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PROJECT
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK FOR CANADIAN ITS
Although it is well recognized
that ITS projects offer a cost-effective solution
for many transportation problems, the benefits of
ITS are not as well understood as benefits from more
traditional transportation projects. Decision makers
and the general public may find it difficult to understand
why, how or when ITS investments can provide significant
benefits. In fact, individual projects are often not
evaluated. While transportation agencies generally
have standard practices to evaluate major investments,
they do not usually address the specific nuances of
how best to evaluate ITS investments.
Transport
Canada has now completed a project to develop a methodology
to evaluate the benefits of Canadian intelligent transportation
systems projects. The Transportation Development Centre
(TDC) acted as the scientific authority for this project,
on behalf of Transport Canada’s ITS Office.
The evaluation methodology presented in the published
report provides a framework to ensure consistency
and validity of results across regions and across
types of ITS investments. It also offers the advantage
of addressing the benefits of combined ITS projects,
which can sometimes be greater than the benefits of
projects that proceed individually.
For
full details, please visit: www.tc.gc.ca/tdc/projects/its/d/its21.htm.
A
training session will be presented at ITS Canada’s
Annual Conference, being held in Montreal on June
1 to 4, 2008.
ITS
CANADA’S PHOTO LIBRARY ... www.itscanada.ca/english/photolibrary.htm
One
of the many benefits available to ITS Canada members
is ITS Canada’s online photo library, accessible
through the “ITS Resources” section of
the website. Thanks to the generous support of members,
the library now includes a large number of images,
organized by subject. If you haven't visited in a
while, you might be interested in viewing the library.
Your password will be required to access images, which
are presented in "thumbnail view" using
low resolution. Members must contact the owner of
the image to request permission for use; when granted,
a better quality image will be provided by the owner.
If
you have images that could be added to the library,
ITS Canada would be grateful for your contribution.
ITS
FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
With
the advancement of intelligent transportation systems
in managing surface transportation, a framework has
now been developed for the application of ITS to traffic
management, with a report to be made available this
spring through the Transportation Association of Canada
(TAC).
ITS
Canada was one of many sponsors who supported this
project. The framework defines a process to assist
transportation agencies by offering practical information
on ITS applications. It addresses all stages of an
ITS project, including planning, design, procurement,
installation, operations and maintenance.
The
publication identifies best practices, potential pitfalls,
institutional issues and other traffic management
considerations, with the intent of improving decision-making
and communication with politicians, senior management,
consultants and suppliers.
An
announcement is expected when the publication becomes
available for purchase through TAC’s website.
511
IN THE UNITED STATES
In
December 2007, the U.S. 511 Coalition reported 4,655,523
total calls and the first month with over four million
calls. Other statistics include:
Almost 96 million calls nationwide since inception
40 consecutive months with over one million calls
511 service was available to over 128 million Americans
(47 percent)
New national 511 records:
-
28.5 million calls in 2007 – a 31 percent
increase over 2006
- 9.9 million calls in the fourth quarter of 2007
Forty-one 511 services available to the travelling
public, operating in 33 states
Colorado, Kansas, New México, St. Louis,
Washington State and Wyoming services set monthly
call volume records
The Tennessee service passed the million call milestone.
For
further information, visit the website at: www.deploy511.org/deploystatus.htm
TRB’S
ITS: STATE-OF-THE-INDUSTRY REVIEW
By
William Johnson, TRENDS Consulting
The highlight of the ITS sessions each year at the
TRB Annual Meeting in Washington in January is the
session that reviews the state of the industry. This
session invites top officials from ITS America, the
federal government (USDOT), the states (AASHTO) and
the private sector (this year GM Corporation) to present
their perspectives on recent and future ITS developments.
This
year, the speakers included Scott Belcher, the new
President of ITS America, Shelley Row, Director of
the ITS Joint Program Office, John Horsley, Executive
Director of AASHTO, and Nady Boules, Director of Electrical
and Control Integration at General Motors.
Scott
Belcher discussed the issues faced by the ITS community,
the future direction of ITS evolution and the 15th
ITS World Congress in New York City in November 2008.
He stressed the fact that road-related deaths in the
U.S. had levelled off at 42,000 every year. This is
the primary challenge for the ITS community and one
that technology can help to alleviate. He listed a
number of technologies that can assist: night vision,
lane departure warnings and VII (vehicle-infrastructure
integration), among others.
Other
important issues are climate change (28 percent of
emissions come from the transport sector) and funding
(the Highway Trust Fund is up for re-authorization).
He stated that climate change is now emerging as a
political issue and suggested that ITS can position
itself to provide the means to measure CO2 emissions
and their impact. The funding issue is a perennial
one.
Shelley
Row discussed ITS now and for the future. She provided
an overview of the recent ITS accomplishments, including
Clarus (road weather), the e-freight field test, integrated
corridor manage-ment, mobility for all Americans,
next generation 911, VII test beds in California and
Michigan, ITS standards program, the need for a new
ITS strategic plan, and professional capacity building.
She anticipates that a new, common, clear vision for
ITS will emerge from the new ITS Advisory Committee,
a new ITS program plan, the ending of present ITS
initiatives at USDOT and reauthorization.
The
vision will focus on congestion, safety and system
performance. The main opportunities will come from
the information explosion, and wireless connectivity
of vehicles and the roadside in real time.
Shelley
observed that ITS use is growing but ITS investment
is slow and resources are constrained. Therefore,
USDOT will focus on hi-return projects. She suggested
the ITS vision should aim for end-to-end data for
travel, optimal system performance, collecting performance
measures, and end-to-end freight management. The goals
will be three-fold: mobility enhancement; environmental/energy
focus (new for USDOT); and 21st century role for USDOT.
John
Horsley presented the perspective of the state agencies.
He highlighted the promise of VII and the growing
interest of the states to partner with USDOT on this
new. The emphasis would be on business models, funding,
deployment and the World Congress demonstration. VII
test beds are now located in California and Michigan,
and five other states have expressed interest. He
mentioned 511 and the progress to date – 45
percent of the U.S. population is now covered with
37 systems; there will be 65 percent coverage by the
end of 2009. He also mentioned the National Traffic
Incident Management Coalition, completion of standards
for the advanced traffic signal controller, and the
need for congestion reduction performance standards
in the next reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund.
Nady
Boules discussed the role of connected vehicles in
a connected world. The ‘big picture’ he
proposed was a universal aspiration for personal freedom,
autonomy and accessibility to opportunity. He illustrated
the expected growth in demand for mobility with these
figures: in 2007, worldwide sales of motor vehicles
was 70 million; in 2016, this is projected at 95 million.
The challenges for the motor vehicle manufacturing
industry are to produce vehicles that can sustain
this growth in production for sale (to meet market
demand) while conforming to energy and environmental
constraints.
TRB
87th Annual Meeting 2008: www.TRB.org
NEWS
bITS
ITS ARCHITECTURE UPDATE
Transport
Canada has initiated the process of updating the ITS
Architecture for Canada and will host a full-day workshop
in Ottawa on April 7, 2008, to collect stakeholder
input. Workshop topics will include:
Current state of the ITS architecture and standards,
in Canada and worldwide
The use of regional ITS architectures in Canada
Guiding principles for the update to the ITS Architecture
for Canada
Additional user services for the ITS Architecture
for Canada.
Webinar
access for those unable to attend will be provided.
Contact Sharon DaCosta at IBI Group at sdacosta@ibigroup.com
for details.
URBAN GOODS WORKSHOP
Transport Canada, in collaboration with University
of British Columbia’s Bureau of Intelligent
Transportation Systems and Freight Security (Sauder
School of Business), has organized a workshop on urban
goods movement that will be held in Vancouver on March
18-19, 2008. This workshop will feature experts from
across Canada, the U.S. and abroad. Registration is
free. For details, contact Garland Chow, Associate
Professor, Sauder School of Business, at garland.chow@sauder.ubc.ca.
CONGESTION PRICING
In the U.S., focus groups were recently held among
the general public, business owners and managers,
and owners and managers of shipping and transportation
logistics firms to obtain feedback on congestion pricing
scenarios and to better understand the public's concerns
regarding congestion pricing. A secondary purpose
was to learn more about how to communicate with the
public on the topic of congestion pricing. To download
the full report, visit: www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tolling_pricing/resources/report/cpcfocusgrp/index.htm.
ITS
TRAINING
The ITS Joint Program Office of the U.S. Department
of Transportation sponsors development of training
courses to assist ITS professionals, as part of the
ITS Professional Capacity Building Program. The
following is a partial list of courses available from
a number of sources:
National
Transit Institute ~ www.ntionline.com/Courses.asp
Multimodal Traveller Information Systems
Consortium
for ITS Training and Education (CITE) ~
www.citeconsortium.org/curriculum.html
ITS Awareness
Improving Highway Safety with ITS
Rural ITS
Introduction to ITS/CVO and CVISN (CVISN 101) and
Advanced (CVISN 102)
National
Highway Institute ~ www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/training
ITS Awareness Seminar
Managing Traffic Incident and Roadway Emergencies
Integrated Transportation Management for Small-
and Medium-Sized Communities
Advancing Transportation Systems Management and
Operations
Improving Highway Safety with ITS
Freeway Management and Operations
Rural ITS Toolbox
Managing Travel for Planned Special Events
Principles and Tools for Road Weather Management
CORSIM Traffic Simulation Model Training
ITS Telecommunications Overview
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Procurement
Institute
of Transportation Engineers (ITE) ~ www.ite.org/standards/CourseSchedule.asp
ITS Standards Overview IEEE 1512
ITS Standards (Center-to-Center)
ITS Standards Dynamic Message Signs
ITS
CANADA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS
CORPORATE
Signalisation Ver-Mac
ENTRA Consultants Inc.
MEMBERS
IN THE NEWS
NAVTEQ
has announced an agreement with wireless operator
Telefonica for new mobile traffic products dedicated
to European markets. This relationship is the first
step of NAVTEQ Traffic presence in Europe, and initial
products are targeted for Barcelona and Madrid later
this year. NAVTEQ Traffic currently serves the United
States and Canada with real-time and historical traffic
data services and technology. Telefonica will provide
broad distribution of innovative, high-quality consumer
solutions to their customers for popular mobile platforms.
These products will provide users with real-time roadway
conditions reports, including average speeds and congestion
levels.
Telvent
has been an awarded a contract by the Kansas Department
of Transportation, the City of Wichita and Sedgwick
County for the Wichita Traffic Management Center design
project. This project aims to develop a freeway management
system for the metropolitan area of Wichita, the largest
city in the State of Kansas and capital of the Sedgwick
County. Telvent will design installations of surveillance
cameras and information boards on freeways to provide
timely information to state and local authorities,
as well as travellers. These devices will be controlled
from the Traffic Management Center, which will combine
Traffic Management Center operators with 911 emergency
dispatchers. This will provide faster and more coordinated
responses to major incidents, increasing the security
on the roads. Telvent will develop the traffic management
systems software, the design for components of the
Traffic Management Center, and the communications
systems and equipment (such as variable message signs,
closed circuit television cameras, vehicle detectors
and ramp metering).
In
February 2008, the Canadian federal government announced
that is making the current gas tax revenue sharing
program permanent, allowing TransLink
to develop long-term plans for transit improvements
in the region to support growth and development. The
latest federal budget also included funding for the
Evergreen Rapid Transit Line, an important piece of
Metro Vancouver’s rapid transit network, which
recommends advanced light rapid transit (ALRT or SkyTrain-like
technology) as the suggested technology in the business
case. ALRT is automated and grade-separated, on tracks
above, below or segregated from the street.
TransLink
has also begun testing a new communications system
that utilizes automated voice and an information display
announcing the next stops, using TMAC – the
new Transit Management and Communications system –
on 23 buses throughout the fleet. Customers riding
some of the equipped buses will hear the automated
message for the next stop, while LED panels in the
ceiling display the same information. The announcements
help fill a need long called for by advocates in the
disability community: improved access for visually
impaired people, making conventional public transportation
more accessible to more people.
TMAC
also enables GPS location of individual buses, so
that dispatchers can respond to traffic and demand
patterns, and change route assignments accordingly.
Buses can also be located more accurately in the event
of an emergency in which the operator is not able
to communicate the position. The pilot test will include
a customer survey to help "fine tune" the
system before it is installed on other buses in the
fleet.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Newsletter
published by ITS Canada.
Submissions
or comments can be emailed to askus@itscanada.ca.
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