Decision Support NeedsDecision Support Needsfor for

Transportation SystemsTransportation Systems

December 5, 2000

Emil WolaninMontgomery County, Maryland

Effects of Weather on Transportation:

• Congestion (Roads & Intersections)

• Transit Delays

• Safety– Conditions (fog, heavy downpours, etc.)– Damage to traffic control equipment

• Agency Resources

Snow Operations - 3” Storm

• 2,485 miles of road to treat.• 200 snow fighting personnel.• 197 Pieces of County owned equipment.• 900 tons of salt mix is required to treat the major and

primary roads one time. • 1,600 tons of sand mix is required to treat the

neighborhood streets one time. • It takes approximately 16 hours after the snow has

stopped falling to plow and/or treat every County road one time.

• Equipment Preparation

• Snow Emergency Routes

• Police & Fire

• School Delays or Closings

• Transit Impacts - Code White, Drivers

• Parking Lots & Garage Decks

• Facilities

Snow Operations

Managing Weather Impacts

• Scrounge around for weather info

• Plan & prepare based on available info

• Allocate resources based on location, type, severity & duration

Tailored Response

Sources of Information

• Faxed alerts from weather forecasting services (AccuWeather)

• Weather Monitoring Stations

• Radar Loop on Cable TV

• Weather Channel

• Look out the Window

What Is ITS ?• ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) is the

use of advanced technology to improve the movement and safety of people and goods.

• Used to improve how the transportation system is managed and operated under ALL conditions

• ITS, in a broad sense, is the management of a system of systems:

TrafficSignalSystem

TransitManagement

System

FreewayManagement

System

IncidentManagementSystem

TravelerInformation

System

What Is ATMS ?• Advanced Transportation Management System

– State of the art technology for managing the County’s critical roadways

• Control• Monitoring• Information

• Montgomery County’sITS system

Existing Decision Support Model

Responses that are

Inconsistent and

Inaccurate

Desired Decision Support Model

Responses that are

Consistent and

Appropriate

Signal System PC Sign Control PC

Weather PC

Dispatch PC

Other PC

Undesirable Architecture

Base Mapping

Real Time Traffic Applications

Real Time Weather Applications

Desired Architecture

Travelers Centers

Wireline CommunicationsWide Area Wireless Communications

Ded

icat

ed S

hort

Ran

geC

omm

unic

atio

ns

Veh

icle

to V

ehic

le C

omm

unic

atio

ns

Traffic Mgt.(ATMS/

COMTRAC)

TransitMgt.

(ORBCAD)

Archive DataMgt.

(Informix)

Roadway

includingWeather Sensors

TransitVehicle

PersonalInformation

Access

RoadsideVehicles

ATMS Physical Architecture

Chart IIPIMS

WeatherServices

Other

Typical Weather Radar Display

ATMS w/o Integrated Weather Data

ATMS w/ Integrated Weather Data

Improving Operations

• Better deployment of personnel:– Scheduling and duration of event.– To handle damaged equipment.

• Enhancements to dynamic signal operations:– Increase clearance times due to road friction.– Modify cycle & split timing patterns

Architecture & Data Standards• ITS National Architecture

– User Services & Market Packages

• ITS Standards– communications– message sets– object definitions

• References– www.its.dot.gov– www.ntcip.org