| Note
From the Director
Making
the Case for Regional Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination
The
Practice of Regional Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination
Regional
Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination and the Regional ITS
Architecture Development Process
A
Self-Assessment—Where Are You in Regional Collaboration and Coordination?
Applications
of Regional Operations Collaboration and Coordination Planning for Transportation
Operations:
TRANSCOM’s Regional Approach to Operations
Southern California ITS Priority Corridor
Maryland CHART
Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN)
Baltimore Regional Operations Coordination (B-ROC)
Project
Montgomery County ATIS
Cross-Jurisdictional Signal Coordination in Phoenix
San Antonio’s Advanced Warning to Avoid Railroad Delays
(AWARD) Project
San Antonio Medical Center Corridor Project
Phoenix’s Roadway Closure and Restriction System
(RCRS)
Ventura County Fare Integration
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San Antonio Medical Center Corridor Projectix
As another part of the MMDI, the San Antonio Medical Center Corridor Project was designed to link the region’s freeway and incident management system with a newly developed and deployed arterial management system to reduce delays, improve safety, and enhance customer satisfaction. Through the use of freeway-based video and loop detector stations, incidents are detected or confirmed. Real-time information is sent to the TransGuide Freeway Operations Center, where incident management plans are created, and the appropriate actions taken. Incident information is also transmitted to travelers through lane control signs and variable message signs detailing incident type, expected delay, and alternative routes. In addition, the incident information is shared with the City of San Antonio’s TMC, which can implement one of several predetermined incident-response signal plans to divert travelers from the impacted freeway to appropriate arterial roads.
While the system reduced incident-related delay, it also presented significant institutional and operational challenges. Those challenges, which concerned the integration of transportation agencies having diverse operating philosophies, budgets, priorities, and constituents, were addressed as follows:
- Local agencies were challenged to think regionally and recognize travelers’ concerns for quick, safe, and efficient movement through the entire transportation network.
- A peer-to-peer, permissive operating philosophy was adopted, in which management decisions are generated regionally but instituted locally.
- The project offered unique incentives such as allowing the City of San Antonio to co-locate their Medical Center Corridor arterial management center within the Texas DOT TransGuide Center.
In addition, the operation of the system’s incident response signal timings and the appropriate use of the system’s variable message signs posed potentially thorny problems. The signal timing plans were designed to respond to severe delays on the freeway that caused high diversion to the arterial roads. Use of the plans during times of low diversion could actually increase delay. Similarly, variable message signs could cause increased delay if used during minor incidents that generated relatively little delay. The following steps were taken to avoid trouble:
- Use of signal plans and variable message signs was restricted to severe incidents.
- Use of video surveillance was restricted to arterial operations personnel, who could monitor impacts of signal timing changes in real time and turn plans on and off as appropriate.
- San Antonio made a commitment to continually update and broaden the breadth of the incident signal plans.
It is clear that, when solutions to institutional and operational challenges are carefully planned and managed, significant benefits can be realized.
 Structure
- The Medical Center Corridor was developed and is operated by Texas DOT, the City of San Antonio, and the region’s EMS providers.
- The corridor was designed so that incidents could be identified, responded to, and managed in a coordinated, seamless fashion. It is envisioned that the corridor will provide faster, safer, and more fuel-efficient travel.
Processes
- System integration was planned to improve the regional transportation system for travelers by reducing delay, crash risk, and fuel consumption.
- Using the INTEGRATION microsimulation model, it was found that, when optimal deployment is achieved, benefits could be significant. Reductions were found in delay, crash risk, and fuel consumption. Furthermore, it was found that delay is more substantially reduced through an integrated system than through various components acting in isolation.
Products
- Incident response plans are formulated from information received at the TransGuide Freeway Operations Center. These plans are used to dispatch appropriate responders.
- Predetermined signal response plans can be implemented as needed. San Antonio has made a commitment to continuously update and expand the plans’ scope to maintain maximum efficiency on arterial roads.
Resources
- Costs were shared among agencies involved in the Medical Center Corridor Project. Freeway component installation costs were kept low by conducting much of the deployment during major highway reconstruction. Arterial operations and maintenance costs are kept low as well by locating the operations center within the existing TransGuide Operations Center, thus taking advantage of centralized staffing and maintenance plans.
Performance
- To maintain efficient system performance, use of incident response signal plans and variable message signs was restricted to more severe incidents.
- Management decisions are created regionally but implemented locally.
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ix
“San Antonio’s Medical Center Corridor,” Lessons Learned from the Metropolitan Model Deployment Initiative—Reducing Delay through Integrated Freeway and Arterial Management, FHWA-OP-01-034, U.S. Department of Transportation, March 2001.
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