Congestion Reduction Using Intelligent Transportation Systems Ben Sperry University of Evansville University of Evansville MESCON March 25, 2006

MESCON2 What is Congestion? Point where vehicle flow exceeds roadway capacity Recurring-”Bottlenecks” Intersection of major highways Decrease in lanes Non-recurring Accidents Construction zones Sporting events/concerts Bad weather

March 25, 2006MESCON3 Sources of Congestion Source: Cambridge Systematics

March 25, 2006MESCON4 Costs of Congestion Roadway Congestion Indicator Travel Time Index Vehicle Delay (Billion Hours) Wasted Fuel (Billion Gallons) Cost of Delay (Billion $) Source: Texas Transportation Institute

March 25, 2006MESCON5 Congestion and Emissions Source: OSCAR End User Workshop

March 25, 2006MESCON6 Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Integrate current technologies to help solve surface transportation problems. Components called Architecture Controlled by Transportation Management Center

March 25, 2006MESCON7 Freeway Management Systems Traffic Surveillance Ramp Metering Lane Management Incident Management Information Dissemination

March 25, 2006MESCON8 Traffic Surveillance Monitors traffic conditions on freeway Uses cameras or imbedded sensors Also tracks weather, emergency vehicles Monitor emissions Benefits: Houston-over 21,000 annual delay hours saved Would have been mitigated with 150 additional miles of lane Increase vehicle throughput percent B/C ratios between 10:1-12:1

March 25, 2006MESCON9 Ramp Metering Controls flow of traffic onto freeway by a gate Can be fixed or adjusted as conditions warrant Benefits (Minneapolis-St. Paul): 25,000 annual hours of travel time 2.6 million hours of delay saved Annual emission reduction of 1160 tons B/C ratio of 15:1 Ramp Meter Source: Washington State DOT

March 25, 2006MESCON10 Lane Management Use extra lanes on freeway. Bidirectional Emergency clearing/storing HOV/Transit Vehicles Traffic diversion Source: FHWA

March 25, 2006MESCON11 Incident Management Reduces the time that accident blocks roadway Coordinates emergency response to accidents Incident Response Vehicle Benefits (emissions reduced in San Francisco): 77 Tons of CO 10 Tons of NOx 7.6 Tons of hydrocarbons Source: AASHTO

March 25, 2006MESCON12 Information Dissemination Pre-Trip: Internet, television, “511” info line, radio Modal choice Route selection Travel times En-Route: Real time information Accidents Changing roadway conditions Source: North Dakota DOT

March 25, 2006MESCON13 ITS Deployment Currently deployed in over 2400 jurisdictional areas 50% of freeway miles are monitored 57% of freeways covered by incident management 48% of freeways have information disseminated

March 25, 2006MESCON14 SAFETEA-LU Signed into law August 10, 2005 Legislative Provisions: Expanded Transportation Monitoring HOV Lane Guidelines Funding Allocations $550 Million for ITS Research $8.5 Billion for CMAQ Program Source: US House of Representatives

Questions?