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ITS
CANADA MISSION TO THE 15TH WORLD CONGRESS ON ITS
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A
hospitality event will be held during the
upcoming 15th World Congress on Intelligent
Transport Systems. The Congress is
being held November 16-20, 2008, at the Jacob
K. Javits Convention Center in New York City,
and is being combined with ITS America’s
Annual Meeting, increasing the likelihood
of a significant turnout and providing exceptional
networking opportunities.
An
exclusive reception, by invitation only, will
be held on Monday evening, November 17, in
the penthouse suite at the Sheraton Hotel
– a stellar location for entertaining
clients in an atmosphere that will promote
connections and invite collaboration!
ITS
Canada will arrange to invite high-profile,
international contacts who are in New York
to attend the World Congress. As well, a number
of sponsorship opportunities are available
for the event, providing members with significant
benefits and advantages. This will include
exclusive use of the meeting facilities, promotional
opportunities, and the opportunity for naming
special invitees to the hospitality event.
For
full details, please contact ITS Canada at
askus@itscanada.ca. |
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IBEC
AT THE WORLD CONGRESS
The
International Benefit, Evaluation and Cost Working
Group is again sponsoring an IBEC Workshop on Sunday,
November 16, in conjunction with the 15th World
Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in New
York City, being held November 16-20, 2008.
The
theme of the workshop is "Vehicle Infrastructure
Integration/Co-operative Systems: What are the Benefits
and Costs?" The charge for attendance is $75
USD. Registration and payment can be done through
the World Congress online registration process.
IBEC is also organizing four Special Sessions as
part of the World Congress program. The topics are
related to managing travel at mega-events, technology
to reduce congestion and greenhouse gas, impact
of road pricing, and safe freight transport. Full
details of these sessions can be found online in
the Preliminary Program posted on the World Congress
website and in the upcoming September issue of the
IBEC newsletter.
For further information, visit the following websites:
15th World Congress on ITS – www.itsworldcongress.org
IBEC – www.ibec-its.org
FCM’S
GREEN MUNICIPAL FUND: A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATION
By
Raymond Sullivan, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Want to pursue a sustainable
transportation project in your community?
The
Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green
Municipal Fund™ offers financial assistance
for municipal studies and projects related to sustainable
transportation.
On
August 10, 2008, FCM released a new Green Municipal
Fund call for applications for capital projects
that remove barriers to sustainable transportation
and make it more convenient and competitive.
Such
projects may include:
intelligent transportation systems, such as real-time
travel information and transit signal priority
hybrid vehicle acquisition and retrofits
improvements to infrastructure that support active
transportation around transit junctions, such
as sidewalks; pedestrian crossings; pedestrian
links from park-and-ride facilities; bike paths
and bike crossings; and end-of-trip bike facilities
such as bike parking and shower facilities
development or completion of safe and accessible
walking and cycling networks planned around real
destinations (e.g., work, school, shopping or
cultural activities)
development of “complete streets”
or road networks that accommodate all travellers:
pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and those
travelling in high-occupancy vehicles or private
and commercial vehicles.
Applications
will be received and evaluated continuously in a
non-competitive process. Up to $2 million in low-interest
loans and $400,000 in grants is available for each
eligible project.
For
more information, please see the FCM Centre for
Sustainable Community Development website:
www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/GMF/Transportation-call-for-applications-2008.asp
CONGESTION
CHARGING - A SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
Used
with permission from Veronica Vanterpool, Tri-State
Transportation Campaign
Milan, Italy: The city implemented the
“EcoPass” cordon charge this past January
to cut pollution and reduce traffic. Higher-polluting
vehicles are charged more, with the revenue going
towards “buses, cycle paths and green vehicles,”
according to the BBC.
Valletta, Malta: The “Controlled
Vehicular Access” system, implemented in May
2007, charges non-resident cars depending on how
long they stay within the charge zone, limiting
long-term parking and reducing traffic in the historic
capital. The plan was named a best practice case
study by the European Local Transport Information
Service.
Tel Aviv, Israel: By 2009, motorists entering
Tel Aviv will be charged NIS 25-50 (US $7-$15) to
enter parts of the city based on time of day, area
and the amount of pollution emitted by their car.
The charge is meant to tackle the city’s huge
traffic problem and encourage greater use of public
buses. Revenue generated would help fund a long
awaited light-rail system.
Shenzhen, China: Looming in the future
with an unspecified date, Shenzhen is to introduce
a congestion charge for vehicles entering its downtown.
Currently, officials are figuring out where the
pricing zone will be and the amount of the charge.
The revenue will be used to build infrastructure
for public transportation.
Seoul, Korea: The city government has proposed
legislation to charge motorists who drive to stores
and buildings in Seoul’s vehicle-choked center.
Mostly a traffic-reducing measure for the city,
officials tout its benefits for energy and the environment.
If passed, the charge could begin March 2009.
Greater Manchester, England: This December,
residents of the area will decide through a referendum
if they want a congestion charge. If accepted, the
charge will be implemented in 2013. The revenue
generated would expand public transportation across
the areas’ 10 boroughs with extra trains,
buses and improved stations, with an additional
£1.5 billion (roughly US$2.8 billion) in investment
coming from the central government.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: A recent
report issued by the country’s Department
of Planning and Economy noted that traffic congestion
and limited mass transit were inflicting a “heavy
economic toll” on the city. The report lists
a “demand management scenario” as one
of four options to improve mobility and public transport.
Bangkok, Thailand: City government is conducting
a feasibility study of implementing a congestion
charge in Bangkok’s business district. The
main impetus of the plan is to tackle the notorious
traffic problem and encourage carpooling.
Jakarta, Indonesia: Based on the recommendation
of an outside consultant, the Governor is considering
charging drivers as a way to ease traffic jams in
the capital. The city is conducting feasibility
studies now, but the plan could be piloted next
year.
ITS
FOR SMALL AND MID-SIZED CITIES: THE NEXT FRONTIER?
By
Trevor Hanson, University of New Brunswick
When people think of New Brunswick, they often think
of our forests or our mighty rivers, such as the
St. John, Miramichi and Restigouche. In addition
to our great natural setting, New Brunswick is also
home to 750,000 people, with two cities with over
100,000 people and one city with a population of
over 50,000. We are headquarters to some of Canada’s
largest companies (including Irving Oil and McCain
Foods), home of Canada’s largest oil refinery,
and the most modern Trans-Canada Highway in the
country. We have also been a leader in rural ITS
deployments, including Canada’s first high-speed
mainline Weigh-in-Motion (WIM), an extensive RWIS
network, and the Rural ITS Research Program with
Transport Canada, New Brunswick DOT, and UNB. Looking
to the future in New Brunswick (NB), I believe there
is an opportunity to move forward on a research
and deployment opportunity that will not only benefit
NB, but all provinces with small or mid-sized urban
areas.
In
discussion with some of my municipal colleagues
in NB about ITS, I discovered that there are several
ITS deployments at the municipal level, but my colleagues
did not frame them as such. They envisioned ITS
as something only deployed in the largest cities.
If this perception of ITS is widely held, it may
explain whey there are fewer ITS Canada members
who represent smaller metropolitan areas (SMAs)
(e.g. 50,000-100,000 persons) and local governments.
This leads to important questions for our organization
and the ITS industry as a whole:
How can we improve the awareness/uptake of ITS
by SMAs and local governments?
How can we better engage and retain members from
these areas?
I
believe that the lack of awareness is because ITS
have generally been portrayed as either solutions
to large urban area congestion, or as solutions
to rural area safety and mobility (WIM, RWIS).In
the middle, we find the small metropolitan areas
(SMAs), who maintain millions of dollars of transportation
and traffic control infrastructure, and incorporate
many elements of ITS in their day-to-day operations,
but may be missing out on opportunities to pilot
further integration of their ITS technologies. SMAs
may not have the resources to have a dedicated “ITS
section” or “ITS person”. Also,
there may not be enough ITS demonstration projects
at the SMA level to provide the comfort level needed
to move forward. Reaching out to SMAs to conduct
demonstration projects could make ITS more accessible
and increase awareness.
Engaging
and retaining members from these areas requires
reaching out to connect SMAs to ITS resources so
they can make transportation decisions with the
full knowledge of the potential of ITS. Similarly,
it is an opportunity for ITS Canada to engage federal
and provincial partners in this discussion, especially
in the context for the need for further funding
programs for ITS research and deployment in these
jurisdictions.
With
advances in technology bringing down the total cost
of technology in many realms, it is conceivable
that ITS technologies have become accessible and
affordable enough for SMAs to take advantage of
them, but a catalyst is needed, such as a targeted
program for SMAs. This could introduce ITS as an
integral part of their transportation planning process
at a point before congestion problems match those
of their larger counterparts. The positive impacts
of such a catalyst for rural ITS and large urban
area ITS are evident, given such national initiatives
as RWIS and 511 have helped enhance the uniformity
of uptake and deployment. If a pilot project of
the SMA program is needed, I think New Brunswick
would be a great place to start.
This
article is intended to stimulate discussion among
Canada’s ITS players. The time is right for
us as an organization and industry to evaluate how
we can better engage our colleagues in smaller metropolitan
areas and encourage them to consider ITS in addressing
their perennial transportation issues. I look forward
to hearing your thoughts and comments on this. My
email is thanson@unb.ca.
NEWS
bITS
Use your ITS Canada membership to its fullest extent!
Expand
your visibility and profile! Send ITS Canada your
press releases so we can publish
your news and announcements on our website and
in ITS Canada’s monthly newsletter.
Do
you have an ITS-related RFP?
Contact ITS Canada to have your agency's RFP posted
on our website and emailed to all members –
reaching over 700 transportation professionals!
Contact
askus@itscanada.ca.
European Commission Allocates Single Radio Frequency
For Cooperative Vehicle Systems
As
part of its overall fight against road accidents
and traffic jams, the European Commission announced
in August that they will reserve part of the radio
spectrum (30 MHz in the 5.9 GHz band), which will
be allocated within the next six months by national
authorities across Europe to road safety applications
for smart vehicle communications systems (so called
co-operative systems). Based on wireless communication
technology, the systems allow cars to 'talk' to
other cars and to the road infrastructure. They
can, for example, warn other drivers of slippery
roads or of a crash that just occurred. The decision
will encourage investment in smart vehicle communication
systems by the automotive industry, while spurring
public funding in essential roadside infrastructure.
Intelligent GPS Devices
Reuters (08/14/08)
Stevenson, Reed
The next generation of personal navigation devices
will generate traffic data that is more intelligent
and dependable so that drivers can easily find
new and quick ways to their destinations. Netherlands-based
TomTom's HD Traffic series tracks congestion using
the cell phones of drivers who are crawling through
traffic. Mobile radio towers anonymously monitor
the progression of mobile signals on roads and,
every three minutes, TomTom passes that information
on to drivers with HD Traffic-enabled devices.
The data pops up on a main touch-sensitive screen
and provides users with new directions. Currently,
the traffic service is only offered in the Netherlands
and four large cities, but TomTom is working to
add features to its frequently updated models
and deploy them to more countries. Garmin, TomTom's
chief competitor, hopes to provide traffic information
throughout North America soon, thanks to a deal
it has struck with Sirius XM Radio's XM Satellite
Radio.
ITS/Operations Resource Guide 2008
The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced
the availability of the ITS/Operations Resource
Guide 2008, both in print and online. Now in its
eighth edition, it presents a compilation of over
500 documents, videos, websites, training courses,
software tools, and points-of-contact related
to ITS and transportation operations. The online
version is available at http://www.resourceguide.its.dot.gov.
New
in this version are:
Resources covering a wide range of safety-related
topics, included automated enforcement, collision
avoidance of transit buses, emergency preparedness
and response, and temporary traffic control
devices commonly used in work zones
Several resources related to the Emergency Transportation
Operations (ETO), Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety
Systems (IVBSS), Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1),
U.S. DOT Rural Safety, and Vehicle Infrastructure
Integration (VII) initiatives, including the
announcement of SafeTrip-21 documentation and
testing program
Websites related to archived data management
systems, congestion pricing, and systems engineering
Documents related to low-cost transportation
improvements, planned special events, systems
engineering, transit signal priority, transportation
system management and operations (TSM&O),
and traveller information
Software tools for road weather management and
transportation operations during biohazard events
A training course showing how ITS technologies
can be integrated into a regional context to
improve transit operations
A chapter on parking management systems that
brings together resources related to parking
both trucks and private vehicles.
Printed
copies are available. To order your free copy,
send an e-mail to itspubs@dot.gov.
MEMBERS
IN THE NEWS
In
August, Daktronics announced that
it will discontinue offering portable variable message
signs in order to focus on their core business of
permanently installed signs. For details, contact
them through www.daktronics.ca.
Econolite
announced in August that it will team with the Mississippi
Department of Transportation (MDOT) to provide the
Gulf Coast and US-90 corridor with vehicle detection,
streaming video traffic monitoring, and real-time
traffic data collection and reporting, following
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. MDOT has selected
Econolite’s Autoscope Terra video vehicle
detection system and its new traffic Data Collection
and Management Service (DCMS.2).
The
Autoscope Terra system includes Ethernet connectivity,
streaming MPEG-4 video, and a web-based software
interface, all designed to satisfy the State’s
ITS requirements. The Autoscope Terra system is
specifically designed to simplify installation,
setup and collection of turning-movement counts
without the need for additional hardware or software,
making it an important contribution to the success
of MDOT’s reconstruction objectives.
It
was very important that the State’s ITS architecture
design, which calls for applying advanced communication
and real-time monitoring of video and data to improve
transportation efficiency, was followed. It is also
essential to MDOT that critical traffic information,
whether for daily congestion management or emergency
evacuation plans, be shared with all the communities
within the region. MDOT selected DCMS.2, which uses
the latest Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology
and employs a Web 2.0 “widgetware” system,
providing MDOT and its stakeholders remote access
to their traffic-monitoring network from any web
browser.
International
Road Dynamics (IRD) has been awarded a
contract by the Virginia Department of Motor Carriers
(DMV) to supply, install, and maintain a Mainline
Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) and Automated Vehicle Identification
(AVI) Weigh Enforcement Pre-Screening System. The
project, valued at approximately US$1.22 million,
is scheduled for completion by December 31, 2008,
and includes the supply and installation of WIM
equipment at the Sandston Weight Enforcement Facility
located on I-64 near Richmond, as well as maintenance,
service, and support for the system for a period
of three years. The system will allow prescreening
of commercial trucks in the main lanes of the Interstate
at highway speed, as well as tracking and routing
vehicles safely through the weigh station. This
deployment will include the supply and installation
of IRD’s patented Single Load Cell WIM Scales,
video verification system, vehicle movement compliance
system, and operational software. The system will
allow trucks that meet size and weight limits to
bypass the facility at highway speeds, thereby reducing
the number of trucks that are required to stop at
the inspection stations and, in turn, decrease fuel
consumption and emissions.
In
August, Trapeze Group announced
that Knoxville Area Transit in Knoxville, Tennessee,
has selected a comprehensive transport system from
Trapeze to help enhance operational safety of their
services. The system includes a web-enabled, browser-based
demand response scheduling and dispatch system designed
to support fixed-route and paratransit services,
helping automate time-consuming tasks and creating
efficiencies in the major scheduling stages. It
also includes a customer relationship management
solution to track customer inquiries and complaints.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Newsletter
published by ITS Canada.
Submissions
or comments can be emailed to askus@itscanada.ca.
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