Grants in the sum of $2.571 million have been made available by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to expand the use of real-time travel information in 13 highly congested urban areas across 10 states.
The grants will assist selected cities or regions combine numerous information technologies and real-time travel information — known “Integrated Corridor Management” (ICM) — from highway, rail, and transit operations.
Currently, many state and local agencies individually offer similar travel information. The FHWA project will attempt to combine updated, real-time congestion and incident data from various state and local agencies. By providing this more comprehensive tool:
- Travelers can use real-time information to avoid congestion and find alternate routes or transportation systems, such as transit or rail.
- Shippers can receive information concerning the entire network, not just one route.
- Engineers are able to make better decisions about congestion management by recommending where traffic should flow and onto which systems commuters should be shifted based on up-to-the-second data.
The ICM technologies rely on many data sources simultaneously, such as live camera feeds, hundreds of traffic speed and volume detectors, pavement sensors and even weather monitors to gather, transmit and analyze information.
Two ICM systems are currently operational in the United States — U.S. 75 in Dallas, Texas, and on I-15 in San Diego, California. The lessons learned at these two locations are helping to improve other deployments. San Diego’s I-15 traveler information app is tied into ICM response plans and provides real-time updated information about traffic incidents and alternative routes to local drivers.
From JJ Keller
