase
driver convenience. This began in 2009 and completed its
second demonstration in 2012. In the US, the PATH Insti-
tute of the University of California at Berkley has produced
some groundbreaking studies of platoon science and tech-
nology starting in the late 1980s. Its 1995 study of aerody-
namics, wind resistance and fuel economy in platoons is
often quoted. Its practical tests, first using passenger cars in
the 1990s and then buses and heavy trucks in the early 2000s,
have continued to push platoon research and development.
Of the car and truck manufacturers, Volvo is the most out-
spoken about it platoon development efforts with its mul-
tiple brands of trucks and Volvo passenger cars. It was the
only vehicle manufacturer to participate in the EU SARTRE
Project. Erik Coelingh, a Technical Specialist at Volvo Car
Corporation, said, The road train is the best of two worlds.
You can enjoy all the multi-tasking possibilities of public
transportation behind the wheel of your own car. Its the
perfect complement to the true pleasure of driving a Volvo
yourself.
There is progress on the communications front as well.
Most prototypes and experiments base their platoon com-
munications on a Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technology using
a 5.9GHz technology standard called Dedicated Short Range
Communications (DSRC). US DOT announced in February
2014 that as a part of its Connected Vehicles program it will
begin the rule-making process to create a regulation that all
new light vehicles come equipped with DSRC-based V2V
technology. Many automotive parts suppliers are rushing to
complete designs and reduce the costs of this technology. It
is up to the industry to figure how to take the DSRC platform
and adopt it to platooning.
HAUL OF FAME
Research in driverless vehicle or autonomous vehicle tech-
nology at companies such as Google and Induct and several
universities like Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon and Virginia
Tech, may produce algorithms, control strategies and equip-
ment that could be incorporated into platooning vehicles.
Although it may be a few years off, the first production
implementations of platooning on public highways will
likely be by large long-haul trucking companies for the fol-
lowing reasons:
1. They have the financial benefits to reap (fuel cost savings).
According to the American Transportation Research Insti-
tute in 2011, fuel costs are 35 per cent of the costs of the
large trucking companies. Reducing fuel costs by 10 per
cent across their whole fleet would add significantly to the
bottom line.
2. They could make the investment required to equip their
trucks and train their drivers.
3. They have the ability to plan platoons by selecting trucks
that have similar routes for the same periods of time and
scheduling them accordingly.
4. They could have their drivers rotate as lead driver to
reduce driver fatigue.
5. In the long run, if the US Government would change the
work rules and reduce the mandated non-driving time
period for following drivers in a platoon, the cargo in
their trucks would stop less for government mandated
rest periods.
While the benefits for the large long-haul trucking com-
panies are evident, actualizing full implementation of pla-
tooning still has some obstacles to clear. Beyond technical
and financial challenges there are also legal and regulatory
issues. Is only the lead driver responsible in an accident
and what if there is a moving violation of the law? Liability
and Insurance issues may slow this technologys adoption.
Although there are no laws in the US that explicitly make
platoons illegal, there is a need to closely review following
distance regulations in each state to ensure that platoons
would not be in violation. In the US, harmonizing 50 States
laws about anything is a long laborious process that could
add years to the popular adoption of this technology.
In conclusion, after trucking companies begin to deploy
this technology, it may be a feature set that begins to emerge
in passenger cars, but not until at least the 2020s. The expo-
nential advances in technology coupled with the benefits of
ideas like platooning make concepts around driverless vehi-
cles closer to reality every day. These notions are gaining in
priority in many different industries and agencies across the
globe and will most likely have an impact on all of us in the
near future.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rick Sterrett is principal of Driverless Transportation
rick@driverlesstransportation.com
www.driverlesstransportation.com
Many automotive parts suppliers are rushing to complete designs
and reduce the costs of DSRC-based V2V technology. It is up to the
industry to figure how to take the DSRC platform and adopt it to
platooning
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2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:41 34-37_TH0114_NA_Platooning.indd 37 16/04/2014 14:49
CASE STUDY Graphical route information
Jerry Maschka looks at how Arapahoe County,
Colorado addressed an all-too familiar problem
Get a grip!
W
hen pushed to define ITS in one or two sentences,
it could be argued that there is no definitive. For
the purpose of this article, however, I will take
a stab and say that ITS is the high-tech transformation of
vehicle travel making it faster, safer and more efficient in
helping to optimize the traffic carrying capacity of our streets
and highway infrastructure. When integrated into our trans-
portation systems, these technologies can relieve congestion,
provide alternate route adjustments for drivers to avoid con-
gested streets and probably most of all, improve safety. How-
ever, the fact remains that the complete definition is much
broader due to the fact that the ITS world is continuously
evolving and is incorporating new applications all the time.
Really, a living world of its own!
Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) is one
specific area and one of the key components of ITS that
assist drivers trip preparation, routing diversion, guidance
for avoiding congestion and safety. Among several meth-
ods to provide drivers with real-time and en-route traffic
information, Graphical Route Information Panel Systems
(GRIPS), has been used abroad for quite some time. Unlike
conventional variable message signs (VMS) which display
limited amounts of texts and symbols, one of several differ-
ent formats of a GRIP allows any type of text, graphics or
the combination of the two to be displayed. Because a GRIP
displays part of a roadway network with information on
traffic congestion, incidents, and route closures, drivers can
simultaneously understand the traffic situation of the shown
routes and make informative decisions.
On the other hand, there are concerns that higher speeds
on some highway systems coupled with too much informa-
tion and too complex of displays on a GRIP may cause visual
GRIPS prototype test site.
Notice same street network
as in-house model in Figure 2
38-43_TH0114_NA_Arapahoe C.indd 38 16/04/2014 17:56
Graphical route information
overload for drivers and they will ultimately fail to under-
stand the intent of the GRIP message. Along with this come
possible issues with safety.
Thus, to improve on the quality of a GRIP message and
ensure that safety factors are addressed, it is necessary to
investigate the formatting of the GRIP that will provide the
driver with a quick reference of real-time traffic congestion
levels that they can understand.
GRIPS HOLDING ON ABROAD
As discussed above, GRIPS can take on several different
formats. One of these formats that Arapahoe County has
wanted to examine provides drivers with an overall view
of highway network congestion levels via color-coded road
segments. It was originally designed for use exclusively on
expressways and highways.
I personally became more educated on the GRIPS technol-
ogy while reading an ITS article on a plane going on vaca-
tion to Costa Rica. Having been in the traffic/transportation
profession over the past 30 years, I had heard of this tech-
nology before but was surprised in just how long the GRIPS
technology has been in use abroad in such countries as Aus-
tralia, China, Japan, and the Netherlands and just how little,
if any, interest GRIPS had had in the United States.
GRIPS has been in operation and/or deployed abroad in
Japan the longest whereby in the 1980s, the Metropolitan
Expressway Public Corporation introduced GRIPS to the
Tokyo expressways. The Netherlands and Australia followed
in the late 1990s with some GRIPS testing/deployment and
China as part of a pilot in 2003. As for the US, no investiga-
tions or trials of GRIPS were identified as of 2008. See figure 1.
From the literature we could find, the GRIPS experience
abroad has been relatively successful from an operational
standpoint and also highly accepted from a motorist per-
spective. It is in knowing this, that we here at Arapahoe
County in Denver, Colorado see an opportunity to be one
of the first US states to explore the GRIPS technology and its
potential for inclusion with Arapahoe Countys vision of our
ITS infrastructure.
As a first step in researching GRIPS, we did find that
there were two US states, one that in the day could now be
considered at the forefront in initiating a GRIPS study for
Figure 2: Small-scale model built to represent
highway and secondary adjacent street
network in a localized area of the County
Figure 1: GRIPS was first seen in China
as part of a pilot in 2003
GRIPS in China
Small-scale model
of localized area
potential deployment here in the US. Of the two states,
California launched the earliest investigation, followed by Texas.
From what we understand, in the late 1990s California
conducted a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for a design
build of a GRIPS prototype per their specifications. Unfortu-
nately, there were no VMS/DMS sign manufacturers willing
and/or capable to meet this states requirements under the
RFP. To this end, the states plan for ultimate GRIPS deploy-
ment never materialized.
In its defense, at the time of Californias effort, technology
and/or the ability for sign manufacturers to meet specifica-
tion guidelines were simply not there yet relative to a GRIPS
success in the US. This among other limitations at the time
contributed significantly to its failure.
Fast forward to 2014 and in the State of Texas, there
is a plan to deploy a form of GRIPS technology as part of
TxDOTs I-35 highway reconstruction project. I say form
of GRIPS because as noted earlier, GRIPS incorporates sev-
eral different design formats.
For both states, I applaud their exploratory vision to attempt
to gain a foothold on an advanced system that as we envision
here at Arapahoe County, could prove to be a useful alterna-
tive to traveler information applications here in the US.
HOW ARAPAHOE COUNTY GOT STARTED
Back in early 2013, Arapahoe County initiated an in-house
development of a GRIPS prototype model. In working with a
national VMS/DMS sign manufacturer, it was decided that a
working model would be a very useful tool in understand-
ing the visual design and how a GRIP may operate. See fig-
ure 2. This model served several purposes and provided a
vision as to what a full-scaled prototype would represent
and ultimately lead to the design/build of an actual scale
VMS prototype.
The purpose of the proposed GRIPS design in this project
is to graphically display to the motoring public a real time
map of surrounding area roadway network made up of a
combination of local area arterial/known commuter routes
surrounded by state highway system routes. It is proposed to
display congestion level conditions in green, red and yellow
colors on the various roadways to give motorists a real time
graphical look at what roadway congestion levels are cur-
rently and time to make informative route decisions/adjust-
ments to their destination.
The design elements of a actual GRIPS working model to
be deployed in the field would foreseeably consist of large
scale VMS device (approximately 96 x 336) a size currently
existing on our state highway system and other locally (pos-
sibly smaller) deployed VMS/DMS. The project/system will
require real-time travel time integration sharing among local
traffic agencies with the Colorado Transportation Manage-
ment System (CTMS) along contiguous travel time corri-
dors. The latter will require cross jurisdictional coordination
among traffic agencies not only to ensure that corridors
are complete/continuous but also effectively manage and
maintain these systems.
HERE AND NOW
Initiated by Arapahoe Countys local study of GRIPS, Colo-
rado CTMS/ITS, the Denver Regional Council of Govern-
ments (DRCOG) and Arapahoe County Transportation
Division are currently working to investigate the GRIPS
technology in a statewide effort as potentially becoming part
of the CTMS. As start to this investigation, a Systems Engi-
neering Analysis (SEA) is currently being worked through
to, in part, identify and work through key components, ele-
ments, questions, concerns, etc, of the project and assign key
staff made up of multi-agency members who will be involved
in the development of the GRIPS program. Key elements of
this project are not only to propose the design and imple-
mentation of a GRIPS application but also to widen the scope
of original design use of the GRIPS application to expand it
to use on higher classification secondary street systems also
(i.e., major/minor arterials, known commuter routes, etc).
Figure 3: Traditional
Travel Time Application
Traditional
application
PROPOSED CONCEPT OF
OPERATIONS THUS FAR
To briefly recap GRIPS is an advanced traveler information
deployment application disseminating real-time conges-
tion level activity in green, red and yellow bands of color
mapping graphics. The operational intention of the GRIPS
technology is to provide the motorist who is traveling on
interstate highways and/or in what is unique to this par-
ticular proposed application of the GRIPS design, also at
strategic points on secondary arterial street networks/
known commuter routes, the opportunity to actually see in
a colored mapped roadway network format, real-time road
congestion level(s) that lie ahead.
It is envisioned that this graphic mapping system would
be active only during typical peak hours or possibly during
a major incident condition(s). Its primary intent is to give
the motorist a visual map, take this information in, process
the information and then make an informative route adjust-
ment/decision based on what they see appears the most
attractive path to their destination. Similar to goals of other
travel time dissemination devices yes, but thought to be a
very different way one may process information.
The core of the system is proposed to be the CTMS. It
extends out and both receives and emits XML translated
traffic data to/from other external sources, primarily local
jurisdiction XML capable feeds from Bluetooth, TTIs and/
or other traffic data gathering devices. The skeletal net-
work consists of the state highway system and regional/local
higher classification secondary streets.
The actual system development/requirements as they
apply to the equipment need to be further studied and are ele-
ments part of the ongoing SEA. This will ultimately require
coordination with a CTMS software engineering firm. Cur-
rently this firm is under contract with another Colorado
county in developing system integration requirements with
the CTMS. This effort will enable further exploration of how
these requirements will affect other traffic agencies effort in
establishing this integration.
CURRENT CONDITIONS
Current travel time dissemination techniques in Colorado
are the more traditional based applications we see around the
country. Specifically, our highway system is equipped with
larger scale VMS that can display almost any message. Travel
congestion conditions our highway system are provided to
the motoring public in a travel time to messaging system
whereby motorists can see via a VMS display how long it will
take in minutes from one point to another. See figure 3.
On the other hand and except for the traditional meth-
ods that have been in place for years, travel time/congestion
level information on our lower classification roadways from
that of the highway system is not currently a widely accepted
operational information tool being used statewide, region-
ally and/or locally (we suspect nationally as well).
That said, it is proposed by this project to expand on the
type of technology we currently use for travel time/conges-
tion level activity on our state highway system and, to one
step further, expand the idea of higher advanced, travel time
information dissemination to include major/minor arterials
and/or known commuter routes.
OPERATIONAL BENEFITS
As previously stated, the GRIPS technology has been used
effectively overseas for many years and based on driver feed-
back, is a highly approved traveler information technique.
The type of GRIPS application being used that has proven
to be especially effective is the graphical mapping system
being proposed by this project. If successful in its develop-
ment, it is envisioned that this GRIPS technology will be a
significant asset to Colorados traveler information system
via the coordination of the CTMS and regional/local traffic
agencies. Its use will give motorists an alternative method of
understanding and reacting to traffic congestion levels and
afford them real time, up-to-date traffic conditions on both
the state highway system and specifically targeted local area
roadway networks. See figure on page 38.
Establishing a successful GRIPS in Colorado along with
the work currently being done in Texas could spring board
its use and applications around the country and hopefully
help to establish another universal way to disseminate trave-
ler information to the motoring public and set a standard for
US applications.
OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS
The proposed GRIPS device to be used to disseminate the
above information is proposed to only operate during nor-
mal AM/PM peak hour(s) except for possibly traffic man-
agement for an incident that has occurred on the traffic
network. When the GRIPS application is not being viewed/
operated, the GRIPS device will either remain dark or
operate to convey other pertinent traffic related information
(i.e., construction reports, road closures, accidents, etc).
GRIPS has proven abroad to have had positive impacts on the Driver
behavior, Driver benefits and Driver acceptance through a technology
that has already been demonstrated via these success rates
Graphical route information
THE OUTLOOK
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) has its efforts set on the future of technological
advances in the transportation industry, both private and
public. Working with car manufacturers relative to commu-
nication developments between vehicles (V2V) and encour-
aging infrastructure improvements relative to V2i, we can
expect good things to come.
That said, I am reminded of an analogy I read somewhere
that was made between one of the great hockey players of
our era and the future of our transportation industry. The
players father was asked what made him so great. The father
responded by saying, he simply has an innate sense of not
going where the puck is but where the puck will be. An
insightful comparative for us to reflect on and realize that
to be great innovators we need to visualize and anticipate
where our industry and its technological advances need to
be, embrace that vision and design/build accordingly. Some-
times that vision, however, may be in our rear view mirror,
taking advantage of established and proven technologies.
To that end and moving forward here, GRIPS has proven
abroad to have had positive impacts on the three Ds: Driver
behavior, Driver benefits and Driver acceptance through a
technology that has already been demonstrated via these
success rates. However, our attempt at modifying the GRIPS
original intent as an application reserved for highway use
only as well as other possible issues as noted in this article
obviously present us questions to explore before considering
its implementation in Colorado.
That said, modified or otherwise, considering this and
learning more as we progress through the systems engineering
process, we hope to realize the benefits of incorporating an
existing, proven travel information application that up to
this point, has been utilized exclusively abroad. Its successful
journey here to Colorado hopefully would encourage
other US states to evaluate its incorporation into their
transportation operations.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jerry D Maschka is a 30 plus year transportation
professional. He is currently the Traffic Operations
Manager for Arapahoe County in Denver, Colorado
jerry.maschka@arapahoe.gov.us
Some pictures courtesy of University of Texas at
Austin
Combined intelligence working together for smarter transportation
In September of 2014 the Gulf Region Intelligent Transportation Society (GRITS), the Intelligent Transportation Society of Florida (ITSFL) and the
Intelligent Transportation Society of Georgia (ITSGA), will come together for a joint annual meeting. Join us in 2014 for the ITS 3C Summit.
WWW.ITS3CSUMMIT.COM
TRAFFIC INFORMATION Traffic reporting
Bernie Wagenblast is as synonymous with traffic information as Henry
Ford is with automobiles. The industry veteran looks back over a 40-year
career and documents how times have changed
Broadcast news
F
or many of us its as much a part of our morning rou-
tine as brushing our teeth or making a cup of coffee.
Either before we head out the door, or while were en
route, we check the traffic and transit conditions to see what
our commute is going to be like.
For over 40 years Ive had a perch of watching how that
process has evolved as a traffic reporter, public sector
employee and transportation journalist in the New York
City area. In the mid 1970s traffic news was important to
New York-area drivers, but only two radio stations made
an investment in covering traffic news by using helicopters.
Most of the other stations didnt ignore traffic, but they usu-
ally relegated its collection to an intern or a new hire who
would monitor what the traffic helicopters were reporting
and, perhaps, make a few phone calls to police agencies.
At the time, radio traffic reports were the exclusive source
for real-time traffic information. Radio and traffic were
made for each other. Most cars had AM radios and in the
days before cassettes and eight tracks and if you wanted
entertainment for your journey, your AM radio was about
the only source.
Helicopters had some great advantages when it came to
gathering traffic information. Even in a city with three major
airports, helicopters could fly almost anywhere and from
their aerial perspective the pilot/reporters could see what
was happening. This was especially important because at
that time it was police who monitored and responded to inci-
dents and they often were not anxious to share that informa-
tion, especially with the media.
The traffic reporters traffic reporter Christmas Day
isnt complete without an issue of Bernie Wagenblasts
Transportation Communications Newsletter in your email inbox
44-47_TH0114_NA_Wagenblast.indd 44 16/04/2014 14:51
Traffic reporting
SUCH A RUSH
The first big change to traffic information came with the
birth of traffic reporting companies. In the US there were two
major firms that were both founded in the late 1970s; Metro
Traffic and Shadow Traffic. The idea behind the companies
made a lot of sense. Traffic and transit news were important
to radio listeners but most broadcasters couldnt afford to fly
helicopters. Why not outsource the gathering and reporting
of traffic news to a company dedicated to that task? Even the
two radio stations who flew choppers subscribed to the serv-
ice. Shadow Traffic came to New York in 1979, a few years
after it was founded in Philadelphia. At the start, Shadows
NYC operation was exclusively a rush hour service.
A group of on-air reporters and producers would work a
split shift getting commuters to and from work. Shadow used
a fleet of small planes to cover the suburbs and spotters with
binoculars atop the World Trade Center and Empire State
Building to find problems. Back in the studio, each reporter
would serve several stations with updates.
There was one new technology that was introduced by
Shadow to the world of traffic reporting; the Shadow Box.
In the 1970s and 80s, CB radio was widely used by drivers,
especially truckers, to share traffic information. One limi-
tation of these radios was their range of only a few miles.
Shadow Boxes were strategically located in gas stations near
major highways. Inside a metal box was a CB radio con-
nected to a phone line. From our studios in New Jersey we
were able to dial into these CB radios and with a touch-tone
phone transmit questions and listen to the drivers talking
about problems.
During this time period transportation agencies in the
NYC area took their first steps toward taking a more active
role in managing traffic real-time. In the early 1980s DOTs
mostly focused on building and maintaining roadways.
Response was left to emergency agencies such as the police
and fire departments. In 1986 the New York City Department
of Transportation, under first deputy commissioner Sam
Schwartz, opened an expanded radio room including a Situ-
ation Room to handle major emergencies, on the Queens
side of the 59th Street Bridge. The room, with second-hand
radios, and television monitors looking at the bridge, was
NYCDOTs first significant attempt at multi-agency moni-
toring and responding to real-time traffic conditions. Via
the center, traffic agents, tow trucks and emergency services
were dispatched to incidents in an effort to clear them more
quickly and to provide information to the DOT and the pub-
lic, via the broadcast traffic reporting services.
PLANNING AHEAD
At about the same time the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey was helping to create the Transportation Opera-
tions Coordinating Committee, better known as TRANS-
COM. The New York, New Jersey, Connecticut region is
home to dozens of agencies responsible for various pieces of
the transportation network. These agencies historically did
little coordination in planning or responding to incidents.
Following an especially bad example of the lack of coordi-
nation during a construction project, the major agencies
were recruited to join TRANSCOM to improve both real-
time coordination and advance planning for construction
projects and major events.
TRANSCOMs early efforts were not very sophisticated
by todays standards. Like the traffic reporting services,
As technology
became available
it was adopted by
traffic reporting
circles
From our studios in New Jersey we were able to dial into these CB
radios and with a touch-tone phone transmit questions and listen to
the drivers talking about problems
TRANSCOM was not 24/7. The sharing of information
was primarily accomplished by alphanumeric pagers. This
meant operators who might page doctors after-hours were
also responsible for sending messages about major accidents
overnight and on weekends.
Beyond sharing information, TRANSCOM also started to
become a resource to test technology and share resources.
Two early examples were a Velcro truck and slow-scan televi-
sion via cellphones. The Velcro truck was an idea borrowed
from Caltrans. A utility truck with a signboard had a library
of cloth messages that could be sent to highways in the event
of major problems to inform drivers. Slow-scan television
was a bit more technologically sophisticated. TRANSCOM
was one of the first to hook a camera to a cellphone in an
effort to transit live pictures from the field. At the time the
cameras were rather bulky and the cellular connection was
via a phone permanently attached to the vehicle. The black
and white pictures would take several seconds to refresh, but
they were a precursor of the almost ubiquitous cameras we
can view today.
While TRANSCOM was primarily created to share
information among agencies, a side benefit was that it also
served as a clearinghouse for sharing information with the
traffic reporting companies. By notifying TRANSCOM,
the agencies could also get their information out to the pub-
lic via the traffic services.
While all this was going on, Shadow Traffic was joined by
Metro Traffic as a broadcast service in the New York City
market. Traffic reporting was now a round-the-clock serv-
ice you could find every ten minutes on the citys two all-
news stations. No longer was radio the exclusive broadcaster
of traffic information; TV stations in the city added traffic
updates to their morning news shows.
Helicopters were still used to gather traffic information for
broadcasts, but the fleet of airplanes, which could only fly
during good weather and during rush hours, were grounded
in favor of a growing network of privately-owned cameras.
The cameras served double-duty. In addition to being used
to monitor conditions, they also were used by the TV sta-
tions during their reports. Public agencies were also growing
their network of cameras, but there was no ability to share
those images with the public or broadcasters.
Both the agencies and the traffic services desired to share
their information with the public, but they did it through dif-
ferent media and with somewhat different goals. The traffic
companies relied primarily on television and radio broad-
casts to disseminate information and the agencies were start-
ing to use technology such as dot matrix signs.
The different bosses and clients of the two groups also
sometimes lead to strains in the relationship. While both
ultimately serve the public, the traffic services are also
involved in reporting news for their stations and that meant
they were interested in details the agencies didnt necessar-
ily want to share, especially if it reflected negatively on the
agency or elected officials.
THE HUMAN TOUCH
While Metro Networks and Shadow Traffic primarily relied
on broadcasts to get their information out, a new hybrid
model was being created in New England. SmartRoute
Systems partnered with the Massachusetts Department of
TRAFFIC INFORMATION Traffic reporting
Public agencies were also
growing their network of
cameras, but there was no
ability to share those images
with the public or broadcasters
Airplanes had to
be grounded in
bad weather so TV
stations began to
use the camera
images instead
Rather than a
phonecall from
the user about a
traffic situation,
the phone
itself can now
provide data
47 North America Vol 9 No 1
Transportation in the late 1980s to share information via
an interactive telephone system. Real people, rather than
computer-generated speech, were used to record traffic
updates for segments of roadways and for transit in the Bos-
ton area. Callers would dial a number and via a touch-tone
phone could access reports on the segments in which they
had an interest. The system was created during Bostons Big
Dig, when the massive construction project was causing
significant traffic disruptions. SmartRoute was one of the
first to create a short-cut phone number to access informa-
tion, in the days before 511 was established. The shortened
version of the number required the cooperation of the cellu-
lar phone companies to create and properly route the phone
calls. SmartRoute Systems also had broadcast clients, but
MassDOT was its biggest customer. SmartRoute expanded
to other markets, usually through a contract with a transpor-
tation agency serving that region.
By the mid to late 1990s the Internet was taking hold and
both traffic reporting companies and transportation agen-
cies started to use the Web to share traffic information.
Metro and Shadow were slower to embrace the Internet, in
part because they didnt want to divert listeners from tun-
ing in to broadcasts. SmartRoute Systems, on the other hand,
embraced the Internet as another tool to help them dissemi-
nate information.
At the turn of the 21st Century consolidation began in
the traffic reporting business. Westwood One, which owned
Shadow Broadcast Services, bought its largest competitor,
Metro Networks. Several years after that, Westwood One
also purchased SmartRoute Systems.
On a personal note, my career had come full circle in 2009
when after a 23-year gap I once again found myself on the
radio as a traffic reporter. Getting back into the studio I felt
a little like the Rip Van Winkle of traffic reporting. When
I left the broadcast booth in 1986, traffic reporting was an
analog business. Cellphones, traffic cameras, satellite radio
and the Internet were still tools of the future. Reel-to-reel
tape was how we recorded reports. Now it was all done digit-
ally. Where we once had to rely on spotters and police for
information, we now were getting calls directly from listen-
ers stuck in traffic jams and could find problems by moving
our own cameras.
Despite the technological changes the mission hasnt
changed since the dawn of my traffic reporting career in the
1970s. We still are working to get the correct information to
travelers in the fastest way possible.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bernie Wagenblast is editor of Transportation
Communications Newsletter
www.tcn.com
editor@tcn.com
VISIT US AT STAND
Systems
Commercial Vehicle
& Sensors
from www.aimsun.com
Traffic modeling
without boundaries
C
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Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
aimsun_90x270.pdf 1 09/01/2013 16:58
from www.aimsun.com
Traffic modeling
without boundaries
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
aimsun_90x270.pdf 1 09/01/2013 16:58
See us on Stand 11.130
48-51_TH413_EU_Plisner.indd 51 24/01/2014 12:19
vision-trafc.ptvgroup.com
PTV Visum Safety enables transport planners
to identify the black spots in the network. Road
accident data ltering and visualisation allow them
to gain an accurate picture of the current situation
on site and take appropriate action. This way, road
users are well protected, in particular those who
are most vulnerable.
PTV Visum Safety provides you with three strong
applications for road safety infrastructure
management:
Black Spot Management (BSM),
Detailed analysis of historical accident data
Network Safety Management (NSM),
Aggregation of safety data
Road Impact Assessment (RIA),
Forecast of safety levels
HOW CAN YOU BRING
YOUR VISION ZERO
TO LIFE?
Adv_PTV-VISUM-SAFETY_11-2013_90x240_EN.indd 1 05.11.2013 12:57:06
EC Projects.indd 38 14/03/2014 10:06
Traffic reporting
STATE FOCUS ITS Florida
Eternal sunshine of
the spotless kind
T
he implementation of ITS in Florida has been a well-
planned, long term, and very successful process. Flor-
idas urban areas have grown rapidly over the last 30
years and are expected to continue growing at comparable
growth rates, further congesting existing highway networks
and other transportation systems. At that time, the Florida
Department of Transportation (FDOT) had enacted a policy
that limited the number of lanes on the State Highway System
to be supported by federal and state transportation funding.
This maximum lane policy, in conjunction with current con-
gestion levels, projected growth, environmental impacts, and
other considerations created a strong need for the FDOT to
consider alternatives to highway construction for expanding
system capacity. When combined, these factors support the
implementation of ITS for purposes of increasing capacity
and improving safety without new construction.
In August 1999, the FDOT published Floridas Intelligent
Transportation System Strategic Plan, and ITS in Florida
was born. The purpose of the Strategic Plan was to guide
the FDOT, Floridas Metropolitan Planning Organizations
(MPOs), and local governments in the planning, program-
ming, and implementation of integrated multi-modal ITS
elements at the statewide, regional, and local levels.
This document recommended:
FDOT add a fifth goal or expand an existing goal in the
Florida Transportation Plan that stresses the importance
of the management and operation of the states transporta-
tion system by providing a statewide, integrated transpor-
tation system that is managed and operated in real time.
FDOT establish an ITS Program office under the Assistant
Secretary for Transportation Policy to be responsible for
all ITS activities of the FDOT.
FDOT establish a position of statewide ITS Program Man-
ager with a responsibility to manage the ITS budget and
staff, and coordinate all ITS and incident management
activities.
Each District create a District ITS Program and designate
a District ITS Program Manager who will be responsible
for ITS and incident management activities, and will seek
full integration with the urban regions within that District.
Each District develop an ITS infrastructure and initiate
In September 2014, ITS Florida, ITS
Georgia, and Gulf Region ITS (GRITS) will
meet in Mobile, Alabama at the largest
regional ITS meeting ever held, the ITS 3C
Summit. In preparation, each organization
has been looking back at how ITS got its
start in their region. Jay Calhoun
describes the emergence, success, and
future of ITS in Florida
Floridas congested highways were the catalyst for ensuring
the state became one of the USs most innovative in ITS
deployment. Shown here is the I-4 in Orlando, Florida
48-51_TH0114_NA_ITS Florida.indd 48 16/04/2014 14:51
ITS Florida
FDOT understood the relationship between moving vehicles and
freight and used that relationship as a justification to build one of the
largest ITS infrastructures in the nation
development or enhancement of a transportation manage-
ment center focusing on the interstate highways.
Each District develop ITS staff requirements and staff
training programs that will enable them to meet the ITS
services they plan to deliver over the next five years.
An important element of the Strategic Plan was an analysis
of the economic impacts of ITS. The FDOT understood the
relationship between moving vehicles and freight efficiently
and the impact on the states economy, and used that rela-
tionship as a justification to build one of the largest ITS
infrastructures in the nation. The objectives of this economic
analysis were to:
Examine the relationship between Floridas transportation
system and its economy
Identify how ITS benefits the transportation system and
its economy
Examine the benefits documented thus far from ITS
deployment in Florida and nationwide
Examine the potential of an expanded ITS deployment on
Floridas economy
Examine the potential of aggressive ITS deployment on
Floridas economy
Among the many findings of this analysis was that Floridas
fast-growing economy was out- pacing the national rate of
growth and was heavily tied to tourism and global trade
both equally dependent on Floridas transportation network
connectivity. Representing only a piece of the total economic
effects of trade, exports alone were identified as generating
US$24 billion in 1996. Tourism was found to generate US$41
billion in 1997. ITS applications supporting these industries
were likely to have the greatest impacts to the economy as a
whole.
The two most relevant categories of ITS strategies for
FDOT, therefore, were determined to be commercial vehicle
operations (CVO) and tourism ITS. CVO would benefit from
electronic credentialing and clearance (weigh-in-motion),
safety assurance, fleet management (private-sector based),
and any freeway management systems benefitting freight
shipment corridors. Florida tourism would benefit from
Advanced Traffic Information Systems (ATIS) including
Advanced Parking Information Systems, Vehicle Monitor-
ing Systems, kiosks providing traveler information, and the
available intelligent rental cars. Also, it was determined that
ancillary benefits from ITS deployment may include attract-
ing high-tech industry.
Using this planning and economic justification, the FDOT
created and funded a Ten-Year ITS Cost-Feasible Plan. This
plan was introduced in October 2002 and featured a total
planned budget of over US$700m that would implement ITS
throughout the state of Florida. The purpose of the plan was
to develop ITS corridor master plans and an ITS Plan for the
Florida Intrastate Highway System (FIHS) limited-access
corridors to be combined into a statewide program plan for
the deployment of an integrated interoperable ITS. The basis
of the plan was the completion of the conceptual engineer-
ing, ITS architecture, and system engineering analyses for:
I-95
I-75
I-10
Floridas Turnpike
I-4
CENTRAL PERK
The FDOT is a decentralized organization, so while the Cen-
tral Office was organizing this effort on the FIHS and getting
it implemented through the District ITS offices, the Dis-
tricts were also busy planning, designing, and implement-
ing Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) projects
with the local governments. This widespread effort has put
interconnected traffic signal systems, closed-circuit televi-
Maintenance of a turnpike dynamic message sign
sion (CCTV) cameras, and dynamic message signs (DMSs)
on local arterials from Miami to Pensacola. Almost every
urbanized area in the state enjoys the benefits of centralized
signal control.
As the new millennium dawned, Floridas strong growth
rate generated considerable surface transportation capac-
ity needs that were difficult to meet. A successful sustained
ITS deployment was thus a highly desirable outcome stated
Chester H. Chandler, FDOTs Statewide ITS Program Man-
ager from 2000 to 2004.
As a result of the original Ten-Year Cost-Feasible Plan
and subsequent additions to it, hundreds of ITS projects
have been completed in Florida. The following three project
descriptions provide a sample of the range of items that have
been completed.
Floridas Turnpike Freeway Management System (FMS)
Floridas Turnpike runs 312 miles from US Route 1 in Florida
City to I-75 near Wildwood. This roadway was completely
outfitted with ITS, including fiber optic cable, CCTV cam-
eras, DMSs, travel time system (TTS) devices, and micro-
wave vehicle detectors (MVDs) in just over five years.
Floridas Turnpike Enterprise (FTE), the FDOT district that
operates the Turnpike, used a series of contracts and pro-
curement techniques to achieve this amazing schedule.
The fiber-optic trunk cable and CCTV cameras were
designed and installed using four design/build contracts.
This procurement allowed the fiber and cameras to be
designed and installed while other elements of the Freeway
Management System (FMS) were being designed. Cameras
were typically placed at one-mile spacing. Separate design/
bid/build projects were then let for the design and construc-
tion of the detection subsystem and portions of the DMS
subsystem. Detection was typically placed at half-mile spac-
ing and DMSs were located at spots that were deemed critical
to providing motorists information. The system is operated
from two Traffic Management Centers (TMC), one in Pom-
pano Beach and one in Turkey Lake near Orlando. At the
time, the Turnpike used the SunNav software for system
control, but has since converted to Floridas SunGuide TMC
software. This creative approach allowed the nations third
most heavily travelled toll road to quickly implement a sys-
temwide ITS.
It is with this full complement of ITS that the motorists
on Floridas Turnpike system benefit in delivery of real-time
traffic information and the Traffic Management Center is
able to detect, verify and dispatch resources to incidents in
order to effectively clear travel lanes quicker, according to
John Easterling, Turnpikes Traffic Operations Engineer.
FDOT District Four ITS and Hurricanes
Because of the impact of several hurricanes in its area, FDOT
District Four has been a leader in the planning for and miti-
gation of hurricane damage. The District has developed a
set of plans that will be used to provide ITS applications for
the evacuation of residents before a storm hits. This includes
using the permanent CCTV cameras and DMS installations
to monitor and provide information to evacuees, as well as
the use of temporary installations to augment their system
and further assist motorists.
Learning from Hurricane Wilma that commercial com-
munications networks are not reliable, the District developed
STATE FOCUS ITS Florida
District
Four TMC
Learning from Hurricane Wilma that commercial communications
networks are not reliable, the District developed a network that will
allow them to communicate with District employees after a storm
a network of its own that will allow them to communicate
with District employees after a storm. In addition, South
Florida roadways are particularly vulnerable to power out-
ages due to lightning strikes during the summer and fall. On
occasion, the SMART SunGuide Regional Transportation
Management Center (RTMC) has lost communication to
ITS field devices that have been struck by lightning. Dur-
ing these power outages motorists are not able to see signs
displaying information about what roads may be closed.
Because District Fours eyes on the road, the CCTV cameras,
as well as other devices are dependent on power, the Dis-
trict took preventive measures to eliminate downtime due to
power outages.
Previously, each device location required a power drop
from Florida Power & Light (FPL). The power distribution
system deployed along the I-95 corridor includes distribu-
tion locations approximately every six miles. Each location
now has a generator near commercial power connections
to provide power when FPL cannot. This allows the District
to run the generators while waiting for FPL to address the
power outage in the area, keeping ITS operations running
with no disruption.
With this capability, the RTMC can share information
with motorists as they are traveling during and after a storm.
Even under a regional power outage, motorists will see signs
displaying information about what roads may be closed and
Road Rangers will be available for incident management and
assistance. None of this would be possible without the use of
the CCTV cameras, DMSs, and other devices.
The power distribution systems main benefit is maxi-
mized/continued device uptime during a power loss. How-
ever, reduced power drops also save time and effort for FPL
and the State in coordinating installation and maintenance.
Dong Chen, FDOT District Fours ITS Program Man-
ager stated, These generators provide power redundancy
throughout the five counties. With this capability, the RTMC
can function as usual during and/or after a storm when there
is a loss of commercial power.
FDOT District One Winter Haven ATMS
Winter Haven is a community of 31,500 residents located in
central Florida. It operates approximately 45 traffic signals
and requested that the State help them develop an ATMS for
central command and control. FDOT District One hired a
consultant to develop an ATMS Master Plan.
Following the System Engineering process, this plan pro-
vided the framework for a future ATMS project. The Winter
Haven ATMS, consisting of 85 new controllers, central soft-
ware, and the installation of 40 CCTV cameras, all intercon-
nected with fiber optic cable, was procured using the design/
build process.
The Design-Build process has worked well to construct
ITS projects in District One. This project finished on time
and within budget stated Chris Birosak, FDOT District
Ones ITS Program Manager.
Florida now enjoys a mature ITS network in most areas of
the state. New technologies like BlueToad and adaptive traf-
fic signal control are being added to enhance the operation of
the systems. And, as with all mature systems, operations and
maintenance has become a major activity for all the main-
taining agencies.
In addition, FDOT has become a national leader in Trans-
portation Systems Maintenance and Operations (TSM&O).
A statewide TSM&O Strategic Plan was produced in 2013,
and several of the districts have developed their own
TSM&O programs. A primary aim of this program is to help
interface the FMSs throughout the state with local arterial
operations. The FDOT realizes that its actions on the heavily
travelled freeways can have major impacts on the local road-
way networks, and it is using TSM&O to help address those
issues. Another TSM&O focus is to help the local operating
agencies fully realize the benefits of their ATMSs by provid-
ing operations and maintenance support.
Transportation Systems Management and Operations is
about maximizing the usage of our current roadway infra-
structure and assets. Using tools such as ramp metering and
managed lanes, we improve the efficiency, safety and reliabil-
ity of our roadways for the benefit of the travelling public
according to Elizabeth Birriel, Deputy State Traffic Opera-
tions Engineer.
So, come to the ITS 3C Summit in Mobile, Alabama from
14-17 September 2014 and meet the people who designed
and implemented this incredible network. Florida will be
well-represented at this outstanding conference and well be
more than ready to share our story.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jay Calhoun is Principal at VIBE
jcalhoun@vibengineering.com
ITS Florida
Downtown Winter Haven
SMART MOBILITY Beyond ITS
O
ver the last few years, the use of the term smart has
become a widespread practice at all levels: now we
use smartphones, there is hardly a city that does not
aspire to be a smart City, technology tends to become smart in
numerous areas, new buildings are smart buildings and even
energy is smart.
In our opinion, roads must
transform themselves in order to
play a relevant role in this revo-
lution: there cannot be a smart
city without a smart road and
together a smart city with smart
roads can provide citizens with
smart mobility.
The road sector faces a major
challenge for this century: the
definition of a new paradigm
that makes Smart Roads and Smart Mobility a reality.
Public perception of roads has been subject to a degen-
erative process, in the form of decreased international social,
media and political presence. In short, there is an increased
association of highways with exclusively negative attributes
such as noise, pollution, acceleration of climate change,
accident rates and external costs.
The efforts deployed by the road infrastructure sector are
largely ineffective; at the same time, the quality of service pro-
vided by these transport infrastructures in developed countries
is currently decreasing, as it suffers from massive spending
cuts. Meanwhile, alternative transport modes (whether air, rail
or other) have been subject to
systematic improvements and
heavy public investments.
These other transport modes
have successfully incorporated
both structural improvements
and emotional attributes into
their efforts. They have also
come to be disassociated from
the cost-benefit analysis con-
cerning the public spending
allocated to their benefit, as political decisions have often taken
precedence over economic rationality.
ROAD TO PERDITION
While the other transport modes have continued to propose
a range of solutions (high-speed and commuter trains, light
While other transport modes
have continued to propose a
range of solutions, no major
improvements have been made
to the road networks
The
smart
revolution
Elena de la Pea introduces a new regular section
from the International Road Research Board with a
look at how smart smart technology actually is
52-53_TH0114_NA_IR2B.indd 52 16/04/2014 14:52
Beyond ITS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elena de la Pea is Chairwoman,
Smart Roads Programme for the
International Road Research Board, IR2B.
edelapena@aecarretera.com
www.ir2b.org
rail transit, short sea shipping, low-
cost flights, etc), no major
improvements have been
made to the road net-
works available to users,
likely as a result of
overestimating the
central role of roads
in the movement of
people and goods in
countries around the
world. Over time, politi-
cal decision-makers have conse-
quently turned their interest away
from roads, acknowledging only the negative aspects
of these transport infrastructures.
The time has come, however, for the road infrastructure sec-
tor to identify all positive aspects inherent to its use and bring
them to the attention of society, the media and the political
authorities, by showcasing the high profitability of spending
on road infrastructures as an economic driver providing the
general population guaranteed access to other infrastruc-
tures, services, health facilities, cultural and leisure attractions,
administrative centres, etc.
A NEW WORKING APPROACH
The approach proposed is based on the definition of a
broader, all-inclusive concept incorporating all parameters
contributing to the amelioration of road infrastructures:
mobility efficiency, environmental performance, advanced
traffic control technology, life-cycle analysis of construc-
tion and maintenance costs and energy inputs, user-oriented
designs, safety and security performance, and long-term
financing solutions. At the end of the day, Smart Roads must
address the peoples highest expectations in relation to road
transport and, in so doing, define a model for The Highway
of Tomorrow that adapts to societal requirements just as it
has done since the earliest days of roads.
The challenge lies in identifying the various positive
attributes of Smart Roads from an infrastructural, technologi-
cal and social perspective with a view to then redefining the
concept of a road itself. This approach supports the proposal of
road-based solutions for transporting people and goods which
are more attractive, safer, more interesting, more reliable, more
comfortable, etc., whilst also providing for a better sustainable,
environmental and economic performance, both in the urban
and the interurban contexts.
Furthermore, this concept must not only encompass the
design, construction and operation of new infrastructures, but
also contribute to the improvement and adequate maintenance
of existing road networks, with the objective of ensuring that all
highway upgrade and modernisation efforts take into account
the attributes of the Smart Roads concept.
THE KEY ATTRIBUTES OF
SMART ROADS
We must distinguish the
attributes with a direct influ-
ence on road design, con-
struction and maintenance
we will call them struc-
tural aspects from those
aspects related to the sub-
jective perceptions of users
driving through our roads,
to then reconcile those structural
aspects with the users expectations.
STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES
Smart Roads are associated with structural aspects such as,
although not limited to, the following:
Optimal environmental integration and energy efficiency.
Optimal service quality.
Economic sustainability.
Improved safety.
Coverage of externalities.
Assurance of regional cohesion.
Focus on co-modality.
Adaptability of services offered.
Social commitment.
Economic contribution.
User-oriented roads.
Technology and innovation.
EMOTIONAL ATTRIBUTES
It is also possible to identify a series of emotional attributes
associated with the Smart Roads concept, insofar as they are
linked closely to the structural aspects set out above, notably:
Reliability.
Safety.
Security
Comfort.
Modernity.
Freedom.
In future contributions to the IR2B section of Thinking Highways
we will detail the features we propose for the 18 attributes listed
above, as they summarise the guiding principles that will allow
us plan, build and operate The Highway of Tomorrow.
52-53_TH0114_NA_IR2B.indd 53 16/04/2014 14:52
thinkinghighways.com 54 Vol 9 No 1 North America thinkinghighways.com
The voice of an industry
The spoken word goes into the brain with one
less function than the written word. Its why
many of the most successful TV commercials are
actually memorable because of the words spoken
rather than the pictures they go with
H
ave a listen to yourself
while youre reading this.
That may sound silly,
but really listen. What you may
not have ever realised before is that
when you read something your
brain converts it into sound before
making sense of it. So you really do
have a minds ear. Next time you
read a fiction book youll notice you
give the narrative a different voice
to each of the characters, who in
turn have different voices. It helps
you follow the story.
Thats why radio remains such a
powerful medium because the spo-
ken word goes into the brain with
one less function than the written
word. Its why many of the most
successful TV commercials are actually
memorable because of the words spoken
rather than the pictures they go with.
Of course pictures remain very impor-
tant, as the bright, striking images
throughout Thinking Highways demon-
strates. But the spoken word is a fantastic
complement to the written one.
Which is why our sponsors love
Thinking Aloud, the podcast of Thinking
Highways. They can complement their
printed message by getting an audio mes-
sage straight into the brain. Our sponsors
not only get their name and branding
strapline frequently referred to in the
programmes, but they get a profession-
ally-produced radio-style commercial
too. And then they get the written word
on email, website, within the magazine
and social media.
And its not just the sponsors that love
it we have a growing band of more than
3,000 Thinking Aloud devotees who down-
load or stream each edition to keep them
up to date with whats happening in the
ITS industry. We talk to speakers, senior
delegates, exhibitors, organisers and other
interesting people at conferences and also
to other key influencers during our studio-
based programmes where we really look at
key issues in depth.
Theres a wealth of knowl-
edge on our archive pod-
cast pages on the Thinking
Highways website and we bring
the latest news, comments and
opinions from the major ITS
shows.
This year we have already
been to TRB in Washington
featuring our guest inter-
viewer Shelley Row and ISE
in Amsterdam and were back
there for Intertraffic before
trips to Athens for the ASECAP
Days, Helsinki for ITS Europe
and the World Congress in
Detroit, among others. Plus
more shows as they come along
during the year.
Thanks to our sponsors, featured on
this page, and thanks to you for listen-
ing. To find out more about sponsor-
ship of the programmes and how they
offer such a fantastic multimedia adver-
tising opportunity, or just to give your
feedback, get in touch with us at either
sales@thinkingaloudpodcast.com or me
directly, paul@thinkingaloudpodcast.com.
And, as always, thanks for listening
even as you are reading this!
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hutton is the head of H3B
Medias Broadcast Services
Division
paul@thinkingaloudpodcast.com
thinkinglaooudpodcast.com
For more information about
sponsorship opportunities for
Thinking Aloud, email Paul at
paul@thinkingaloudpodcast.com
H3B MEDIA BROADCAST SERVICES Thinking Aloud podcasts
Paul Hutton on why our Thinking Aloud
podcasts, in all their guises, are still
steadily gaining in popularity
hutton-podcast.indd 79 17/03/2014 10:42 54-55_TH0114_NA_Hutton Podcast.indd 54 16/04/2014 14:53
hutton-podcast.indd 79 17/03/2014 10:42
54-55_TH0114_NA_Hutton Podcast.indd 55 16/04/2014 14:53
Vol 9 No 1 North America thinkinghighways.com 56
THE VIEW Vision and Focus
How a 19th century canal can provide valuable lessons
for todays transportation investment plans
Shelley Row
T
he leaves glowed gold, orange and
russet in the edgy, fall sunlight.
A stained-glass ceiling of leaves
hung over our heads as we biked along
the C&O Canal. Leaves crunched
under the tires; sunlight glinted of the
water as we pedaled on the mercifully
level path. Te path along the C&O
Canal is a brilliant bike way. It was a less
brilliant transportation investment. Its
an investment with lessons for today.
A brief canal history: Construction
on the C&O Canal began as a private
venture in 1828 the same year
construction on the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad began from Baltimore,
Maryland. Te frst segment of the canal
opened in 1831 and construction was
completed to Cumberland, Maryland
in 1850. By this time, the B&O Railroad
had been servicing Cumberland
for eight years. With competition
from the railroad and maintenance
expenses due to fooding, the C&O
went into receivership in 1889.
So, you may ask? So. Te C&O Canal
was constructed during a period of
fundamental change in transportation.
Railroads were aggressively under
construction and making their mark.
It took 22 years for the canal to reach
Cumberland. Te B&O took 14. Tere
was not enough time to recover the canal
investment before change overtook it.
We are in a period of fundamental
change now. We need engaged
discussion with transportation
planners. Planners can help vision
fexible transportation investments
that will stand the test of time.
Lets connect the dots
Dot 1. Exploding vehicle connectivity
through embedded 4G LTE.
Dot 2. NHTSAs decision to pursue
DSRC connected vehicles.
Dot 3. Te rush to develop and
launch self-driving vehicles.
Dot 4. Te individualization of
transportation service.
And, there are other dots that impact
transportation such as electric-
powered vehicles and wearable
technology, to name two. Taken
together, these powerful trends shake
the bedrock of transportation.
A CATALYST FOR CHANGE
NHTSAs decision to pursue DSRC will
likely catalyze the industry. Embedded
cellular in new model cars creates a
connected environment today that
supports many transportation mobility
applications years ahead of DSRC.
And the technology for self-driving
vehicles advances at a rapid pace. Tis
could be the railroad of our day.
And while those technologies
proceed, another powerful trend is
afoot. Transportation is changing
from a car we own to a service we
subscribe to. Its happening now. Apps
like Waze, ber and Lyf shif power
to the individual. Institutions like taxi
companies or transportation agencies
controlled information. Now, crowd-
sourced and connected travelers
control their own transportation
choices. Tat is only the start.
Connect the dots and merge the
trends. Imagine ordering up the specifc
type of transportation you need in that
moment. It comes as a self-driving,
individualized service. Imagine
implications for fueling stations or
Imagine
ordering up
the specific
type of
transportation
you need
in that
moment and
it comes as
a self-driving,
individualized
service
maintenance services. Now imagine the

implications for land use. Yes, parking
garages are needed but not in every
backyard. Pervasive surface parking
can localize and recede as a dominant
feature in cities. More extensive pick-up
and drop-of space will be needed.
Commercial and residential buildings
orientation and layout will shif.
Admittedly, changes of this scale are
some time of, but juxtapose this vision
and the pace of change with the lifespan
of todays transportation investments.
DOTs have 20-year transportation plans.
Individual investments have lifespans of
20, 30, 40 or 50 years. Without conscious
thought and vision, there could be many
C&O Canals in the intervening years.
We need transportation planners
in our discussions. It is a natural place
for them but ITS conversations tend
to focus on technology and money-
making opportunities in the near-
term. Public agency planners must
be seduced into the discussion.
I dont suggest throwing the statewide
transportation plan out the window. I do
suggest that investments with long lives
be reviewed through a lens of fexibility.
Are long-term lease agreements for
parking garages and facility operation
designed for agency fexibility? As
wearable technology and cell-connected
vehicles race forward, investments
in new sign bridges with a several
decade life span may need scrutiny.
Te C&O Canal was a high price
to pay for a few decades of service.
Investments are easy to misjudge during
periods of rapid change like where
transportation is today. Bring a planner
to your next meeting. Call them and start
the conversation. Connect the dots to
the future and lets work together to build
fexibility into transportation plans.
Shelley Row is the former Director of the US DOTs Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint
Program Office and is now building a new career as a motivational speaker and business coach.
shelley@shelleyrow.com; www.shelleyrow.com; @shelleyrow
56-63_TH0114_NA_Columns.indd 56 16/04/2014 15:07
This legislation
could be seen
as a precedent
for future
treatment of
technologies such
as autonomous or
driverless vehicle
systems currently
under development
THE VIEW Legal Brief
NHTSA announces its decision to pursue V2V connected
vehicles, but what does that mean from a legal standpoint?
Bob Kelly & Mark Johnson
O
n 7 February 2014, the
National Highway Trafc
Safety Administration
(NHTSA) announced its long-
anticipated decision to move
forward with Vehicle-to-Vehicle
(V2V) communications technology
for light vehicles. US DOT Secretary
Anthony Foxx stated: Vehicle-to-
vehicle technology represents the next
generation of auto safety improvement,
building on the life-saving
achievements weve already seen with
safety belts and air bags. According to
NHTSAs accompanying press release,
DOT research indicates that safety
applications using V2V technology
can address a large majority of crashes
involving two or more motor vehicles.
NHTSAs decision is intended
to be seen as a critical milestone in
the evolution of Connected Vehicle
technologies and applications.
Currently, NHTSA indicates that
it is completing its analysis of data
on V2V and Dedicated Short Range
Communications (DSRC) from the
current Safety Pilot Program in Ann
Arbor, Michigan involving nearly 3000
vehicles, and will release a research
report on its fndings for public
comment. Tis report, according to
NHTSA, will review the technical
feasibility, privacy and security,
and preliminary estimates on costs
and safety benefts. Subsequently,
according to NHTSA, it will begin
working on a regulatory proposal
that would require V2V devices in
new vehicles in a future year. US
DOT and NHTSA maintain that the
announcement will send a signal to
industry and the market generally of
the US governments commitment to
these technologies, further leading to
their development and deployment.
NHTSAs announcement should
be seen in context of the ongoing
proceeding before the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC
or Commission) that is considering
whether to permit unlicensed
devices (ie Wi-Fi) to operate in the
5.9 GHz Band (5850-5925 MHz),
which the Commission has allocated
to DSRC on a co-primary basis.
UNLICENSED TO KILL?
As we have discussed in previous
columns, there is a concern that
unlicensed device operation in the
band would cause harmful interference
to DSRC, particularly to safety-of-life
applications. On 31 March 2014, the
FCC released a Report & Order in the
5 GHz proceeding that clears the way
for greater use by unlicensed devices
in a 100 MHz frequency band lower in
the 5 GHz band at 5150-5250 MHz.
Te FCCs decision was made
possible because of a spectrum sharing
NHTSAs
decision is
intended to
be seen as
a critical
milestone
in the
evolution of
Connected
Vehicle
technologies
and
applications
agreement recently reached between

incumbent satellite users in this band
and unlicensed proponents to protect
incumbent operations from harmful
interference, key elements of which
were adopted by the Commission in
its Report & Order. Te FCCs decision
will likely lead to greater pressure on
the DSRC and unlicensed industries
also to reach an agreement on
spectrum sharing in the 5.9 GHz Band
that would permit unlicensed devices
to operate in the band while also
protecting incumbent users, including
DSRC, from harmful interference.
NHTSAs announcement appears
to commit the agency to requiring
V2V devices in new vehicles. Tis is
an ambitious goal, but it is not clear
what exactly the anticipated rule
would encompass. V2V Connected
Vehicle technologies would be the frst
active crash avoidance technologies
that NHTSA will contemplate for
inclusion in the Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standards, which specify
required safety-related components,
systems, and design for vehicles.
Tis regulatory decision, moreover,
Robert Kelly is a partner and Mark Johnson is an attorney at law at the Washington, DC-based law firm
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP. robert.kelly@squiresanders.com; mark.johnson@squiresanders.com.
For more information on this and other legal issues, please follow us on Twitter at @globalcomlaw
NHTSAs
announcement
appears to
commit the
agency to
requiring V2V
devices in new
vehicles. This
is an ambitious
goal, but it is
not clear what
exactly the
anticipated
rule would
encompass
will likely be seen as a precedent for

future treatment of other active crash
avoidance technologies, including
possible autonomous or driverless
vehicle systems that Google and
others are currently developing.
Yet another issue is whether
NHTSA will move directly to require
that V2V devices be installed in new
vehicles. While that outcome may be
the ultimate goal, earlier precedent
suggests that NHTSA would move
in a staged fashion. For example,
for Event Data Recorders (EDR or
Black Boxes), now required to be
installed equipment on new light
vehicles, NHTSA frst issued non-
binding guidelines for their voluntary
installation. As deployments increased
and the technology evolved, NHTSA
then issued a rule providing for the
standardization of data collected
by EDRs; but, still, NHTSA did not
mandate that the devices be installed
equipment. Ultimately, however,
NHTSA mandated that EDRs be
installed on new light vehicles. In
the end, this step-by-step regulatory
progression took almost a decade.
In comments during the February
2014 announcement, NHTSA
expressed its intent to initiate a
regulatory proceeding for V2V before
the end of the Obama Administration,
or by sometime in 2016. V2V
Connected Vehicle technology is more
complex than EDRs. NHTSA may
choose to work closely with vehicle
OEMs, suppliers and others developing
Connected Vehicle technologies in a
negotiated rulemaking process, in
which NHTSA convenes a committee
of interested stakeholders that would
be afected by a regulatory action
to negotiate a proposed rule with
the agency. While NHTSA said it is
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committed to ultimately requiring V2V
devices in new vehicles, it is possible
that NHTSA could take a similar
staged approach as it did for EDRs. All
of these steps would likely extend the
time it takes for NHTSA to propose,
fnalize and adopt a regulatory rule for
V2V Connected Vehicle technologies.
NHTSAs commitment to a
regulatory decision mandating V2V
devices in new vehicles is progress.
But it is unclear at this early stage what
such a rule would encompass and
its timing. Other factors outside of
NHTSAs process, such as the current
FCC proceeding on the 5 GHz band
for unlicensed device operation,
are further complicating factors.
Whether NHTSAs announcement
succeeded in sending the
intended market signal for V2V
Connected Vehicle technologies
remains to be seen.
THE VIEW Legal Brief
Reinventing Transportation
in our Connected World
September 7-11 | Detroit, Michigan
Produced by:
Co-hosts:
Join us as the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS
America) proudly hosts the 2014 World Congress on Intelligent
Transport Systems in partnership with ERTICO and ITS
Asia-Pacific in Detroit, Michigan. More than 10,000 of the worlds
leading transportation policymakers, researchers, high-tech
innovators, engineers, and business professionals from more
than 65 countries will gather with the goal of bringing greater
levels of safety, efficiency, sustainability and connectivity to
transportation systems worldwide. The 2014 ITS World Congress
will host keynotes from the industrys leading CEOs, interactive
technology showcases with live demonstrations on Michigans
Belle Isle, more than 250 programmatic panels, roundtables, and
interactive town hall sessions, a 350,000 square-foot exhibit area
in the newly refurbished Cobo Hall, as well as numerous
networking events with transportation and technology leaders
from across the world.
www.itsworldcongress.org | #ITSWC14
Sponsors:
Early Full Registration Rates
Nonmembers $1260
Members $1145
U.S. Public Sector $1000
Michigan Public Sector $700
*see website for complete list
Registration
Now Open!
Hurry! Prices rise
June 16, 2014
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ThinkingHighways_America.pdf 1 3/12/14 3:01 PM
Reinventing Transportation
in our Connected World
September 7-11 | Detroit, Michigan
Produced by:
Co-hosts:
Join us as the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS
America) proudly hosts the 2014 World Congress on Intelligent
Transport Systems in partnership with ERTICO and ITS
Asia-Pacific in Detroit, Michigan. More than 10,000 of the worlds
leading transportation policymakers, researchers, high-tech
innovators, engineers, and business professionals from more
than 65 countries will gather with the goal of bringing greater
levels of safety, efficiency, sustainability and connectivity to
transportation systems worldwide. The 2014 ITS World Congress
will host keynotes from the industrys leading CEOs, interactive
technology showcases with live demonstrations on Michigans
Belle Isle, more than 250 programmatic panels, roundtables, and
interactive town hall sessions, a 350,000 square-foot exhibit area
in the newly refurbished Cobo Hall, as well as numerous
networking events with transportation and technology leaders
from across the world.
www.itsworldcongress.org | #ITSWC14
Sponsors:
Early Full Registration Rates
Nonmembers $1260
Members $1145
U.S. Public Sector $1000
Michigan Public Sector $700
*see website for complete list
Registration
Now Open!
Hurry! Prices rise
June 16, 2014
C
M
Y
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ThinkingHighways_America.pdf 1 3/12/14 3:01 PM
THE VIEW Thinking the Highway of the Future
Roads must adapt their role in a smart, green and
integrated transport system that successfully tackles
the main challenges faced by the sector: efficiency, safety,
security, sustainability and a long-term financing
Jos F Papi
W
elcome to our new
column. Every year public
and private organisations
invest billions on applied R&D
related to new methods, materials
and technologies applicable to road
infrastructures. Recognising the value
of efcient knowledge-sharing and
pooling of resources at the trans-
national level, in April 2013 a group
of founding organisations with an
extensive international background
resolved it was high time to launch
an international catalyst of expertise
and skills devoted to improving
the sustainability and efciency of
road infrastructures worldwide.
Te idea behind this move was
to establish a new body whose
guiding principles were 1) technical
and scientifc rigour, 2) neutrality
and 3) a truly global vision
beyond the advocacy of mere
national or corporate interests.
With headquarters in London and
a representation ofce in Brussels
Board, IR2B (www.ir2b.org) has
therefore initiated its frst steps as
a global collaborative platform for
road infrastructure innovation.
Specifcally, the IR2B is
implementing an ambitious
work programme targeted at:

Defning a long-term vision for
the scientifc and technological
activities of innovation
leaders active in the feld
of road infrastructures;
Promoting the amelioration
of technical standards
in roads worldwide;
Identifying R&D
guidelines and priorities, in
cooperation with national
and international bodies;
Stimulating stakeholder
cooperation by optimizing
existing R&D investments
and promoting new
R&D projects; and
Encouraging knowledge
transfer and good-
practice exchange.
With the motto Tinking the
Highway of the Future, IR2Bs mission
is to promote Smart Roads that play
a pivotal role in a smart, green and
integrated transportation system.
During its launch phase, the IR2B
has concentrated its eforts on:
Defning a long-term
vision for the scientifc and
technological activities of
road innovation leaders, an
efort that has resulted in a
publication entitled Smart
Roads: An IR2B Vision; and
Identifying specifc R&D
priorities to make the Vision
above a reality, which have been
compiled into a publication
named Strategic Road
Research Agenda 2013-2025.
We are of the opinion that the
aforementioned publications
The challenge
now lies in
proceeding
with
implement-
ation from a
scientific and
technological
perspective
(downloadable from the Publications

section of the IR2B website)
represent a major step ahead for the
sector at the international level.
Te frst publication sets out
the principles behind the Smart
Roads concept, a concept that
explores and highlights the positive
attributes of highways and proposes
a road transportation model that
is adapted to the needs of the
population, and in addition plays
its rightful role in the framework of
an integrated transport system.
Te second one maps out a complete
set of 116 research priorities to bring
the Smart Roads concept to reality.
Each research priority is classifed
into an innovation topic (Smart and
Green Road Construction & Operation,
Road Infrastructure Safety and Road
Mobility & Modal Integration) and
inserted in a calendar framework for
its optimal market deployment.
Te challenge now lies
in proceeding with their
implementation from a scientifc
and technological perspective.
At the IR2B we strongly believe
roads must continue playing a
central role in tomorrows
transport system.
Yet making the Highway of
the Future a reality will require
more coordination and pooling
of scientifc and technological
eforts at the international level.
Te challenge is ahead of us and
we have decided to accept it. We
will keep Tinking Highways
readers posted of our ongoing
activities in future editions in the
new, regular IR2B section.
Jos F Papi is Chairman of the International Road Research Board, IR2B
info@ir2b.org; www.ir2b.org
@The_IR2B (LinkedIn) http://goo.gl/zTiMj7
THE VIEW Connected Vehicles
Richard Bishop
Bite-sized vehicle automation
but for trucks?
W
ere inundated in the
media with stories about
automated cars, which come
drenched in speculation about what it
all means, but while the cars are in the
limelight, theres also a surprising amount
of activity going on in the trucking sector.
In recent years, the highest profle
action was the truck-car platooning
concept developed and demonstrated in
the European Commissions SARTRE
project that ended in 2012. Plus, the
Japanese Energy ITS project that
ended last year, developed advanced
platooning techniques and evaluated
improvements in fuel economy
and emissions. Since then, truck
manufacturers and governments have
taken note, unleashing a new wave of
projects that have ramped up this year.
Te technical approach, generally
termed Cooperative Adaptive Cruise
Control, relies on radar-based ACC
to sense inter-vehicle distances, plus
5.9 GHz DSRC V2V communications
so that braking or any other vehicle
control actions in the lead truck are
immediately communicated to the
electronic controller in the following
truck. Paired electronically, the
trucks brake and accelerate virtually
simultaneously. Tis takes human
reaction time out of the loop, so that the
trucks can operate closer together and
thus realize improved aerodynamics
to save fuel. In some approaches, only
longitudinal control is automated; in
others, steering is automated as well.
Scania, Volkswagen and others have
teamed up in the ECs COMPANION
project, which runs through 2016.
With over 5m in funding they are
addressing the issues noted above
and will conduct demonstrations on
European roads in multiple countries. In
the UK the Department for Transport
has commissioned a feasibility study
to investigate the potential to operate
a road trial of heavy goods vehicle
platoons on UK roads. Tis project is
led by Ricardo plc and includes TRL and
Transport, Travel and Research Ltd.
In the US the Federal Highway
Administration has funded two new
projects in this space, both funded at
about US$1m and expected to run
through 2016. Both projects focus on
longitudinal control only, as this is
where the fuel economy benefts accrue.
In one project, California DOT, along
with the University of California PATH
Program, Volvo Trucks and others is
developing an experimental heavy truck
platooning system and will conduct
feld testing to assess the technical and
operational feasibility of the concept, as
well as quantify possible energy savings.
In the other project, Auburn University
is leading a team including Peterbilt
Trucks and Peloton Technology which
is identifying metrics, levels of technical
performance, operating strategies,
and efective HMI approaches. An
additional partner, the American
Trucking Associations American
Transportation Research Institute, is
spearheading engagement with the
trucking industry to bridge the concept
of truck platooning from research to a
real-world system approach focused
on near-term commercialization.
In the Auburn project, the team has
redefned the function into a term
more understandable to potential
Given the
potential for
double-digit
improve-
ments in fuel
economy, the
truckers are
undoubtedly
jumping
at the
opportunity,
right? Not
so fast
future users: Driver Assistive

Truck Platooning (DATP).
Given the potential for double-digit
improvements in fuel economy, the
truckers are undoubtedly jumping at the
opportunity, right? Not so fast. Questions
abound when it comes to bringing
this radically new way of operating to
truck feets. How can my driver fnd
another equipped vehicle? How do I
know the other vehicle is trustworthy?
How robust is the system to sensor
failures, dropout of the wireless data,
and/or cut-ins from cars? In the Auburn
project as well as others, addressing these
questions will be key to engaging end
users and defning a system approach
that is truly practical on the road.
My view is that DATP will start
with large feets who operate in a
hub-and-spoke manner; these feets
have large numbers of trucks following
regular routes. On some highways
in the US, you can see trucks for the
same company travel past about
once per minute. Its reasonable to
expect that these feets could link with
their own vehicles and defne their
own data standards and operational
approach. Tis will be the frst wave of
implementation; cross-feet operations
will come later as interoperability
and trust issues are addressed.
DATP and similar systems are a superb
example of an incremental process in
bringing this technology forward. We can
look at longitudinal control supported
by inter-vehicle communications as a
bite-sized nugget of automation for the
trucking industry. Automated parking
is an example for the car market.
A range of applications will continue
to roll out over the rest of this decade
and beyond, as we gradually transition
to automated road transportation.
Richard Bishop is principal of Bishop Consulting and Associate Editor of Thinking Highways North America
richard.bishop@mindspring.com; www.auvsi.org; www.vehicleautomation.org
Follow Richard at #ThinkingCarsH3B
THE VIEW IBEC: ITS and Evaluation
Evaluating congestion mitigation and active
traffic management strategies
1
Richard Mudge, Kenneth
Button & Max Azizi
T
ransportation agencies spend
considerable time and resources
in eforts to manage trafc
congestion and to reduce its economic
and societal impacts. In recent years,
many of these eforts have focused
on improving operations rather than
simply adding new lanes. Tese actions
ofen involve technology and many
(not all) are relatively low in cost.
A recent study funded by FHWAs
Ofce of Transportation Policy Studies
focused on Active Trafc Management
(ATM) strategies, a set of techniques
that are dynamic in nature, such as the
temporary use of shoulders during peak
periods. Limited information exists
regarding the actual impact of this family
of operations-oriented techniques on
congestion. Most studies seek to estimate
the efect that a particular technique has
on trafc congestion within a defned
geographical area and under specifc
conditions. However, what is missing is
a more systematic review of the overall
efectiveness of various trafc mitigation
techniques in general. Tis study uses
meta analysis to address this defciency.
Meta analysis provides an efcient
method to summarize and compare the
results of many previously completed
studies. Meta analysis uses statistical
regression to combine the results from
diferent studies in order to identify
patterns and produce a single, robust
estimate of a likely efect. Tis type of
analysis is common in medicine and
environmental analysis and has begun
to be applied in transportation.
For this project, we pooled prior
studies that contained data on congestion
both before and afer a particular
trafc mitigation technique was
implemented. Before and afer studies
typically use one of three measures
of trafc congestion: speed change,
percent speed change, and percent
travel time change. Tese studies
miss more relevant measures such as
reliability and total congestion costs.
To gain insights from
practitioners, two expert panels
of state and local leaders in trafc
operations were organized.
Te analysis revealed that ATM
strategies have a positive impact on
congestion. Te results vary widely
across strategies and should be
interpreted as suggestive, rather than
precise estimates. Before and afer
studies are limited in number so the
sample size for several strategies is
quite small. As a result, the error can
be sizable refecting in part variation in
local conditions and in how individual
projects are carried out. Tis project
only used studies carried out in the
US. Te full report provides more
detail on the analytic technique and on
factors that may change the results
2
.
HOT lanes ofen combine new
capacity with variable prices and also
show the largest impacts (100 per cent
speed increase relative to the general
purpose lane; 21mph increase).
HOV lanes restrict usage to certain
types of vehicles and thus show smaller
ATM
tools are
attractive
because
of the
underlying
logic of
improving
operations
and relative
modest cost
impacts (11 per cent speed increase;

27 per cent change in travel time).
Reversible lanes had the
highest absolute increase in speed
(45mph), perhaps because they
add capacity during rush hours.
Temporary shoulders also add
capacity during peak periods
and do well, with 27mph gains,
but the sample size is limited.
Ramp meters show solid but not
spectacular gains of 7-16mph and 26
per cent improvements in travel times.
Signal coordination has somewhat
lower absolute impacts (10mph
increase; 15-16 per cent decrease in
travel time) perhaps since they focus
on arterials that have slower speeds.
Park and ride also had one of
the lesser impacts, with a 7 per cent
decrease in travel time. Due to a
limited number of useful before and
afer studies, these numerical results
have signifcant margins of error.
Dynamic speed limit showed a
5-8mph gain, but results depend
on enforcement and are better than
other experience in the US.
ATM tools are attractive because
of the underlying logic of improving
operations and relative modest cost. Te
expert panels and interviews that were
part of this project, however, showed
that most decisions regarding ATM
were based on intuitive experience
rather than analytic results.
More data regarding actual impacts
is needed, particularly if these can shed
light on how results vary across local
conditions, the scale of investment,
and operational details. Similarly,
information on congestion-related
benefts is an important frst step
but data on costs to implement and
operate are needed for a full analysis.
Richard Mudge is founder of Compass Transportation and Technology Inc; Kenneth Button is Director
of the Center for Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics at George Mason University in
Fairfax, Virginia; Max Azizi is team leader of the FHWAs Transportation Policy Studies team
NOTE
1 This research was funded by FHWAs Office of
Policy. The research was carried out by Delcan
Corporation, George Mason University, and AECOM.
2 http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/
otps/policyanalysis.cfm
THE VIEW Positive Thinking
When the car meets the Big Data cloud
Bob McQueen
T
here is a lot of discussion these
days about the Connected
Vehicle (Cooperative
Vehicle Infrastructure Systems, in
Europe) that brings to mind some
intriguing possibilities for the future
of transportation. Ive been like a
broken record when it comes to
discussing the possibilities for Big
Data in transportation. I still believe
that we are moving through the early
stages of a data revolution that will
provide a rich stream of data with some
amazing possibilities. We just have to
be ready to manage the data, turn it
into information and then act on it.
I suspect that the Connected Vehicle
will be a signifcant provider of Big
Data. For example, I have just been
reading about a new Ford Fusion
vehicle that generates 25GB of data per
hour. Imagine every one of the 254m
registered passenger vehicles currently
within the US feet generating this
volume of data. If my calculations are
correct, we would collect an annual data
volume of almost 2 Zettabytes (ZB). As
a comparison, the World Wide Web was
estimated to have reached 4ZB in 2013.
Tats not even counting freight vehicles.
I dont believe that all of this data will
be externalized from the vehicle, so not
every vehicle will generate 25GB of data
per hour, making this an exaggerated
estimate. However, exaggeration or
not, a veritable tidal wave of Connected
Vehicle data is looming. Te fully
sensorized Connected Vehicle will
make a major contribution to this.
Tere are lots of diferent ways in
which Connected Vehicle data could
be used for improving transportation
planning and operational management
efectiveness. One example concerns the
evaluation of trafc signal timings. Our
current approach to the evaluation of
trafc signal timings involves before
and afer travel time runs. Tese
provide a snapshot of trafc conditions.
Te travel time runs are averaged and
the before and afer travel times are
compared to show the improvement
in trafc signal timing. While this is
an efective summative measure, it
provides no detail regarding the precise
efect of trafc signal timings on trafc
fow. Consider then if we are able to get
the instantaneous vehicle speed, vehicle
location and other engine management
parameters from a signifcant
sample of Connected Vehicles.
Now we would be able to see the
exact vehicle trajectories and determine
if the trafc is fowing smoothly at a
steady speed through the network,
or on a jerky go-stop-go motion.
Additional information from the
engine management system would
also enable us to precisely calculate
the emissions coming from each
vehicle as well as fuel consumption.
We would then have a clear picture of
the efects of trafc signal timings on
trafc fow. Tis would also enable us
to confrm that trafc signals are good
for the environment as they encourage
smooth, low omissions, low fuel
consumption trafc fow, by minimizing
acceleration and deceleration
Since the Connected Vehicle provides
a two-way connection between vehicles
and infrastructure it would also enable
us to send information in the other
direction towards the driver. We could
advise the driver on the appropriate
speed to adopt to the get the best from
a specifc journey through the network.
Tis would be akin to green wave
surfng where the driver would be
informed on the optimum speed to
catch the wave. Drivers entering from
side streets could also be informed
that there might be a minimal delay
while theyre waiting to catch the
wave. As we have seen in trafc signal
applications such as the recent one
in Lima, Peru, providing even the
most basic information to the driver
regarding the operation of the signals
can have a signifcant efect on the
perceived value of the signal system.
Of course we expect these
new opportunities to come with
accompanying challenges. Data
ownership, for example, could
be a big issue. Im sure there are
many Connected Vehicle program
participants out there who would
claim ownership of the Connected
Vehicle data (see Bob Williams article
Proof of Ownership in the March/
April issue of Tinking Highways
Europe/Rest of the World edition).
Another challenge lies in how to use
the amazing volume of data, turning
it into information, detecting new
trends and patterns and developing
new strategies. Perhaps this is where
the ultimate value of the Connected
Vehicle really lies. Like gold mining
it will require some efort but the
results will be spectacular.
Who knows, perhaps the next time
that I buy a new car I will be interested
in not just the MPG fgure but also the
ZBPA (ZettaBytes Per Annum). From
my perspective, the future looks cloudy
and connected and we are on our way to
scientifc transportation management.
Bob McQueen is CEO of the 0Cash Company and Content
Director at H3B Media Broadcast Services.
bob@0cash.com; www.0cash.com
Drivers
entering
from side
streets
could also
be informed
that there
might be
a minimal
delay while
theyre
waiting to
catch the
wave

READER SERVICES
Alpha Technologies ....................................................................................................... inside back cover
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Barco .......................................................................................................................................................................................................23
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InVision Studios ..................................................................................................................................................................41
IRD ............................................................................................................................................................................................................31
Iteris .............................................................................................................................................................................................................3
ITS3C Summit 2014 .....................................................................................................................................................43
ITS World Congress 2014 ...................................................................................................................................59
JAI ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................37
Jupiter ....................................................................................................................................................................................................19
Moxa .......................................................................................................................................................................................................11
PTV ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................47
QVision ..............................................................................................................................................................................................37
Smart Microwave Systems......................................................................................................................................9
Thinking Aloud Podcast Sponsors ......................................................................................................55
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TECHNOLOGY
Will governments give the
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TRAFFIC INFORMATION
Bernie Wagenblast reports after
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TRAVEL INFORMATION
How Arapahoe County,
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STATE FOCUS
The past, present and
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How do you measure the progress
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Is vehicle transportation
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Guy Fraker investigates
Paul Hutton on whats possible (and whats not)
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A SAFER FUTURE
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t

We are very pleased to announce that

maintenance services. Now imagine the

agreement recently reached between

will likely be seen as a precedent for

(downloadable from the Publications

future users: Driver Assistive

impacts (11 per cent speed increase;

56-63_TH0114_NA_Columns.indd 63 16/04/2014 15:07

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