KEY TAKEAWAYS AND CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

Transcription

1 KEY TAKEAWAYS AND CROSS-CUTTING THEMES REAL-TIME DATA: USES AND LIMITATIONS To provide real-time traveler information to the public, agencies are increasingly integrating with 3 rd party apps such as Waze, Google, HERE, INRIX, TomTom, etc. However, while these apps provide a common user experience across states and are constantly updated to keep pace with the latest technology, DOTs have also found the data isn t always accurate nor does it contain all the types of data DOTs generate and use. BENEFITS AND USES OF REAL-TIME DATA 3 rd party probe data can help put eyes on the road where DOTs either don t have or can t afford to put cameras. Using 3 rd party apps to inform the public saves the expense of having to keep up with the latest technologies; DOTs only have to provide the data. Vendors have reach that DOTs don t: they can spend more on marketing and can reach out-ofstate travelers who are not familiar with more local resources. LIMITATIONS OF 3 RD PARTY APPS Vendors use different data formats, which makes it difficult for DOTs o Need some kind of standard for feeding navigational info. If there is no national standard then we need to understand various formats and describe the data that is being pushed out. On one option is to create a de-facto standard through SCOTE (Standing Committee on Traffic Engineering) or STSMO (maybe subcommittee). o Competition among vendors means they may not be completely open on their algorithms and data processes. Apps can have difficulty accurately interpreting DOT data. Examples include when linear data becomes point data, roads open only to local traffic, and lane closures. This causes navigation 1

2 algorithms to not work properly and causes DOTs need to have to work with vendors on manual verification and syncing of data: o VA has developed overlay of Waze data on top of 511 (TMC) data. It should ideally be redundant if Waze is interpreting things correctly but it s not, especially in regards to construction. VA is doing a study to compare traffic feed with Waze data to ensure that what they re putting out is correct. o Boston is doing a pilot to man a traffic desk to monitor Waze data and map it to traffic management system to 511. There are issues with how to deal with conflicting data coming from vendors. For example: Waze assumes if there are no active probes moving then the road must be closed. INRIX on the other hand defaults to historical data if there are no active problems and would assume the road is open. Static GPS services that don t update in real-time don t get this type of info, but they could push s to their customers when they get important alerts from DOT to force downloads. ROLE OF 511 DOTs are not necessarily seen as the information provider but as the trusted data source; for example, during the hurricane, people relied on information from the DOTs and, in fact, were told by the NC governor not to rely on Waze. 511 is a foundational service that is provided to other government agencies, especially first responders and the media. VA found that 511 s reason for existence could be justified solely by the need to support emergency responders; providing traveler information to the public was secondary. o Emergency responders were found to be using 511 app in Norfolk, VA to check out scene before responding. 3 rd party apps are focused solely on navigation and are only interested in a subset of the data that DOTs provide (e.g. incidents and work zones). 511 also provides camera streams for emergency responders, travel times around the states, and other critical services. FL was approached by truckers who wanted to integrate their 511 incident feed into the trucking radio. 2

3 SOCIAL MEDIA Society now expects traveler information to be communicated through social media. VA receives lots of feedback through 511 and mobile app but most TMCs don t handle social media it is handled by the public information office. VA, FL, and NCDOT have automatic tweeting of incidents through TMC software according to priority. Twitter allows exceptions for DOTs to expand tweets past the character limit. PREDICTIVE DATA Currently available through INRIX but there are other projects looking at using historical data to make predictions. Can be used to display predictive travel times, such as Thanksgiving trends in Virginia and beach travel times in South Carolina, but currently much of this is done manually. Indiana and Florida are exploring an innovative idea to use historical crash data to show heat map of incidents in weather. This allows them to alert drivers and better plan their emergency response. However, real-time data is needed to understand where the crash actually occurred, rather than where it was recorded by highway patrol. INTERESTING POINTS/BEST PRACTICES: Utility of apps like Waze vs. 511 depends on a state s capabilities. For example, during the hurricane, NC governor told public not to rely on GPS device, whereas but SC shut down 511 and referred public to Google and Waze because their 511 system couldn t cope. To make coordination easier, VA has one address they use to coordinate with all GPS vendors. Vendors continually ask more of the DOTs. NCDOT is using this as leverage so vendors implement more features that the DOT feels are necessary for the public. Press conferences like the one by the NC governor during the hurricane can be incentives for vendors to keep their apps up to DOT standards. 3

4 INCIDENT MANAGEMENT COORDINATION BETWEEN TMCS AND STATE PATROL/EMERGENCY RESPONDERS TMCs and State Highway Patrol need to integrate more closely. The TMCs benefit because it helps them know about incidents and plan their responses to clear incidents quickly; state patrols and emergency responders benefit because TMCs can help verify incidents and provide traffic coordination and routing information. Most states integrate State Highway Patrol CAD feeds (or filtered feeds) into their TMCs. However, some have found that the CAD feed needs to be verified and there are different methods for doing this, such as camera feeds. Discussion about different models of integration: o Colocation with emergency responders has been a popular and effective option, although there are privacy concerns that some states have addressed with glass walls or with training on handling sensitive information o Perhaps it would be beneficial to have a TMC staff person located in the 911 dispatch center since that s where emergency responders receive their orders. o Arizona has a state trooper in the TMC and they find that responders are more likely to trust info when it comes from one of their own. This enables the TMC to provide info to field personnel quickly and accurately and has facilitated greater program buy-in from troopers. o Los Angeles has one 911 call center staffer dedicated to handling traffic incident calls. SERVICE PATROL NC is sponsored by State Farm. NC says State Farm has been excellent to work with and as a result of the sponsorship, they are able to collect more feedback. Several other states are considering this model. However, one downside is patrol officers feel they are losing their identity with the State Farm logo on cars, jackets, and hats. Virginia has contracted out service patrol which allows flexibility to increase/decrease staffing as needed. Florida has a Severe Incident Response Vehicle (SIRV) model which is staffed by retired officers with unique equipment on their vehicles. 4

5 INCIDENT RESPONSE TIMES Maximum clearance time targets can have a detrimental effect and lead to clearance times clustering around the max. o North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia drop their goals gradually, but risk reaching a plateau. o Express lanes add a new wrinkle since they have a guaranteed speed of travel. FL has built clearance targets and penalties into the contract for the operation of express lanes. Differing guidelines for classification of crashes o NHTSA guidelines do not change the crash type based on how long it takes to clear. For example, if an intermediate crash in NC takes more than 2 hours to clear, it is still considered intermediate and then is flagged for evaluation about missing the goal. o FHWA guidelines, followed by VA, increases the priority of a crash based on how long it takes to clear it or the length of the crash. Secondary crashes o How to measure them is a huge research question o Virginia has been attempting to have state patrol flag secondary crashes. So far 1-2% of crashes are deemed secondary, but they think it should be closer to 6%. FHWA s standard estimate of 20% seems to be high. o New TMS can track clusters of crashes which might make it easier to see which are secondary. o States don t generally track first responders who are injured or killed. TOWING AND RECOVERY GA, FL, OH, and VA are participating in Towing and Recovery Incentive Programs (TRIPs), whereby heavy-duty recovery companies are provided with a monetary incentive for clearing commercial vehicle wrecks within 90 minutes. Emergency heavy duty wreckers contracted under the VDOT Ops programs have been particularly helpful during major weather/snow events. Towing and recovery, especially related to procurement practices, continues to be an area of concern for state DOTs and should continue to be investigated through groups such as AASHTO s Subcommittee on TSMO (STSMO). 5

6 INTERESTING PRACTICES BY STATES VA is testing unmanned aerial vehicles for TIM using a service contract on a daily rate basis ($1800/day). They see the value for disaster management and incident response. MA has purchased 2 drones and found that in video surveys the use of a drone was much cheaper ($10,000) than the use of a bucket truck ($40K). Virginia is working on a mobile field commander app something like Waze that allows them to report details of the incident. SCDOT and highway patrol share ITS assets message signs, network access, incident detection and command centers, comms (800 MHz) and highway patrol is allowed to use the message signs (under DOT control). Suggestion from Virginia and Florida that periodic incident management meetings can help people from different agencies get to know each other before incidents occur. Virginia requires all tow operators to do SHRP-2 training and emphasizes the need to clear scenes quickly and restore traffic flow; NC fire and highway patrol also require SHRP-2 training. North Carolina has integrated response with construction. Contractors are required to have a travel demand manager and a tower for work zones and there is a 20 min requirement for getting the road cleared. INTEGRATED CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT ICM is moving beyond corridor management and into entire system management (multimodal, rest stops, truck parking, etc.). Essential it s going from passive to active management. DIVERSIONS AND ALTERNATE ROUTES Signal timing plans seem to be biggest tool right now for diverting traffic to alternate routes. Diversions run into issues: o States cannot tell people where to go, or can only divert to roads they own, or don t want to send people to areas where they don t have info. All of these issues provide an opportunity for Waze and other 3 rd party apps to help create awareness of the situation. 6

7 o o o Transit systems have their own real-time information systems tracking their vehicles but which aren t always integrated with TMCs. This has implications for things like bus bridges by the commuter rail and using that as a tool to help the situation. Need more data (e.g. how much traffic can a bridge cope with). The data is available but there needs to be a way to search through everything. Lack of monitoring data on arterials use probe speed data from INRIX/RITIS or apps like Waze. FREIGHT Freight is an important component of ICM but it is difficult to get data to/from commercial vehicles. o Truckers are very private and won t allow DOTs to monitor them. o Virginia ports have asked DOTs to disseminate real-time info to truckers but truckers mainly rely on radio from other truckers are not currently open to other information sources. o FL is working with a trucking association, sending 511 reps to meetings and putting educational material in newsletters. Truck parking is a big area because better management, like real-time parking availability info, means you don t need to invest in more parking. FUNDING FOR TSMO States outlined their different approaches and tactics to secure funding for TSMO. Participants were amazed by Virginia s requirement to fund maintenance & operations before capital improvements. FOCUS ON CAPACITY RATHER THAN TECHNOLOGY Incorporate TSMO into construction projects on the interstate, like HOT lanes, to use money dedicated for Transportation Management Plans (TMPs). You can add cameras, for example, or fund work on arterials as alternate routes 7

8 Florida DOT has experimented with the use of federal money for maintenance, as long as the focus is on those elements impacting traffic operations. EMPHASIZE RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) AND BENEFIT:COST RATIOS Feds focus on performance metrics (travel time and reliability). Robust performance metrics will help get operational plans into State Transportation Improvement Plans (STIPs). The public expects the system to operate what is the point of roads if they are not usable? ROI is the language legislators understand. Need to quantify and clearly demonstrate value. Some examples cited include: o Florida publishes a periodic dashboard showing the ROI in terms of hours saved for the programs implemented in District 4 as well as the benefit:costs ratio. o NC Safety program clearly demonstrates 14:1 ROI for every dollar they spend on construction o VA can identify the impact of DMS signs through detector counts (mostly diverted traffic based on sign info). o FL phone survey shows that the biggest benefit is that the DMS helps people make decisions on how to travel - 12% of people say that when they know the info ahead of time reduces their stress. TSMO brings together data from freeways and arterials, safety, freight for these messages, but not sure how to measure the benefit. Benefit and ROI should be part of the prioritization process. For example, if it costs $54 million per lane mile to expand vs. $1 million to improve the flow of traffic through TSMO, it s a no brainer. Look for examples. In Virginia, adding cameras to monitor snowfall resulted in saving an hour roundtrip by DOT personnel each time to verify conditions. These benefits add up, and result in a willingness to pay for the camera and maintenance. INTEGRATE WITH MPOS Noted that in the North, DOTs sit together with MPOs to plan projects. DOTs should participate in the long-range planning process and help fund it. 8

9 Include ITS in capital improvement projects. Educate planners that while TSMO doesn t fix the capacity problem by itself, it should still be added to each solution. TSMO projects can be considered as interim solutions until expansions can be made. PROCUREMENT ITS procurement (especially software) is different from standard transportation procurement. Procurement department wants as much flexibility as possible whereas IT has specific requirements and needs to know exactly what they re getting. States can extend procurement of a device to an entire corridor; Feds promote it as synchronization of the system. INTERESTING PRACTICES BY STATES The possibility of using sponsorships for DMS signs was mentioned the sponsor uses them for ads until the DOT needs them. In FL, the ICM grant was given to the Broward MPO, which has resulted in a greater appreciation for ops (including sending staff to Ops Academy). Now they have included a specific section of their website dedicated to strategic planning and district-level implementation of TSMO strategies. o District 4 has tried to insert themselves into projects to get TSMO elements. They ve created a TSMO Scoping Form which will be incorporated into the schedule template. MPO has to state that they ve talked to Ops and talk about what elements they will include. This form should help improve information sharing and force MPOs to incorporate TSMO into the planning process. In New Hampshire, every project had to come through the TSMO bureau. Executive leadership message was that TSMO had to be part of the planning of capital improvement projects. Virginia has statewide contracts for procurement and has contracts for services (like traveler information) rather than specifying products or technologies. This extends to services such as towing and allows for greater flexibility. 9

10 AREAS OF FOLLOW-UP FOR NOCOE In different states, regional FHWA office have different interpretations of what can be funded under each category. NOCoE could potentially help while being careful to avoid the risk of more flexible states becoming less flexible! There are many sources of funding that not all states are aware of. This could be a future peer exchange topic on its own. OTHER INTERESTING PRACTICES FROM STATES 511 calls: o North Carolina uses women s prisons to staff 511 customer service calls o Virginia allows callers to log a problem if they don t hear it in the IVR menu. This will be added to the app along with the ability to send in a picture. o Virginia also uses a system that allows them to create an extension office to deal with surges when needed. Florida s TMC displays MVDS speeds along the side walls to make it easy to spot incidents as soon as they occur. They also use a panel of monitors for each TMC operator instead of a more expensive video wall. Monitors show performance measures rather than just camera feeds. It is important to do R&D rip off and duplicate! Find best practices from other states and implement them. RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING MEETING New Mexico has a great systems engineering guide with a maintenance section that allows states to figure out the cost of maintenance to be included in proposals. VA developed joint website ( with statewide incident management including all VA responding agencies, useful tool for coordinating. FL has a Guidebook for ICM. 10

11 VA DOT has published top 10 Incident Management Best Practices book. Virginia is publishing a standard for diversion plans. I-95 CORRIDOR COALITION TAKEWAYS Coalition should help states develop ROI relative to TSMO on the corridor. Coalition should help bring in TSMO planning along the corridor. More work needed on how states can use data perhaps make sure of academic resources like interns from universities. 11