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2. General System Description

2.1 Description of the Target Environment and the Existing Conditions

The San Francisco Bay Area is the fifth most populous metropolitan area in the United States, and the I-880 corridor is centrally located within the region. It is a strategic route providing connectivity between densely populated residential areas and major commercial and industrial centers. The I-880 corridor is a multi-modal, multi-use urban freeway corridor. The corridor also plays a key role in freight and goods movement, directly serving the Port of Oakland, the fourth busiest port in the United States. Thus, the efficient operation of I-880 is of critical economic importance to the region, the state, and the entire nation. During the past 15 years, the congestion level has been worsening significantly. The I-880 ConOps document provides a detailed description of the corridor environment and the existing conditions, which is summarized in Table 2.1. In order to improve mobility along the I-880 corridor, stakeholders have invested heavily in infrastructure and ITS technologies. Table 2.2 summarizes the ITS systems and subsystems that have been implemented along the I-880 corridor. However, because of the traditional institutional arrangements, there has been less than ideal coordination and cooperation among the operating agencies. The I-880 ICM is intended to help integrate the transportation systems from the institutional, technical and operations perspectives.

2.2 Major System Capabilities

The integrated information processing system of the ICMS will enable travelers to obtain more complete and accurate information about travel conditions, while also enabling the operating agencies to collaborate on real-time operating decisions under both normal and incident conditions and on planning for special events, including construction and maintenance activities that interfere with normal operations. The sharing of information in the ICMS is expected to enable four new strategies involving enhanced information provided directly to travelers, two new strategies for agency collaboration on planned events and eight new strategies for agency collaboration on enhancing real-time operational coordination.

Table 2.3 provides the map among the needs, the strategies and the major capabilities or functions. It is important to note that these major functions are used later in the requirements development process to decompose lower level functions and subsequently to develop functional requirements.

Similar to all transportation information systems, the ICMS will have four major system capabilities, including:

Figure 2.1 illustrates these major ICM capabilities and their relationship to each other.

Flow Chart of Traffic/Travel data collection, processing and archiving
Table 2.1 I-880 Network Conditions and Environment
  Freeway Arterials AC Transit BART
Network I-880 between I-580/I-80 interchange in the north and SR-237 in the south; length 38 miles International Blvd, East 14th St, San Leandro Blvd, Hesperian Blvd, and Union City Blvd; length 40 miles Two major local AC Transit lines along I-880 (82, 82L) plus about 15 express lines 20 miles of double track
Facility TMC located in Caltrans District Office in Oakland. 250+ freeway lane miles, all under TMC surveillance and control. 39 miles HOV lanes.

Dense ITS deployment includes traffic detectors, CMS, CCTV, HAR, etc. 		Distributed TMC with satellite locations. Arterials are primarily 4-6 lane undivided highways. Over 250 signalized intersections, 40 arterial miles, 48 miles under TMC surveillance and control. TMC located in Division D-2, Emeryville, CA.

There are approximately 200 bus stops along the corridor, with three major parking facilities.

AC Transit is in the process of implementing BRT between Berkeley and San Leandro along the International/E.14th Street corridor 		12 BART stations along study corridor. 10 stations have parking lots/garages, with 11,432 spaces.
Operations Overall traffic volumes along I-880 corridor are very heavy, with AADT between 120,000 to 275,000 per weekday.

I-880 is an intermodal freeway which serves major traffic generators, including the Port of Oakland, Oakland International Airport, and Oakland Coliseum. Trucks comprise up to 11% of the AADT in the corridor. 		Current ADT along the arterials is between 15,000 and 60,000 vehicles per day. Passenger boarding for Route 82 and 82L is 16,727 per day on weekdays.

AC Transit has several major transfer points along the corridor. Each of these stations serves between 5 and 8 bus routes and provides intermodal transfers with the BART service. Over 7000 passengers per day access BART or buses at these stations 		At stations along I-880, approximate number of passenger boarding and alighting per weekday is 138,000.
Problems & Issues Recurrent congestion causes more than 10,000 veh-hrs of delay per weekday, and significantly disrupts freight movement through the corridor.

Non-recurrent congestion is also a major problem. I-880 averages over 10 collisions per day and over 100 incidents per day. It is estimated that collisions account for 30 percent of overall corridor delay. 		The arterials along the project corridor currently operate at level of service D or worse during the peak hours. Due to incidents on the freeway, there are routine diversions to the local arterials that will increase the delay and reduce the levels of service along these arterials. Therefore, coordination of the operation of the network of arterials with the freeway is crucial to optimizing the overall capacity of the system.    
Table 2.2 Existing ITS Systems on I-880 Corridor
  Freeway Arterials Bus Service (AC Transit) Passenger Rail (BART)
Infrastructure and Maintenance Dense deployment of ITS infrastructure on freeway, including 83 vehicle detection stations, 25 CCTVs, 5 CMSs, 86 operational ramp meters, 5 HARs, and communication to and from the Traffic Management Center (TMC).

CCTVs, CMSs, and HARs are checked by TMC Operators weekly or monthly. Problems are reported to Caltrans electrical maintenance staff. Ramp meters are monitored daily by Caltrans Field Operations.

A TOS Equipment Management System (TEMS) is being developed which will improve management of the TOS inventory, and help ensure the reliability and accuracy of the TOS and TMC information. The database will begin to be populated in July 2006. 		CCTV and Non-Intrusive Monitoring Stations are installed on the arterials. There are also transit signal priority units (on E. 14th/International) and emergency preemption units installed.

Weekly manual inspection of all CCTV and Monitoring Stations units for functionality.

A maintenance contractor also provides annual and semi-annual inspection and cleaning for all units. Maintenance contractor will be issued a task order for corrective action.		 Two main infrastructure systems: Orbital "Satcom" radio and AVL System; and the Nextbus prediction system.

When malfunctions are detected in the Orbital system, on-site personnel diagnose and correct the issues.

The Nextbus prediction system is provided under contract with an outside vendor; any malfunction is either handled by on-site personnel, or referred to the vendor. 		BART operation is entirely automated by using the Automated Train Control System (see Section 3.1.4 for detail).

BART has also developed a communication based train control system that uses MASH communication system to position and operate trains. The system has great potential for significantly increasing passenger throughput and can collected operation data in finer resolution.

BART and CCPJA are seeking assistance from telecommunication industry to provide Wi-Fi service onboard (see Section 3.1.4 for detail).
Data Collection Volume, speed, occupancy, travel time, ramp metering rate, HOV volume, and incident clearance time data are collected on I-880.

Data are collected using vehicle loop detectors, video, magnetic, microwave, and toll tag readers.

Data are owned mostly by Caltrans and exchanged with other agencies through dedicated network. 		Volume and speed data are collected on arterials using RTMS data collection units.

The data are owned by ACCMA and data exchanges with other networks are carried through a leased T1 line. 		Boarding and alighting passenger data, running times, schedule adherence, vehicle location, and prediction reports are collected using Automatic Passenger Counter (APC); Automatic Vehicle Locators (AVL), and Nextbus prediction systems.

The data are owned by AC Transit, and currently, historical data are sometimes viewed by other agencies, but there is no real-time communication. 		Train movements monitored in real-time through track circuits and twisted wires at stations. Route information (through switch positions), signal status and system health information are collected also. Fare collection information is also collected.
Data Archiving Real-time detector station data are exported to TravInfo and PATH’s Performance Monitoring System (PeMS) using an XML interface. Radar data, i.e. traffic counts and speeds, are archived by 30-second intervals. Transit signal priority usage data will be archived starting Sept 2006.

The data are stored on the production server for 6 months. Every month the data that are 7th months back are moved onto a separate archive server on which they are held indefinitely. 		AC Transit's bus fleet is 100% equipped with CAD/AVL equipment. Archiving methodologies are in place to fully support both real-time and post processing requirements. Schedule Adherence "events" are recorded in the long term database (LTDB). Reports requiring post processing, such as monthly schedule adherence reports, are available for a 3 month period and based on the back-up, data is available for up to a year. Data related the system operation (route, switch positions and signal status), train operation (movements, schedule adherence) and passenger data are extensively archived for both operation and safety reasons. BART's internal website has real-time information available such as the location of all of the trains and fare collection information within the system.
Table 2.3 Gaps, Functional Needs and Capabilities
Gaps and Functional Needs Strategies Major Functions (capabilities)
I. Gaps in traveler information for influencing travelers’ decisions and choices
N1) Needs for information sharing ICM Enabling strategy: Information sharing F-01 Information sharing
N2) Needs for distributing traveler information across the corridor/region wide Strategy #1 A corridor-based multimodal advanced traveler information system that supports travelers’ pre-trip planning

Strategy #2 Promote route shifts between roadways via en-route traveler information devices advising motorists of congestion ahead, directing them to adjacent freeways or arterials.

Strategy #3 Promote modal shifts from roadways to transit via en-route traveler information devices advising motorists

Strategy #4 Promote shifts between transit facilities via en-route traveler information devices advising riders of outages and directing them to adjacent rail or bus services. 		F-02 Providing traveler information through 511

F-03 Providing information in real time to travelers for en-route decision making

F-04 Presenting travel advisory information in real time at transit stations and on transit vehicles
II. Gaps in collaboration among agencies for operational collaborations
N3) Needs for coordination between freeway and arterial operations Strategy #5 Coordinated operation between freeways and arterial traffic signals

Strategy #6 Enhance arterial signal timing with advance information about special events at Oakland Coliseum. 		F-05 Coordinating operations between freeway ramp metering and arterial signals

F-06 Helping arterial signal control systems to handle special events.
N4) Needs for coordination between highway and transit operations Strategy#8 AC Transit adjusts operations based on real-time information about highway incidents and special events F-07 Managing arterial signals to provide priority for transit vehicles

F-08 Managing transit operation under severe incident conditions and for special events
N5) Needs for coordination between transit systems Strategy #9 Transit hub connection protection for special events or major incidents F-09 Managing transit operation for transit hub connection protection for special events
N6) Needs for coordination between highway and freight operations Strategy # 10 Port of Oakland advises arriving and departing trucks about port delay and estimated travel times F-10 Advising truck operators and drivers about port delay and estimated travel time
N7) Needs for coordination between highway control systems and emergency response needs Strategy #11 Signal preemption or "best route" for emergency vehicles F-11 Providing emergency vehicle with signal pre-emption and best routing recommendations
N8) Needs for coordination for incident responses Strategy #12 Multi-agency or multi-network incident response teams and service patrols and training exercises. F-12Facilitate rapid incident response
III. Gaps in Collaboration among Agencies for Event Planning
(N9) Needs for coordination for infrastructure construction and maintenance Strategy #13 Coordinate scheduled maintenance and construction activities among corridor networks F-13 Supporting maintenance and construction coordination
N10) Needs for coordination of construction work during emergencies Strategy #14 Guidelines for construction work hours during emergencies. F-14 Supporting coordination of construction work during emergencies

2.3 Categorization of the ICM System

The I-880 ICMS is a distributed system, which will contain a set of subsystems accomplishing four types of goals, including:

In order to better define the categorization and configuration of the ICMS, ITS subsystems must be defined. During the ConOps process, the ICMS stakeholders, based on the I-880 ICMS goals and objectives and through several iteration of discussions, have defined a set of ICM strategies to address corridor gaps and needs and to achieve the overall goals identified under US DOT's ICM program. It is envisioned by the I-880 ICMS stakeholders that the I-880 ICMS will be composed of a total of 14 subsystems, each implementing one operational strategy specifically developed by the I-880 ICM Team.

  1. Subsystem that facilitates information sharing: The I-880 ICMS is intended to strengthen the coordination among all transportation agencies by providing an easy and efficient means for sharing data among the networks, through technical interfaces and an institutional coordination mechanism. The heart of the ICMS is an information processing and storage system with real-time connections to the existing information systems of all the local network operators, providing each with access to the relevant information from the others. The ICMS subsystems in this category include:
    • SS-01 Information sharing subsystem
  2. Subsystems that influence travelers' decisions and choices: These subsystems will be built upon on the Bay Area 511. The 511 system provides traveler information based on traffic data from the Caltrans freeway TMC, CHP incident reporting and transit schedule information. 511 will include real-time transit information soon. The ICMS will facilitate the inclusion of additional arterial data from the Caltrans arterial traffic control center and the Alameda CMA Smart Corridor. The ICMS subsystems in this category include:
    • SS-02 Enhanced 511 traveler information subsystem for pre-trip planning
    • SS-03 Real-time traveler information subsystem for en-route decision making
    • SS-04 Real-time travel advisory information subsystem at transit stations and on transit vehicles
  3. Subsystems that provide operational decision support: This category of subsystems will primarily be built upon the existing freeway, arterial and transit management systems, with the addition of communication among the networks (when needed) and coordination strategies. The ICMS will provide the system operation personnel with cross-network information in order to allow operational decisions to be made not only based on the conditions of an individual network but also the knowledge of the conditions at the corridor level. In some cases, such as coordinated arterial and ramp metering, the ICMS will enable the operation of individual networks to be coordinated based on the conditions of more than one network. The ICMS subsystems in this category include:
    • SS-05 Subsystem for coordinating operations between freeway ramp metering and arterial signals
    • SS-06 Subsystem for facilitating arterial signal control systems to handle special events.
    • SS-07 Subsystem for managing arterial signals to provide priority for transit vehicles
    • SS-08 Subsystem for managing transit operation under severe incident conditions and for special events
    • SS-09 Subsystem for managing transit operation for transit hub connection protection for special events
    • SS-10 Subsystem for advising truck operators and drivers about port delay and estimated travel time
    • SS-11 Subsystem for providing emergency vehicles with signal pre-emption and best routing recommendations
    • SS-12 Subsystem for facilitating rapid incident response
  4. Subsystems that support planning coordination for maintenance and construction of infrastructure: Aided by better information about the condition of the network, this category of subsystems will be implemented based on the existing and newly developed regional emergency response plans and coordination protocols and will provide decision support for maintenance and construction coordination. , The ICMS subsystems in this category include:
    • SS-13 Subsystem for supporting maintenance and construction coordination
    • SS-14 Subsystem for supporting coordination of construction work during emergencies

It is noted that, other than the information sharing subsystem, these ICMS subsystems can be selectively implemented based on budgets and stakeholders' decisions.

Table 1.1 illustrates a traceable mapping among corridor needs, ICM goals, strategies and ICMS subsystems. This mapping expands upon the 'needs driven' traceability method by ensuring that the definition of the subsystem also traces back to the needs.

2.4 ICMS Configurations

Based on the existing condition and operation of the transportation systems, the I-880 corridor stakeholders decided that a physically centralized ICMS control center would be very costly and not practical within the scope of the current ICM program. Instead, the proposed I-880 ICMS will be a distributed system. An ICMS subsystem can be composed of a number of components. New ICMS functions, to be implemented based on the needs of the selected strategies, will be integrated into existing transportation systems. In many cases, the ICMS subsystems will be distributed into a number of existing transportation systems. For example, the subsystem for arterial and ramp metering coordination (SS-05) includes components separately located within the existing freeway TMS and arterial TMS.

Figure 2.2 provides an illustration of the distributed nature of the I-880 ICMS, showing where the functions of the ICMS subsystems will reside within the existing transportation systems.

Figure 2.2 ICMS Configuration

Chart of management distribution of I-880

Communication links among operating agencies, system interfaces, and bridging functions will be critical for ICMS, by which information and system operations and control functions can be effectively shared and distributed among networks and their respective transportation management systems and by which the impacts of operational decisions can be immediately viewed and evaluated by the affected agencies and across networks. The grey circle and the arrows between the individual ITS systems and the grey circle in the center show the communication links through which all ITS systems are connected with the central database manager, allowing information sharing to support the proposed ICM strategies. The interactions between the ICMS subsystems and the existing ITS systems are depicted in Sections 2.4.1 through 2.4.10. The communication or data links are denoted using letters. Various ICMS subsystems may share the same communication links, which are represented using the same letters in the separate figures. Existing communication or data links are denoted by 'x'.

2.4.1 Information Sharing (SS-01)

Information sharing is the central element of the ICMS, which enables improved coordination of operations among the transportation networks and therefore facilitates management of the total capacity and demand in the corridor. Realizing that a number of databases have already been developed for different networks or applications, a central database manager will be developed to interact with and manage these databases to form a physically distributed but centrally managed ICMS data repository allowing real-time data exchange among agencies. Communication links, noted as 'a' through 'l' enable the data sharing among the ITS systems, enabling ICMS functions. Communications systems and system networks will be integrated to support the centrally managed data base. Voice, data, video, information, and control will be provided to all agencies based on the adopted protocols and standards for the sharing of information and the distribution of responsibilities. Note that in the figures below, dashed boxes represent users or existing devices.

Diagram of Information sharing

Figure 2.3 Interface diagram for SS-01

2.4.2 Providing traveler information to travelers (SS-02 to SS-04)

The ICMS subsystems SS-02 through SS-04, shown in Figure 2.4, are intended to provide real-time traveler information for making decisions about route choice and mode choice prior to a trip or during the trip. Again, the communication links (a, e, d, f, g, h) are the same as the ones with the same notation in Figure 2.3.

Flow chart from ICMS Central Database manager through subsytems

Figure 2.4 Interface diagram for SS-02 to SS-04

Diagram showing flow through interfaces from MTC

Figure 2.5 Interface diagram for SS-05

2.4.3 Arterial/Ramp Metering Coordination (SS-05)

The ICMS subsystem SS-05, shown in Figure 2.5, establishes coordination between ramp metering and arterials to help reduce vehicle queuing and delays at freeway on-ramps, and therefore reduce delays for arterials as well at intersections connected to ramps, based on real-time traffic conditions on these two networks. Because of the real-time nature of the two systems, the communication link 'p' enables direct communication between the freeway and arterial traffic systems.

2.4.4 Facilitating Arterial Signal Control Systems to Handle Special Events (SS-06)

The ICMS subsystem SS-06, as shown in Figure 2.6, enables special signal plans for arterial traffic signals during special events at the Oakland Coliseum and will provide traveler information through 511.

Diagram of ICMS subsytem interface from database manager

Figure 2.6 Interface diagram for SS-06

2.4.5 Managing Arterial Signal to Provide Transit Signal Priority (SS-07)

The bus signal priority system enables buses to interface with traffic signals to gain priority. TSP has already been implemented along International Blvd and East 14th Street. Additional bus signal priority-enabled intersections are planned for other arterial corridors. A possible TSP approach is to utilize the existing CAD/AVL to implement signal priority, as shown in Figure 2.7.

Diagram of Interface for Managing Arterial Signal Priority

Figure 2.7 Interface diagram for SS-07

2.4.6 Managing Transit Operation under Severe Incident Conditions (SS-08)

The SS-08, as shown in Figure 2.8, will allow AC Transit to receive real-time information about highway incidents and, based on the severity of the incidents, to make decisions to adjust ITS routes, schedules and operations to maintain operations instead of having ITS buses stuck in the traffic.

Diagram of Interface managing severe incidient conditions

Figure 2.8 Interface diagram for SS-08

2.4.7 Managing Transit Hub Connection Protection for Special Events (SS-09)

The ICMS subsystem SS_09, shown in Figure 2.9, will allow AC Transit to provide connection protection for pre-planned special events and emergencies due to major events.

Diagram of interface for managing protection for special events

Figure 2.9 Interface diagram for SS-09

2.4.8 Advising Truck Operators and Drivers About Port Delay and Estimated Travel Time (SS-10)

The ICMS subsystem (SS-10), shown in Figure 2.10, will allow truck drivers to be informed about port delay and estimated travel times prior to their departure from the freight distribution centers so that they can better plan their trips and minimize their congestion losses.

Diagram of interface for managing truck operators and port delays

Figure 2.10 Interface diagram for SS-10

2.4.9 Providing Emergency Vehicles with Signal Pre-emption and Best Routing Recommendations (SS-11) and Facilitating Rapid Incident Response (SS-12)

The ICMS Subsystem SS-11intends to facilitate all emergency response vehicles (i.e., fire trucks, police, paramedics) with signal preemption capabilities and to provide 'best route' information in order to reduce emergency response time. The ICMS subsystem SS-12 intends to facilitate communication and coordination among agencies to help the first responders to identify types of incidents and the equipment needed to respond to the incidents. These two subsystems are illustrated in Figure 2.11.

Diagrma of interface for providing emergency vehicles and facilitating rapid incident response

Figure 2.11 Interface diagram for SS-11 and SS-12

2.4.10 Supporting Maintenance and Construction Coordination (SS-13) and Supporting Coordination of Construction Work During Emergencies (SS-14)

The ICMS subsystem SS-13 will allow a standardized repository for reporting on routine maintenance closures of freeways and local arterials, accessible to other agencies. The subsystem SS-14 will support the development of guidelines for coordination of different transportation agencies for procedures and coordination protocols. The two ICMS subsystems are illustrated in Figure 2.12.

Diagram of interface for suporting maintenance and construction work during emergencies

Figure 2.12 Interface diagram for SS-13 and SS-14

The interface diagrams of the ICMS subsystems and the existing ITS systems described in Section 2.4.1 through 2.4.10 define the distributed nature and the interfaces of the I-880 ICMS subsystems. The functional composition of the ICMS subsystems, which reside within the existing ITS systems, are provided in Section 4.4.

2.5 ICMS Operation

The operating agencies along I-880 include multiple jurisdictions and agencies. The management and operations of the corridor and the ICMS will be a joint effort involving all the stakeholders. For the effective operation and management of the I-880 ICMS, an ICM Operations Committee (ICMOC), consisting of representatives from each of the stakeholder agencies, is proposed. The I-880 ICM Operations Committee (ICMOC) will be in charge of the development of policies and final approval of operation plans and protocols. The ICMOC will be the consensus body to make decisions on coordination among stakeholders and to help resolve issues encountered across agencies. Under the guidance of the ICMOC, MTC will be the administrative agency for the I-880 ICMS, serving as the decision-making body for budget development, project initiation and selection, and overall administrative and operational policy. The table below illustrates the responsibilities of the ICMOC and each stakeholder for successful operation and management of the I-880 ICM corridor.

Table 2.4 Roles and Responsibilities
STAKEHOLDER/AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES
ICMOC Monitor all conditions within the I-880 ICM corridor including performance measures

Ensure coordination between different stakeholders to provide accurate traveler information

Suggest adjustments to network operating parameters in the event of significant variations in network demands

Demonstrate I-880 ICM concept
Caltrans District 4 Daily maintenance and operations of freeway and local arterials which are part of state highway system

Coordinate truck and freight activities on freeway and local arterials which are part of state highway system

Monitor traffic operations of freeway and local arterials which are part of state highway system

Coordinate construction and maintenance activities on freeway and local arterials which are part of state highway system

Provide ramp metering information to local jurisdictions

Provide traffic and incident information to traveler information systems

Freeway Surveillance

Monitor/Operate Dynamic Message Signs

Provide Support for the I-880 ICM operational test
MTC Provide Traveler information through 511 system

Provide overall coordination for the I-880 ICM
ACCMA Monitor arterial traffic operations

Arterial Surveillance on East Bay SMART corridors

Provide East Bay SMART corridors information to local jurisdictions

Provide East Bay SMART corridors information to Caltrans District 4

Provide East Bay SMART corridors information to MTC’s 511 traveler information

Provide East Bay SMART corridors information to transit agencies AC Transit and BART

Provide support for the I-880 ICM operational test
Local Jurisdictions Monitor signal operations

Adjust transit signal priority
AC Transit Daily operation of bus transit service along the I-880 ICM corridor

Monitor bus transit on-time performance

Provide planned route,-schedule and real time information to traveler information systems

Enact response plans during special events and incidents
BART Daily operation of rail transit service along the I-880 ICM corridor

Monitor rail transit on-time performance

Provide pre-schedule and real time information to traveler information systems

Enact response plans during special events and incidents
Port of Oakland Coordinate truck and freight activities with Caltrans District 4
Emergency Responding Agencies (CHP, Police, Fire, and Paramedics) Daily law enforcement activities along the I-880 ICM corridor

Coordination of law enforcement and incident response activities

Coordination of emergency services and incident response activities

Integration of all the emergency responding agencies’ interfaces
Private vehicle drivers Use pre-trip information to decide whether to make a trip and whether to change departure time, mode, route or destination

Use en-route information to decide whether to change route or mode
Transit passengers Use information to decide whether to make a trip and whether to change departure time, bus or rail route, or connection.
Truck drivers, fleet managers and dispatchers Use pre-trip information to decide whether to change departure time or route to destination

Use en-route information to decide whether to change route
Bus drivers Follow guidance provided by dispatchers

The I-880 ICMS will be a distributed system. All stakeholders along the I-880 corridor will be collaborating on the implementation of the proposed strategies, based on their roles and responsibilities in the existing operation of transportation networks along the I-880 corridor. The operation of the ICMS subsystems will be led by the operating agencies that have primary responsibility in today's operations. The control and related functions for specific strategies will be shared among the corridor agencies, coordinated by the lead agency. The lead agency will be responsible for the daily operation of the strategy it is in charge of and will coordinate with other agencies that are involved in the operation of that strategy. A clear communication protocol will be identified between agencies in order to facilitate the timely implementation of the protocols. When issues occur, the lead agency will be responsible for reporting the issues to the ICMOC and will assist the ICMOC to resolve the issues. Table 2.5 provides further details on how each of the ICMS subsystems will be operated.

Table 2.5 – Roles and Responsibilities Per Subsystem
Strategies Responsibilities
SS-01 Information sharing subsystem Lead agency: MTC

Supporting agencies: Caltrans, Alameda CMA, AC Transit, BART, Port of Oakland, Water Transit Authority
SS-02 Enhanced 511 traveler information subsystem for pre-trip planning Lead agency: MTC

Supporting agencies: Caltrans, Alameda CMA, AC Transit, BART, Port of Oakland, Water Transit Authority
SS-03 Real-time traveler information subsystem for en-route decision making Lead agency: Caltrans

Supporting agencies: AC Transit for buses; BART for rail
SS-04 Real-time travel advisory information subsystem at transit stations and on transit vehicles Lead agency: AC Transit and BART

Supporting agencies: 511
SS-05 Subsystem for coordinating operations between freeway ramp metering and arterial signals Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes)

Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: Cities
SS-06 Subsystem for facilitating arterial signal control systems to handle special events. Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes) Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: Cities and Oakland Coliseum
SS-07 Subsystem for managing arterial signals to provide priority for transit vehicles Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes)

Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: AC Transit and Cities
SS-08 Subsystem for managing transit operation under severe incident conditions and for special events Lead agency: AC Transit

Supporting agencies: MTC
SS-09 Subsystem for managing transit operation for transit hub connection protection for special events Lead agency: AC Transit

Supporting agencies: BART, MTC
SS-10 Subsystem for advising truck operators and drivers about port delay and estimated travel time Lead agency: Port of Oakland

Supporting agencies: Caltrans, MTC
SS-11 Subsystem for providing emergency vehicles with signal pre-emption and best routing recommendations Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes)

Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: CHP, cities, paramedics
SS-12 Subsystem for facilitating rapid incident response Lead agency: CHP for freeways

Local Policy Agencies

Supporting agencies: Caltrans, MTC, AC Transit, BART and Cities
SS-13 Subsystem for supporting maintenance and construction coordination Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes)

Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: All stakeholders
SS-14 Subsystem for supporting coordination of construction work during emergencies Lead agency: Caltrans (for state routes)

Alameda CMA (for local streets)

Supporting agencies: All stakeholders

The administration of the ICMS will require many elements to be addressed in order to ensure smooth and ongoing operations. Ongoing measurement of data quality is of high priority, as are staff training and documentation in order to disseminate and ensure consistency in procedures.

As the system elements are installed, the following should be developed:

Staff training is a major element of any new system operation. Detailed training should be developed and rolled out so that staff is aware not only of the user responsibilities and procedures, but also so that the protocols and change control processes developed by the ICMOC and others are followed.

2.6 Major System Conditions

The I-880 corridor in Alameda County, CA is a long and densely populated urban corridor connecting a major employment center (Silicon Valley in the south) with the Port of Oakland, Oakland International Airport, and major population centers including the Cities of Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont, and Union City.

It is a truly multimodal corridor, including a robust freeway network, major arterials which carry high volumes of local traffic as well as absorb diversion from the freeway networks, a transit network which includes the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system and multiple AC Transit bus transit lines, and heavy freight movements with trucks comprising between 4% and 11% of the average annual daily traffic in the corridor.

Alameda County has the greatest amount of freeway congestion of the nine Bay Area counties, with 50,000 vehicle-hours of daily delay. I-880 alone has average daily delays of more than 10,000 vehicle-hours. The corridor also has a high incident/accident rate, with an average of over 10 collisions and over 100 incidents per day. It is estimated that collisions account for 30 percent of overall corridor delay. These statistics suggest a significant opportunity to demonstrate improvements gained from ICM,

Transportation management systems (TMS) have been widely deployed in the corridor for many years including: a) ramp metering on I-880; b) HOV lanes and HOV bypass lanes for ramp meters; c) incident and emergency management systems on all freeways; d) changeable message signs on freeways; e) electronic toll collection systems (FasTrak); f) coordinated traffic signal systems on major arterials; g) BART transit management system; h) bus transit with signal priority capabilities and AVL; and i) transportation management centers for freeways, arterials, BART, bus transit and the Port of Oakland.

Transportation facilities in the corridor are highly instrumented with real-time data collection systems. Real-time data collection capabilities include: a) the freeway Performance Monitoring System (PeMS); b) the Smart Corridor system focusing on arterials; and the rail and bus transit operations systems. Furthermore, through the California Model Corridor Study high-quality data have been collected and used in modeling and microsimulation of all networks in the I-880 corridor; these data and models are readily available for use in the analysis of ICM opportunities in the corridor. Specifically for the I-880 ICMS Field Operational Tests, the primary operating agencies along I-880 have all agreed to add additional instrumentation and communication to facilitate high quality real-time traffic and transit data to support quantitative before-and-after evaluation.

The transportation management systems are consistent with the regional ITS plan, the national ITS architecture, and the Caltrans strategic plan for TMS. These management systems are semi-integrated, with higher levels of integration at freeway and arterial systems, and lower integration levels at BART and bus transit systems.

An institutional integration/coordination setting is already in place: the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), California DOT (Caltrans), Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA), BART, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), and cities in the corridor have a history of cooperation.

As the I-880 corridor is both operational and institutionally complex compared to most corridors in the U.S., the experience gained and lessons learned from deployment of ICM along I-880 can help other regions in the U.S learn how to deploy ICM in less complex environments.

2.7 Major System Constraints

The most basic constraints on ICMS operations include the need for electrical power to all ICMS components and the working conditions of the associated ITS systems that provide the raw data to the ICMS. Loss of power will disable all ICMS functions. Failure of any ITS system associated with ICMS will disable the functions that depend on data flowing to or from that ITS system.

Technical constraints on the operation of the ICMS are expected to include:

Institutional constraints on the operation of the ICMS are expected to be based on:

The ICMS will also pose operational constraints, as integrated operations will be new to all operating agencies. Collaborative attitudes and additional training will be needed in order to make it successful.

2.7 User Characteristics

The direct users of the I-880 ICMS are the operators and users of the transportation networks along the corridor. Specifically, the operators include:

The users at transportation agencies are all professionally trained. As the ICMS will add additional functions and likely new components (such as communication links), training will be necessary in order for them to fully understand the capabilities and operation procedures for the ICMS.

Travelers are the ultimate users of many of the ICMS functions, either through traveler information or through interacting with traffic control devices. These are expected to include both members of the general public and professionals:

General public:

Professionals:

The traveler information and traffic control devices need to be designed to be usable by the general public without any specialized training, although they may benefit from public awareness campaigns to introduce the new ICMS capabilities. More specialized functions for use by the professionals could require some training, which needs to be developed and distributed through various channels, including but not limited to media, web, fliers, and public workshops.

2. 8 Assumptions and Dependencies

The preliminary requirements developed in this document are to address all needs identified by the I-880 ICM stakeholders. It is likely that only selected strategies will be implemented during the Phase Three ICM program. The implementation scenario will affect the level of improvements. The requirements definition also relies on the assumption that the I-880 ICM program will focus on integration. New field elements are not required unless they are absolutely needed for enabling integration, such as the communication link between two systems. The functional and performance requirements are dealing with abstractions of the system rather than with any specific design. Detailed requirement specifications need to be developed before the design stage.

2.9 Operational Scenarios

The I-880 ICMS will support a number of application scenarios, as defined in the ConOps, including: Normal operations, Incident (highway and arterial), Incident (transit), planned/scheduled event, and catastrophic event.

2.9.1 Normal Operations Scenario

The normal operations scenario addresses corridor management activities in response to typical day-to-day traffic flows and recurrent congestion. The I-880 freeway experiences high levels of traffic congestion for much of the day under normal conditions, not only during the typical AM and PM peak periods but also in the middle of the day. The corridor experiences recurrent delays at known bottlenecks that could benefit greatly from the implementation of ICM strategies to provide comprehensive multi-modal information to travelers, enhanced transit service quality, more efficient sharing of roadway capacity among freeways and arterials and facilitated emergency vehicle access.

The AC Transit bus services in the corridor are operating at seating capacity during peak periods. Although the agency has no plans to increase the number of bus operators or fleet size due to financial constraints, AC Transit buses can still accommodate a significant number of standees on their existing buses. The peak period capacity of the BART rail transit services in the corridor is determined by the availability of rolling stock. Typically, during the peak hours, the passenger density become higher as the train approaches San Francisco in the morning peak or leaves San Francisco in the afternoon. Ridership is also constrained by the limitations in the capacity of BART's park-and-ride garages. The unreserved parking lots are already operating completely full during weekdays. The reserved parking spaces for most of stations however are typically not fully utilized until 10 am, when the extra spaces become available to all riders. A more effective utilization of the reserved parking could help to attract more riders during the peak hours. During the off-peak times both transit agencies have significant excess capacity, although their practical ability to expand operations at those times is still constrained by their operating budgets.

The overall roadway capacity of the corridor is not fully utilized at present because of the lack of coordination between freeway and arterial operations and the lack of information for travelers about real-time arterial operating conditions. Most automobile-oriented travelers also lack information about the public transit alternatives that could potentially be viable for serving their travel needs.

Finally, there is limited direct coordination between the transportation network operators and the public sector operators of the major traffic generators within the corridor, such as the Port of Oakland, which operates both the container port and Oakland Airport.

2.9.2 Incident Scenario (Highway and Arterial)

The incident scenario addresses corridor management activities and strategies in response to incident-related non-recurrent congestion.

A significant amount of congestion delay on the I-880 freeway is caused by incidents (crashes, breakdowns, spilled loads and other random events). The I-880 corridor experiences over 100 incidents every day. Many of these incidents occur in the afternoon, when traffic volumes and congestion are greater than at other times of the day.

It is important that effective and efficient management procedures be in place to quickly detect, verify, respond and clear incidents to minimize their adverse impacts on traffic. In 2003 the Bay Area Incident Response System (BAIRS), a computerized incident management tool, was implemented by Caltrans District 4 in the San Francisco Bay Area to improve freeway incident management capabilities. BAIRS reduced incident durations by about 15%, but there is still room for further improvements in the dispatching process and corresponding personnel response times to clear incidents.

Other concerns under the existing condition in the management of roadway incidents in the corridor include:

2.9.3 Incident Scenario (Transit)

The I-880 corridor depends heavily on ITS two primary transit services, the BART rail transit line and the AC Transit buses. The transit operators have to contend with a wide range of potential incidents, which have different implications when they occur during peak and off-peak operations. In addition, the AC Transit express bus services operating on the freeway may encounter major freeway incidents that require re-routing of the buses and/or serious schedule delays.

The transit agencies have general procedures in place for handling incidents, but they are limited by resource constraints as well as shortfalls in real-time information. Issues of particular concern with regard to transit incidents include:

2.9.4 Planned/Scheduled Event Scenario

Planned and scheduled events, such as major sporting or entertainment events at the Oakland Coliseum, major weeknight sporting events in San Francisco, major travel surges at Oakland Airport associated with holiday travel peaks, etc. can place severe demands on the transportation system, but because they are planned and scheduled it should be possible to mitigate their impacts on transportation services by developing and implementing effective strategies. These strategies are likely to depend at least as much on pre-event coordination as on real-time information sharing. The coordination should be planned among all involved organizations far enough in advance to provide time to settle on the most acceptable response strategy and contingency plans.

Some of the scheduled events (especially the infrequent ones) occur in locations that do not normally handle the volume or patterns of traffic that are generated by the special events. This requires particular care in planning, particularly for providing assets that are not normally in place there (officers to direct traffic, portable ICMS to provide information, etc.) and to disseminate information to the public.

One particularly significant aspect of special events traffic is that a large proportion of the people traveling for these events are not familiar with the area. They may not know the most appropriate routes to take, where parking is available, what turn restrictions apply at intersections, which transit services can take them there, etc. This places a particular premium on providing comprehensive and easily understandable information to the traveling public. The information needs include real-time traffic information, real-time transit information, real-time parking information, and guidance for alternate routes.

2.9.5 Catastrophic Event Scenario

Major events, such as a large fire, widespread flooding, major earthquake, terrorist attack, etc. are generally unpredictable and have widespread impacts on the transportation system as well as on other aspects of the regional economy, so the transportation system responses need to account for the likelihood of other services being disrupted. Key challenges in managing this scenario include:

MTC is already working towards integrated coordination of responses to catastrophic events by transportation agencies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and has developed agreements for resource sharing, timely communication, and unified public information. ICMS should be able to support multiple sources of information about the true condition and operations of the transportation networks within the corridor, helping to improve operational effectiveness and flexibility for responding to a major event and facilitating the cooperation among the operators of the different networks.

2.10 ICMS Performance Characteristics

The benefits of the ICMS are challenging to evaluate because the ICMS is in effect a "system of systems", each of which provides benefits to its own network operator. The benefits gained from use of these independent systems are not in fact the benefits of the ICMS, but rather the ICMS benefits are the additional benefits gained from the integration of the other systems. So, in order to identify ICMS benefits, we need to estimate the combined benefits from integrated use of all the ITS in the corridor, and then subtract the benefits from use of the independent systems in isolation. The performance measures therefore need to be able to capture both the individual benefits from use of the independent systems and the benefits of the integrated systems throughout the corridor.

2.10.1 ICMS Performance Measures

The performance measures at the corridor level will include:

At the level of the individual networks in the corridor, the performance measures will include:

2.10.2 Estimated I-880 ICMS Performance Characteristics

Performance characteristics can be discussed at various levels. It is most important to first establish the performance characteristics at the system level, with which performance at functional or subsystem levels can be established. The I-880 ICM team performed analysis on the performance characteristics for a number of proposed ICM strategies. The performance characteristics analysis is provided in Appendix A. This analysis lays out the performance improvements the region would expect to achieve with the proper implementation of these strategies. These improvements have been estimated based on national, state, and regional experiences and research. During the next phase of the ICM, these estimates will be further refined using micro-simulation modeling and additional analysis. It is noted that, if only selective ICM strategies are implemented, the performance estimation provided below will need to be updated. Table 2.1 summarizes the performance characteristics and how to quantify the performance characteristics.

Table 2.1 ICM Performance Characteristics by Strategy
EXPECTED IMPROVEMENT BY PERFORMANCE MEASURE
ICM STRATEGY TRAVEL TIME TRAVEL TIME RELIABILITY SAFETY
  Computed as total hours of delay, broken down by facility, mode, and bottleneck area. Data from FasTrak travel times, PeMS, BART and AC Transit. Computed using the Travel Time Buffer Index (the 95th percentile of travel time over 50th percentile travel time.) Data from FasTrak travel times, PeMS, BART and AC Transit. Computed using accident reduction including fatality, injury and property damage only accidents. Data from CHP database and from PeMS.
Improved Freeway Management

Ramp metering		 Travel delay reduced during peak hours by 7 percent. Trip reliability improved by 10 percent. Overall number of crashes reduced by 10 percent.
More efficient Incident Management

Improve response time

Improve accuracy of incident logging at CHP CAD system

Improve integration between freeway, and arterial and transit operations		 System travel time reduced by 7 percent during incident

Overall incident delay reduced by 10 percent.

Decreased incident response times by 5 percent

Reduced incident duration by 10 percent		 Travel time reliability improved by 10 percent under incident conditions. Secondary crash rates reduced by 20 percent
Improved Highway Traveler Information

Improved pre-trip and en-route traveler information and CMS		 System travel time reduction by 1 percent

Additional mode shift of 2 percent in response to traveler information about recurrent and non-recurrent congestion		 Trip reliability improved by 5 percent. Small expected benefits
Improved Highway Traveler Information

Improved pre-trip and en-route traveler information and CMS		 System travel time reduction by 1 percent

Additional mode shift of 2 percent in response to traveler information about recurrent and non-recurrent congestion		 Trip reliability improved by 5 percent. Small expected benefits
Improved Transit Traveler Information

Improved pre-trip and en-route traveler information		 System travel time reduction by 1 percent

Additional mode shift of 2 percent in response to traveler information about recurrent and non-recurrent congestion		 Trip reliability improved by 2 percent. Small expected benefits/td>
Improved Arterial Traffic Management

Adaptive signal control		 10 percent improvement in arterial delay Small expected benefits Small expected benefits
Mode shift Mode shift 2-4% of total corridor trips in response to traveler information Small to moderate expected benefits Small expected benefits

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