Thinking Highways - North America Edition - June/July 2014

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thinkinghighways.com
Volume 9 Number 2 June/July 2014
NORTH AMERICA
EDITION
A SHIFT IN EMPHASIS
Six experts discuss the changing
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Guy Fraker on how and why
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North America Vol 9 No 2 thinkinghighways.com 1
THE VIEW Foreword Thinking
Kevin Borras
Listen now to
the Thinking
Aloud
podcasts at
thinkinghighways.
com/podcasts
Join the
Thinking
Highways
LinkedIn group
at
linkedin.com
Kevin Borras is editor of Thinking Highways and
editorial director and co-founder of H3B Media.
kevin@h3bm.com; www.thinkinghighways.com
Editor in Chief
Kevin Borras (kevin@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9482
Art Editor
Barbara Stanley (barbara@h3bm.com)
Associate Editor, Thinking Highways/Editor, THx
Jason Barnes (jason@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9481
Contributing Editors
Richard Bishop, Paul Hutton, Andrew Pickford,
Randy Salzman
Contributors to this issue
Bruce Abernethy, Jim Barbaresso, Jason Barnes,
Csar Bartolom, Richard Bishop, Davide
Brizzolara, Guy Fraker, Tip Franklin, Laura Hartley,
Paul Hutton, Mark Johnson, Robert Kelly, Bob
McQueen, Paul Minett, Jos Pap, David Pickeral,
Shelley Row, Randy Salzman, Mike Shea, Alan
Stevens, Bob Wolfe
News and Web Editor
Gareth Hayward (gareth@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9484
Sales and Marketing
Luis Hill (luis@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)20 3463 9485
Duncan Ingram (duncan@h3bm.com)
+44 (0)1258 268561
Subscriptions and Circulation
Kerry Hill (kerry@h3bm.com)
Accounts/Office Manager
Kerry Hill +44 (0)20 3463 9486
Group Publishing Director
Kevin Borras
Group CEO
Luis Hill
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Welcome to a welcome addition to
the Thinking Highways editorial team
I
ts 1989 (dont worry, it isnt 1989 but I
am asking you to imagine that it is). I
am at my desk on the frst foor of Janes
Information Groups editorial ofces just
south of London and I am proofreading
a section of Janes Nuclear, Biological
and Chemical Warfare Yearbook 1990.
My colleague Joan wanders over with a
smartly dressed young chap in tow. He is
about 19 or 20. I am slightly older, 21.
Kevin, she said, this is Jason
Barnes, hes joining us in a couple
of weeks to work on my Defence
Appointments & Procurement
Handbook. Jason, this is Kevin.
Hi, says new Jason, sheepishly
holding out his hand for me to shake.
I duly shake it. Pleased to meet
you, he says ...but dont slouch.
Pardon? I enquire.
Dont slouch.
Do I slouch?
Aye, you do a bit.
Oh, I hadnt noticed.
Well, you know now, says Jason, a
veritable coiled spring of youthful brio
and faintly alarming self-confdence
who was wearing the shiniest shoes
I had ever seen. See you.
And of he strode, purposefully down
the corridor, leaving most of the editorial
department somewhat taken aback.
Tats nice for you, Kevin, said
one colleague, laughing. Youll have
someone of your own age to play with.
Did you notice his shoes? asked
another. And you could cut yourself on
the crease of his trousers. Smart boy.
Little did we know that a quarter of a
century later we would be announcing our
reunifcation to an equally unsuspecting
world (although anyone who read my
last foreword might have been inclined
to hazard a reasonably accurate guess
as to who the mysterious Mr X was).
Tose intervening 25 years have seen
Anyone who
read my last
foreword
might have
been inclined
to hazard a
reasonably
accurate
guess as
to who the
mysterious
Mr X might
have been
our pairing at Janes last for another

three before a very doleful-looking Jason
emerged from a meeting to announce that
hed been made redundant and then seven
years later when I took over the editorship
of another title within the ITS sector and
was granted the luxury of a deputy editor,
he was the frst person I called. We made
a good team, largely because we were very
diferent characters, approached everything
(work, life in general) from diferent angles
and yet appreciated those diferences.
And then on returning from the 2001
ITS World Congress in Sydney I discovered
that he had been ofered the editors hot
seat of another title within the company in
my absence and that was, seemingly, that.
Four years later I take a phone call from
him in which he asks what I would think if
he accepted an ofer to become the editor
of another magazine with the ITS sector.
I can tell he really wants to take it and I
wish him all the best, putting us pretty
much in direct competition with each
other, a competition that only intensifes
upon the formation and launch of H3B
Media a case of out of the frying pan and
into the fre and a really ferce one at that.
REJOINING FORCES
Nine years later and its unquestionable
that Jason is one of the, if not the,
most respected journalists in the ITS
and advanced trafc management
sphere. When we knew that he had
become available at exactly the time
that we were going public with our
plans for THx, a new magazine for
PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets it
was almost inevitable that our career
paths would dovetail for a third time
I see the dream team is back together,
said a delegate at a conference I attended
recently. Butch and Sundance reunited!
I am not sure which one of them
is meant to be me but one things for
sure, Ive just purchased some heavy
duty shoe polish and I am paying a
lot more attention to my posture.
01_TH0214_NA_Foreword.indd 1 29/06/2014 20:15
thinkinghighways.com 2 Vol 9 No 2 North America
CONTENTS Volume 9 Number 2
TECHNOLOGY STATE CHAPTERS, SAFETY & ITSWC14
COLUMNS & SERVICES
4
SMART SAFETY
Paul Hutton talks to six
experts in the field of traffic
control centers and hears how
both the face and the role of
TCCs are changing
12
MASS TRANSIT
The birthplace of mass
transportation is finally
getting the onboard security
systems it deserves
24
AUTOMOTIVE RADAR
Have you been tasked with
reducing North Americas
road death statistics? We
have some good news for
you
50
ITS WORLD CONGRESS
Jim Barbaresso waxes
lyrical as the future of
transportation goes back to
the city where it all began
1
FOREWORD
Kevin Borras welcomes
former colleague (and old
foe) Jason Barnes into the
Thinking Highways family
56
SHELLEY ROW
57
BOB KELLY & MARK
JOHNSON
14
TRAFFIC CABINETS
The humble roadside box is
is preparing us for a world
of connected vehicles and
driverless cars
ONLINE BONUS
CONTENT
Smart Bridges
ITS for Recreational Facilities
Go to thinkinghighways.com
46
GRITS
Laura Hartley charts the
formation and progress of
the Gulf Region ITS chapter
ahead of Septembers ITS3C
Summit in Mobile, Alabama
54
TUNNEL SAFETY
Csar Bartolom discusses
the role of the concrete
pavement in improving fire
safety in road tunnels
59
JASON BARNES
60
RICHARD BISHOP
61
IBEC: DR ALAN STEVENS
62
IR2B: JOS PAP
63
BOB MCQUEEN
53
THINKING ALOUD
Paul Hutton has the latest
from the Thinking Highways
podcast team
64
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
IN THIS ISSUE
FEATURES & OPINION
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INSURANCE
Guy Fraker on how and
why Europe, and not North
America, is taking the lead in
a new era of mobility
36
BIG DATA
Data limitations have
hampered the progress of ITS
over the last few years. But,
says Tip Franklin, thats all
changed
40
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
Paul Minett urges some
innovative new approaches to
get travelers to help manage
metro corridors congestion
18
PUBLIC PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS
Randy Salzman investigates
the inner workings of a
PPP scheme close to his
Virginia home and doesnt
particular like what he sees
28
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
The dangers of closing your
mind to new ITS ideas, by
David E Pickeral
thinkinghighways.com/podcasts
02_TH0214_NA_Contents.indd 2 29/06/2014 20:18
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deal of thought and meticulous work is put into
fitting the most complex mechanisms into the
smallest casings. Fine quality and craftsmanship,
with the complex being made simple to its owner.
Watch
The foundation for the most advanced video detection
available, VantageNext provides
Superior performance in a scalable platform
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02_TH0214_NA_Contents.indd 3 29/06/2014 20:18
TECHNOLOGY Traffic control rooms
Since Thinking Highways launched in 2006, the role of the
traffic control centre has changed. No more do
operatives simply observe the traffic conditions on a video
wall and act rapidly when incidences on the network
occur. The TCC has undergone something of a
metamorphosis, as Paul Hutton discovers
Changing rooms
I
f youre managing a transport net-
work, the chances are youll have a
control room where at least some
of that management takes place. But for
many in the industry, the control room
is some sort of mythical place that they
rarely see and dont understand.
So we at Thinking Highways thought
wed investigate what actually happens
in a control room in 2014, how responsi-
bilities have changed and what the future
might look like. I spoke to representa-
tives from four leading manufacturers of
control room equipment, plus the heads
of two control rooms, one in Europe and
one in the US.
So lets meet that European control
room manager, first, Esmon George
from the London Streets Traffic Control
Centre, who explains that, despite it
being one of the biggest and busiest cit-
ies in the world, Londons control room is
actually relatively new:
The key thing to recognize is that 10
or so years ago London didnt have a 24/7
control room for the road network. So we
started taking over roles and responsibili-
ties from the police and other agencies
to get involved in both coordinating the
impact of planed events and roadworks
but also to get a much better handle on
traffic management issues, intelligence
gathering, situational awareness and
so on. I think that collective increase in
capability from a standing start has been
something of a gestational development
over the last decade.
Jason Sims runs the Kansas City
SCOUT traveller information system
in the US, which is unique in that its
the only municipal traffic management
organisation that spans two states, Kansas
and Missouri (not very much of Kansas
City actually lies in the State of Kansas).
I asked him what his controllers do, and
what they are tasked with achieving:
They are responsible for taking calls
from all Kansas and Missouri part-
ners, which can include the media, law
enforcement, fire service, citizenswe
do have a complete customer service
operation inside the traffic management
centre and we disseminate information
out so anything that has to do with traf-
fic, anything that blocks a lane, anyone
that would need roadside assistance, any
maintenance activity for both States, they
are populating our traveler information
system and they are putting out traveler
information on various platforms.
To run a control room, you need
equipment to allow you to monitor the
traffic situation through CCTV and sen-
sors, plus computers to allow controllers
to do their jobs. Jupiter Systems is one of
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04-11_TH0214_NA_Hutton_TCC.indd 4 29/06/2014 20:19
thinkinghighways.com 5 North America Vol 9 No 2
Traffic control rooms
the companies that has been providing
solutions for control rooms that allows
organisations to gather visual informa-
tion and display them on video walls and
now mobile phones, tablets and laptops
as well.
Brady Bruce is Vice President for mar-
keting and strategic alliances at Jupiter,
and he says that when it comes to control
rooms, its all about the bigger picture:
Those systems allow traffic managers
to see camera views of the roadways, to
get volumetric data from in-road sen-
sors and other types of telemetry that are
describing the flow of traffic through a
metropolitan area, a state, a province or
even across the country. What we are
seeing now is the increasing importance
of those centres as multiple agencies are
looking to coordinate their activities. We
are now seeing those very same traffic
control rooms being used to coordinate
the activities of police, fire and emer-
gency management services.
Activu is a software and service com-
pany that makes software enabling
network-based visualisation, allowing
people to interact with equipment and
each other, to make quick time-critical
decisions. Vice President of Product
Management, John Stark, says traffic con-
trol centres have unique requirements:
The role of the control room within
the traffic industry has been more and
more control over changing message
signs, understanding what traffic flows
are like, making sure they can respond
to differing traffic situations and be able
to actually manage those traffic flows
and more importantly inform the public
about what is going on on the roadways.
In an emergency situations they need to
have contingency plans for things like
natural disasters, evacuation plans. If
something happens the city can actu-
ally move large parts of the populace
from one place to another because of an
impending natural activity.
Esmon George explains that some-
thing not altogether dissimilar also hap-
pens in London:
We can control half of Londons traffic
signals from the control room and that is
a lot of capability, coupled with the ability
to see a lot of the road network through
CCTV and having sharing agreements
with local authorities so we can see their
CCTV, we can see the national Highways
Agency CCTV and although thats a lot
of visibility at any one time, with the right
intelligence it does give us the ability to
pinpoint issues very quickly.
Rob Moodey is UK sales account man-
ager for Matrox, a company providing
equipment for control room walls, opera-
tors and the connectivity between them,
including introducing dual-head work-
stations where operators have more than
one screen in front of them. Although he
aggress that the role of a control room is
often misunderstood, he thinks its actu-
ally fairly simple:
I think the clue is in the name! The
people there want to influence whats
going on outside of where they are, in
other words, to be in control. In some
scenarios you cant entirely control the
events that are happening but you can
respond to them and you can try to
channel them, so in that sense the room
is for situational awareness followed by
the control of those resources that you
can control. The traffic control room
was, and in fact still is, the place where
all these information sources are brought
together and where the decisions are
facilitated and I dont think that partic-
ular aspect has changed since the very
beginning.
STARK REMINDER
What has changed, according to John
Stark, is the requirement for controllers
not only to manage the traffic, but also
to inform:
Traditionally there wasnt so much of
a public-facing side to the organization.
The reality was that they were bringing a
lot of information in but not disseminat-
ing it in any way that was actionable to
the outside world. I think today there is
a very public face to all these traffic man-
agement centres half of their purpose is
to provide data to news agencies to allow
people to see what their commutes are
going to be like and what the traffic situ-
ation is going to be like on any given day.
And in Kansas City Jason Sims is
working hard to let the travellers know
as much as they can. It certainly offers its
citizens a wide range of critical traveler
information of a number of platforms.
We are populating several apps and
Statewide maps, we have over 100 mes-
sage signs and within two minutes of
taking a call we try and get information
out to the travelers. That information is
automatically going to websites for both
States, its populating the Kansas City
Scout mobile app, its populating the City
Scout website and we have what we call
Traveler Information Alerts where we
have 7,000 to 10,000 subscribers and they
get real-time information sent directly
their phones or computers.
SHARING THE BURDEN
But its not only control rooms that
now keep drivers informed of traffic
The Great Wall of China: Beijings
cavernous traffic control centre
conditions. Sat Navs, smart phone apps
and private traffic information compa-
nies are gathering and distributing infor-
mation, and social media allows people
to share information with each other. So
could we get to a point where we dont
actually need control rooms to manage
traffic? Es George isnt so sure:
The move towards self-sufficiency is
something we are working on, in chang-
ing the ethos from road users finding out
what the traffic issues are when they get
into their car to doing a bit of research
before they start their journey but what
wouldnt happen without a traffic con-
trol centre is the ability to respond to the
unexpected, so whilst you can have a cer-
tain amount of self-regulation in terms of
decision-making and what journeys they
take and where they make them, what
they wouldnt have is the layer on top of
that which firstly coordinates the activity
and secondly ensure a timely response to
ensure services are back to normal.
And John Stark and Rob Moodey
agree were nowhere near the point where
people can be self-sufficient:
That does not eliminate the emer-
gency situation, says Activus Stark, with
fires or natural disasters, or actions of
one sort or another that require planned
activities to occur or plans to be set in
stone by the agencies that are oversee-
ing those roadways and need to execute
them in coordination with the fire or
police departments who are tasked with
trying to keep the populace safe or move
them in the right direction or not move
if necessary. The control rooms function
on a day to day basis might have slightly
subsided because people now self-serve,
however the role is still critical in places
where the public simply cant do that.
Adds Moody: Decisions that the indi-
vidual travelers make only really relate to
their own behaviour the control room
is trying to get a group response rather
than an individual one. Individuals are
influenced by the suggestions of others,
whether thats traffic announcements
over the radio, satnav rerouting or even
intelligent road signs that are changing as
they are driving. The better this gets, the
more effective those individual decisions
are going to be. What happens behind
those satnav reroutings or dynamic signs
may well be algorithmic but its still going
to emanate from a central traffic man-
agement function.
Brady Bruce confirms that control
rooms come into their own in emergency
situations:
What really become important in
the decision-making process is having
access to the best and most recent infor-
mation and thats the purview of the
technology. Its getting that information
to the people that are going to have to
make those critical decisions about how
to reroute traffic.
And he adds that information gathered
from sat navs and apps such as Waze just
becomes another source to help us man-
age the roads better:
So here we have drivers running an
application on their smartphone thats
providing information to them from
other drivers on the road but remember
that as a use of Waze I am allowing myself
to be tracked. Heres where I am. This is
how fast Im moving. This is how my
speed on this particular stretch of road-
way compares to others. This generates
a tremendous amount of really useful
information that could in fact serve the
people that arent using that application.
Theres an increasing interdependency
on these crowdsourcing systems and the
municipal systems that make both of
them more important not less.
EFFICIENCY DRIVE
Barco delivers video walls, controllers
and video wall management software.
Strategic Marketing Director Guy van
Wijmeersch agrees that people cant
really travel around efficiently without
control rooms:
When we look at real intermodal
transportation where we want to go from
point A to point B, using for example the
bus and then renting a bike and really
using all the possibilities, I think theres
still a long way to go. This is a service that
a traffic control centre could look at, espe-
cially one located in a city where they can
go outside of their own traffic medium.
Bruce maintains that control rooms
are now about much more than just
OUR PANEL
Brady Bruce is Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Alliances at Jupiter Systems; Esmon George, MBE, is Operations Manager at Transport for
London; Rob Moodey is Sales Account Manager at Matrox; Jason Sims is Traffic Center Manager at Kansas City Scout; John Stark is Vice President of
Product Management at Activu; Guy van Wijmeersch is Director of Strategic Marketing at Barco
Theres an increasing interdependency on
these crowdsourcing systems and the municipal
systems that make both of them more
important not less
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Up to 300 m (1000 ft) Range for Passenger Car
Precise Estimated Time of Arrival for Each Individual Vehicle
STOP BAR
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STOP
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Type 32
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TMIB | CABINET CARDS
SDLC, Relays, Ethernet, NEMA Compliant
UMRR |
managing traffic and that they come into
their own when theres a major incident:
As traffic becomes more and more
complex and as the requirements for gov-
ernments to deliver more and more rapid
service response, the traffic control room
really becomes a centre for the coordina-
tion of an entire citys services or that an
entire province might administer so you
can imagine a case where a large fire has
broken up in a part of town, you have to
get a lot of emergency vehicles on site,
there are inured people so you have to
get ambulances in, you need the police
there to control the crowdsand this can
be happening during the worst possible
moment of the day, which is peak traffic
right at the end of a workday. Being able
to understand where the traffic is, how to
get around it, to reroute the traffic around
affected areas and to get the emergency
vehicles and required personnel in place
as quickly as possible means that there
is more than just a requirement to man-
age the traffic. Coordination and service
delivery is a crucial part of the process.
Incident detection and management
is something that Es George is already
working with in London:
London Streets Traffic Control
Centre is part of a wider surface trans-
port and traffic operations centre which
we call the STTOC and that has three
main elements to it. Theres the police
control room for traffic and transport
policing which works in very close part-
nership with Transport for London,
called Metrocom; theres TfLs control
rooms for London buses which oversees
the operation of the 8000 or so buses
on our road network, Centrecom, and
theres the LSTCC. The three of those
operate the three main arms of what is
actually an eight-sided structure which
is the best way to describe it. On top of
that we have what we call the Strategic
Coordination Team whose role is to
make sure that all the information is
going out to the senior leadership team
within the organization, together with
some external stakeholders.
But he says theres more that could
be done, because for example refuse
collection teams can have an effect on traf-
fic that could be much better managed:
They all have set routes and rather
large trucks so we know theres going to
be a refuse vehicle on a certain part of
the road network at certain times of the
day but I have no visibility of that. That
would be quite a powerful tool to have
an equally I would argue that we dont
know what visibility the refuse collec-
tors have of network conditions. It may
not be economically viable or practical
to have vehicles sitting by the side of the
road waiting for significant traffic issues
to subside, if they are able to do that then
they are not adding to the congestion.
Jason Sims says collaboration has
helped in Kansas City:
Scout is a firm believer that you are
only as strong as your relationships
so we do have Kansas Highway Patrol
located in our centre as well as Kansas
City Police Department. Also we have
CAD Integration where their computer-
aided dispatch is coming directly into our
traveler information system and we have
that established for six other law enforce-
ment agencies. We also have a police and
media hotline that comes directly into
the traffic management centre so the
police departments and media can call in
that number is used very frequently in
the rush hours. The last option we have
is that we have an interface where we
disseminate all of our video to all of our
partners. We have approximately 70 part-
ners and as part of the application they
can type in and communicate directly
with our operators without having to
pick up the phone.
John Stark says that further integration
of different agencies is possible, but do
the various stakeholders have the will to
do it?
There are non-populated but ready-
to-be-enabled emergency operations
centres right here in New Jersey, for
example, that regularly go through coor-
dinated multi-disciplinary activities to
make sure that when something occurs
information and control and the right
chain of commands is in place so every-
one knows who to listen to and who to
look for for information so they can bet-
ter go about their business and serve the
community that they are in. The ques-
tion is more of a legislative one where in
the US, and probably elsewhere, theres
a certain level of distrust in having too
much surveillance being provided to the
governing body.
And Guy van Wijmeersch also believes
that while conceptually its possible, he
isnt quite so sure that its desirable:
Theoretically and technically its
possible, yes. Does it make sense? I am
not so sure. Mainly because keeping an
infrastructure up and running, like an
electricity grid or a highway, is still going
to be an operational task. Will it improve
the efficiency of the highway? Yes, but
there would have to be a different con-
trol room that is focusing on the full cus-
tomer experience.
THE IMPRACTICABILITY
OF DECISION-MAKING
Whats becoming apparent here is that
there are many stakeholders involved in
decisions. Jupiter Systems dont think its
practical to expect to have all the stake-
holders in place at one time when theyre
needed, so have used technology to come
up with an innovative, remote solution:
Over the years I found out that
whenever I would walk into these fan-
tastic control centres and ask a simple
question Is there anyone else who is
not in the room today that needs to
see this information? and almost uni-
versally the answer was yes. It might
Often there is no substitute for people
working together in the same place
Reliable Networks Sincere Service
Moxa Inc. www.moxa.com Tel: 1-888-MOXA-USA usa@moxa.com
Integrated Networking and Communications
for Intelligent Transportation
IP-Based Communication over Wireless,
Fiber, Copper, DSL, and More
In intelligent transportation projects all over the world, Moxa
hardware is connecting traffic devices and cameras to
control centers over wireless, fiber, DSL, copper, and more.
Thanks to our experience with hardened fanless design,
wide temperature outdoor operation, and high-performance
redundant topologies, city and state governments count
on Moxa for highly reliable networks and maximum uptime.
Contact a Moxa rep or distributor to learn more.
EDS-619
16+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Traffic
Controller
Speed
Radar
Camera
EDS-611
7+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Turbo Ring
(Recovery time < 20 ms)
LED
Controller
VPort 461
1-ch H.264/MJPEG
Video Encoder
Traffic
Controller Box
V2422
x86-based
Embedded
Computer
NPort IA5250A
Industrial Serial Device
Server
AWK-3121
Industrial IEEE 802.11a/b/g
Wireless AP/Bridge/Client
ioLogik W5340
GPRS Micro RTU Controller
Gigabit Fiber
Ethernet
I/O Signal
Serial
CCTV
Ethernet
Switches
Wireless Access
Points
Embedded
Computers
Serial Device
Servers
Remote
I/O
IP Cameras
2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:39 04-11_TH0214_NA_Hutton_TCC.indd 8 29/06/2014 20:20
Reliable Networks Sincere Service
Moxa Inc. www.moxa.com Tel: 1-888-MOXA-USA usa@moxa.com
Integrated Networking and Communications
for Intelligent Transportation
IP-Based Communication over Wireless,
Fiber, Copper, DSL, and More
In intelligent transportation projects all over the world, Moxa
hardware is connecting traffic devices and cameras to
control centers over wireless, fiber, DSL, copper, and more.
Thanks to our experience with hardened fanless design,
wide temperature outdoor operation, and high-performance
redundant topologies, city and state governments count
on Moxa for highly reliable networks and maximum uptime.
Contact a Moxa rep or distributor to learn more.
EDS-619
16+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Traffic
Controller
Speed
Radar
Camera
EDS-611
7+3G-port Modular
Managed Switch
Turbo Ring
(Recovery time < 20 ms)
LED
Controller
VPort 461
1-ch H.264/MJPEG
Video Encoder
Traffic
Controller Box
V2422
x86-based
Embedded
Computer
NPort IA5250A
Industrial Serial Device
Server
AWK-3121
Industrial IEEE 802.11a/b/g
Wireless AP/Bridge/Client
ioLogik W5340
GPRS Micro RTU Controller
Gigabit Fiber
Ethernet
I/O Signal
Serial
CCTV
Ethernet
Switches
Wireless Access
Points
Embedded
Computers
Serial Device
Servers
Remote
I/O
IP Cameras
2-3_TH413_EU_Contents.indd 2 14/03/2014 14:39 04-11_TH0214_NA_Hutton_TCC.indd 9 29/06/2014 20:20
be an important consultant that needs
to see what we are seeing today or the
centres manager is out at a conference
across the other side of the country and
Id like him to be able to see the emerg-
ing situation we are seeing and get their
input. At Jupiter we took all our exper-
tise in gathering information and bring-
ing it back to the control room in high
resolution and allow it to be accessed
through other systems anywhere we
wanted to provide ubiquity. We took all
that information and now allow users
on their smartphones and tablets (both
IoS and Android), as well as their lap-
tops, to see the same thing, to access the
same information that managers back in
the control room are able to access and
be able to interact with each other. In a
control room I can see an emerging situ-
ation and I have a manager who should
be seeing this but hes across the country
somewhere and now I can send him an
invitation to say Paul, I need you take a
look at this I dont know where you are
or what device you have but our Canvas
system does. He will get an invitation
saying Brady wants to share canvas with
you you accept it and you will see a
screen that I have shared with you of one
or more visual images. Now we are seeing
the same thing we can go one step further
and interact. I can circle something with
my mouse and you will be able to see
that same annotation happening in real
time on the screen of your smartphone.
I can say that this is the area we are con-
cerned about, that we have troubles in
this are before and what do you think we
should do? You can say Brady the real
issue is over here in the South East and
you can circle a different area and we can
resolve the problems in real time using
live video.
So if we have the ability to manage
things remotely could we, I ask Guy from
Barco, would it actually reduce the neces-
sity for a control room and let decision-
makers work remotely to carry out the
functions they currently do within the
one location?
Again, technically you can have
these kind of distributed control rooms
but from a social point of view, from a
human point of view, I still think theres
a long way to go before people will really
want to work in that way. A theory like
that needs another 10-15 years before its
going to happen that we have a virtual
control room.
And while Rob Moodey understands
how one or two people can have valuable
input remotely, he doesnt think its prac-
tical for all decisions to be made that way:
You have to agree that telepresence
is getting better all the time but critical
scenarios are not when you want to hear
people asking if anyone else can hear a
buzzing on the audio or if its just them
that cant see the video feed. Those are
things that just dont fit into the crisis way
of thinking.
Similarly, Activus John Stark doesnt
think the managers would want it either:
Although the capability is there and
the tools are certainly there, I think the
management of the infrastructure still
acts in a way that needs people to be con-
centrated in one place so that they can
work together.
And Es George says that although he is
more than able to have his team working
outside of the control room, he wouldnt
like it as the norm:
We have contingency built into what
we do and how we operate so if we had
a significant incident and we need to
decamp somewhere else we can do that
not just through alternative fixed sites but
through the connectivity of our key sys-
tems. There are issues to deal with the
3G or 4G network will be under consid-
erable strain in a situation like that and
you cant necessarily rely on data quality
to give you a real, workable image. More
importantly, while operating remotely is
a viable proposition what you do miss is
the situational awareness and joined-up
activity that your partner area is working
on. Its all solveable, whether its through
video conferencing or real-time touch
pads and so on, but theres no real sub-
stitute for the close proximity of work-
ing. When we moved the three control
rooms into this one building in 2009
we saw some immediate benefits in co-
location, certainly in terms of situational
awareness.
THE STAFF OF LEGEND
Within the control room itself, techno-
logical advances are clearly helping the
staff do their work more efficiently, as
Brady Bruce explains:
One of those is the increased amount
of bandwidth thats available that allows
us to pull more camera feeds and more
data feeds throughout geographically
dispersed areas back to a control room
and to do that in high quality and pro-
vide that information in real time
bandwidth has been a profound influ-
ence on this. The other is the emergence
of IP cameras that allows us to get higher
resolution and higher frame rate visual
images back to the control room AND
do it with less bandwidth than was previ-
ously required.
Guy van Wijmeersch is of the opinion
that technology is just making every-
thing easier:
We have put more sensors out there so
the monitoring of traffic is just done in a
Critical scenarios are not when you want to hear people asking if anyone else can
hear a buzzing on the audio or if its just them that cant see the video feed
Traffic control rooms
better way. Streams of data can now come
in using video and its much much easier
than it used to be. A lot of the cameras are
IP cameras and are being monitored in
the control room. Secondly there are also
better solutions out there that can help
us to look at the right picture at the right
moment. A lot of decisions are taken
through the IP camera they monitor
themselves so they only show the excep-
tions. Its not about showing image from
a lot of cameras, its about the right ones
at the right time.
Jason Sims says his controllers have an
inordinate amount of information to sift
through, so having technology to alert
them of where to look is vital:
We have over 350 cameras in Kansas
City as well as over 2000 vehicle detec-
tion stations (VDS) and we have smart
VDS that detect drops in speeds and will
alert the operator to look at that loca-
tion. We also have two different types
of technology on our cameras that take
snapshots of anomalies and directly alert
our operators. When the operator has
the traveler information system up they
have the best situational awareness pos-
sible. We have had situations prior to this
where we did not have this. Its harder, as
the system grows, you only have a certain
amount of operators and you must use
technology to give the best situational
awareness possible and get the best infor-
mation in so the operator can get the best
information out.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE
So where do we go next? What does the
future look like? John Stark and Brady
Bruce both think that the first key thing
is to better integrate legacy systems:
Most places have a bunch of disparate
systems that arent integrated in any way
and theres no plan to integrate them in
any way as they are either competitors
products or just arent interoperable and
theres incentive to bring those systems
together to provide a unified view of the
information, explains John. This is where
companies like Activu come into play as
we can bring this information together
and allow our customers to effectively
integrate and assimilate it in an attrac-
tive way and then share that assimilated
view with others in their organization.
This layer that sits on top of all these
systems plays a very important role in
control rooms across a variety of vertical
industries and as the network becomes
more and more important companies
like us, and some of our big competitors,
are going to be very well placed to take
advantage of that.
We have more cameras that are posi-
tioned around metropolitan areas, says
Brady, and there are more sensors built
into roadways and other parts of the
city, all of which provides information.
Transparency becomes the watchword.
The goal is to coordinate all the infor-
mation coming in from these disparate
systems, making sense of it and apply-
ing some of the big data technology that
can look at what is basically unstructured
data and connect meaning to it the
meaning is what leads to planning, both
on the part of the transportation manag-
ers and on behalf of the traveler. I think
we get better as cities, states, provinces
and countries by making more informa-
tion available, extracting more meaning
from the information and then simply as
citizens, having access to that informa-
tion so we can plan the services we need
to consume in terms of transportation.
As a controller actually using the sys-
tem, Jason Sims has a wishlist:
Id say tweaking the algorithm, tweak-
ing the technology in order to have
customizable areas so that there are
less false positives. We would love the
vendors to try and continue develop-
ing cameras to increase the ability to do
accurate counts. If you have accurate
counts coming from cameras they can
minimize the need for deploying detec-
tionI just think that its very important
when you are looking at urban areas to
also consider technology for the rural
areas as well. Kansas City Scout manages
over 400 miles of rural Interstate span-
ning two states some of the technology
is applicable for urban areas but not so
applicable for ruralif we could keep a
good focus on the rural areas and proce-
dures for incident management that are
so important, that would really push the
TMC operations all across the country to
another level.
Rob Moodey concludes this article
and accompanying documentary pod-
cast with a cautionary word of warn-
ing regarding the difference between
peak and average performance require-
ments. His concern is that as budgets
are squeezed and technology is more
relied upon, the human influence will
be diminished which will be fine most of
the time, but on rare occasions will cause
enormous problems:
The challenge is the cost of Just In
Case capacity. Do you really need to
invest in something that will only be used
one year out of seven? You might make
that analysis if you are choosing to buy
an extra snow plough but if its capacity
in the control room dealing with all the
information thats going to flow in during
a crisis its too late to not have the capacity
by that point. The only people who wont
feel the pain then are the accountants.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hutton is Head of H3B Medias
Broadcast Services Division
paul@h3bm.com
For the audio version please visit
category/podcasts/
Thanks to all the contributors who
took part in this article.
Control centre operatives have an inordinate
amount of information to process, so having
technology to alert them where to look is vital
TECHNOLOGY Mass transportation
Critical Mass.
Fenwood Road MBTA station, Boston, Massachusetts
P
h
o
t
o
:

J
o
h
n

P
h
e
l
a
n
E
ach day, hundreds of buses traverse
the streets of Boston, carrying hun-
dreds of thousands of commuters.
These buses are under the control of Bos-
tons Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority (MBTA) which maintains the
nations fifth largest mass transit system
with a total of 183 bus routes and a roster
of 1005 diesel and compressed natural gas
(CNG) buses, 32 dual mode buses and 28
electric trolley buses (ETBs).
Although lower than in other major
transit systems, crime unfortunately does
occur on the MBTA. Dozens of crimes
are reported on MBTA buses each year,
including 29 assaults to MBTA employ-
ees last year, along with passenger rob-
beries, sexual offenses, assaults and acts
of vandalism.
This crime occurs despite the dedicated
work of the Transit Police Officers work-
ing in partnership with fellow MBTA
employees, passengers and community
partners to ensure a safe environment for
the riding public. The Transit Police has
increased high visibility patrols and con-
tinues to employ a point of entry policing
strategy that aims to prevent offenders
from entering the MBTA, and yet prob-
lems still exist.
To deter crime, the MBTA recently
elected to install high-definition IP cam-
eras and video screens which allow rid-
ers to watch whats being captured by the
cameras on a screen behind the drivers
cab on 225 buses throughout the tran-
sit system as a first step in a long-term
process to bring video surveillance to the
entire bus and subway fleet. Another 210
buses will be outfitted with the cameras
without video screens, bringing high-
definition (HD) surveillance video to a
total of about 40 per cent of the MBTA
bus fleet. The IP cameras are equipped
with Verizons 4G LTE network to allow
Many people cherish
Bostons rich history
with its ideas of liberty,
freedom and
democracy. Few,
however, are aware
that it is also the
birthplace of American
mass transportation,
as Bob Wolfe explains
12-13_TH_0214_NA_Moxa.indd 12 29/06/2014 20:21
Mass transportation
the digital video feed inside the bus to
be streamed in real time to the MBTA
control center, where staff will be able to
monitor incidents in real time. The video
feed, which provides a 360 view of the
inside of buses, will also be available to
MBTA Transit Police from inside their
cruisers. In the event of an altercation
on a bus, for example, police will have a
birds-eye view of how many people are
involved and whether any are armed.
According to Randy Clarke, senior
director of security and emergency man-
agement for the MBTA, this is the most
extensive surveillance program on a
major USA transit system. What were
trying to do is make everyone on the bus
work as an extra set of eyes to help report
suspicious behavior or criminal activity,
Clarke said. The high-tech security cam-
eras and video monitors are being paid
for by a US$6.9m grant from the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security to help police
respond to emergencies in real-time and
aid in criminal prosecution.
ONE OF THE MOST ADVANCED
SYSTEMS EVER INSTALLED
Once the decision was made, the MBTA
had project specifications developed by
the engineering firm Jacobs Engineer-
ing and a bid was sent out to interested
parties in June 2013. Several integrators
responded with Moxa equipment includ-
ing the companys network video recorder
(NVR), switch, and Wi-Fi components. In
the end, Minuteman Security Technolo-
gies, Inc. in Andover, MA, was awarded
the bid, and selected Moxas TN-5516-
8PoE-T as the switch for this project.
Minuteman CEO Joseph Lynch called
the system his company designed and
installed as being: one of the most
advanced multiband wireless IP video
systems ever installed in mass transit.
The main surveillance system com-
prises an Intel i7 powered rackmount
big difference in making the overall sur-
veillance system a success. For example,
when cabling issues popped up, Moxa
provided the pin-outs and schematics
that allowed Minuteman to create their
own custom cables.
Minutemans President George Yanna-
kotoulos had such a positive experience
with the Moxa switch and its support
personnel that he is hopeful to be able to
purchase more components from Moxa,
such as an NVR and wireless technolo-
gies, the next time around. Eventually,
transit officials hope to receive funding
to place the cameras on all the systems
buses, and on any new train cars incor-
porated into the system.
MULTIMODAL SPECIFICATIONS
The retrofitting of the MBTAs buses mir-
rors trends that are occurring in munici-
palities around the country, according
to Todd Desso, Strategic Business Man-
ager at Moxa Americas, Inc: We are
increasingly seeing our equipment specd
into projects requiring reliable com-
munications onboard moving vehicles,
including buses and trains, says Desso.
Onboard security is an extremely hot
topic in transportation, and municipali-
ties around the world have a similar need
to incorporate this capability into their
existing fleet of vehicles. We are seeing
it happen in Boston, one of the oldest
transit systems in the world. We expect
that its only a matter of time before all
transit vehicles will require high-end
surveillance and communications to be
designed in.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bob Wolfe is District Manager at
Moxa Americas, Inc
bob.wolfe@moxa.com
www.moxa.com
NVR with two recording hard drives
running Genetec video recording and
display software, along with the Moxa
TN-5516-8PoE-T ToughNet managed
Ethernet switch, six IP cameras installed
inside and outside the bus, Wi-Fi video
offload, cellular bus-to-police car com-
munication, and GPS positioning. Video
from each camera is recorded and stored
on the buss NVR.
Each bus can offload the daily video
when they park in the bus yard and law
enforcement can stream live video from
the buses to police cruisers when they
are within a certain geographic range of
the bus. Two large HD monitors display
live video to the bus passengers, letting
them see what the six cameras are cap-
turing. Panic buttons allow the driver to
tag video incidents for police and other
supervisory personnel.
An important capability of the system
is that MBTA can remotely manage it
from a central location. We have remote
management tools to troubleshoot and
repair it in real time, without having to
roll a truck, Lynch said.
At the center of the system is the
Moxa TN-5516-8PoE-T switch. Moxa
recommended this model because it is
able to withstand the shock and vibra-
tions of Boston streets, while also reli-
ably powering the cameras, Wi-Fi, and
other on-board IEEE 802.3af powered
devices through its EN 50155-compliant
Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology
with M12 connectors. In addition, the
switch works extremely well in the cold
Boston winters and hot summers with its
extended operating temperature range of
-40C to 75C. Importantly, it also was
available with the lead-time required in
a COTS product.
Since Minuteman Security Technolo-
gies required local support to help inte-
grate all of their components together,
having a local Moxa rep to help made a
What were trying to do is make everyone on the bus work as an extra set
of eyes to help report suspicious behavior or criminal activity
12-13_TH_0214_NA_Moxa.indd 13 29/06/2014 20:21
TECHNOLOGY Traffic Cabinets
How traffic cabinets are preparing us for a world of connected
vehicles and driverless cars, by Mike Shea
Boxing clever
C
ommunities around the world
are experiencing the benefits of
more efficient roadways, lower
vehicle emissions and increased safety
through the deployment and implemen-
tation of Intelligent Transportation Sys-
tem (ITS) programs. While the industry
marvels at the sophistication of the soft-
ware systems and leading-edge hardware
that power ITS, one critical component is
often taken for granted the traffic con-
trol cabinet. As with most large systems,
the components at the granular level can
sometimes make or break the operability
of the system, and traffic cabinets cer-
tainly fall into that category.
Youve seen them. The sturdy box with
a locking door mounted near a signal-
ized intersection. While they dont draw
attention to themselves (theyre designed
that way), the traffic control cabinet is
arguably the most important ITS com-
ponent at the signalized intersection, and
will be increasingly important in the near
future as more multi-modal ITS adap-
tive signal, transit priority, connected
vehicle, driverless cars, etc. systems are
adopted and deployed.
Often referred to as the heart and brain
of the signalized intersection, todays traf-
fic signal cabinet is called upon more and
more to function as a small independent
computer server room and communi-
cations hub. In fact, without the traffic
control cabinet, coordinated signals and
ITS would likely not be a possibility, and
intersections would merely be four-way
stops. As you shutter from the thought
of that scenario on your next commute,
lets take a closer look at how strategically
important a traffic cabinet is to an inter-
section and ITS.
THE TRAFFIC CONTROL
CABINET AND ITS
As more and more ITS and related com-
ponents are leveraged on the roadways
as part of a networked system, for each
piece of field equipment installed on the
roadway, corresponding components
are installed in the traffic cabinet. So,
in addition to the typical power sup-
plies, load switches and relays for signal
and street lighting, cabling and street/
intersection-level communications, the
traffic cabinet also houses the control-
ler and all of the decoders, encoders and
amplifiers for various detectors and sen-
sors (vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians).
The cabinet also houses the conflict or
malfunction management unit (depend-
ing on the type of cabinet), CCTV, and an
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that
an agency may specify for use.
In Figure 1, the hybrid ITS cabinet
houses the components via a standard-
ized computer rackmount system, taking
advantage of electronic component hard-
ware standardization, while efficiently
using as much available space as possi-
ble. This modular configuration neatly
and securely mounts the equipment and
provides a modular platform for future
upgrades and equipment. In addition,
components such as the bus interface
unit (BIU), not only provide centralized
high speed interface capabilities for the
cabinet and the components, it can also
provide an efficient means to incorporate
additional types of detection (advance
Figure 1: A Maryland Hybrid S ITS cabinet that incorporates standard EIA 19-inch computer server
racks exactly what is found in most server rooms
14-17_TH_0214_NA_Econolite.indd 14 29/06/2014 20:22
Often referred to as the heart and brain of the signalized intersection,
todays traffic signal cabinet is called upon more and more to function as a
small independent computer server room and communications hub
and midblock video and radar detection)
and vehicle tracking necessary for adap-
tive signal control and connected vehicle
programs Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V)
and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I).
As an example, the State of Maryland
began installing a newly designed traf-
fic control cabinet in 2011. This new
cabinet has helped the State save money
and support new ITS capabilities that
were being deployed throughout the
State. One such ITS program that would
impact the size and functionality of the
cabinet was the integration of a UPS is
to ensure traffic signal operation during
periods of power outage. This requires
a UPS installed at certain critical or
regionally important traffic signal loca-
tions to maintain power to the intersec-
tion and signal system operability.
As a result, additional costs were
being incurred from purchasing a sec-
ondary cabinet and constructing an
additional cabinet foundation just to
install the UPS system.
Another program goal with safety in
mind, Maryland continues to increase
the percentage of intersections equipped
with audible accessible pedestrian sig-
nals (APS), while ensuring sidewalks are
American Disabilities Act (ADA) com-
pliant. With many of the intersections
representing the junctions of historic
roadways, real estate and configuration
of the traffic control cabinets are criti-
cal to a new cabinet solution. Equally
important in the roadway safety upgrade
program is the safety of the States field
technicians, which is impacted by how
accessible the components inside the
cabinet are to the technician as you can
imagine, doors only opening toward traf-
fic on narrow sidewalks is quite hazard-
ous for the technician.
A NEED FOR SOMETHING
BESPOKE
So, a traffic control cabinet that supports
traditional intersection control as well as
ITS, while accommodating the needs of
historic locations was needed. How does
a transportation agency get a custom
cabinet designed and built? Maryland is
a current and long-time user of National
Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA) TS2 Type 2, size 6 traffic con-
trol cabinets, but facing the need to add
an audible pedestrian system, as well as a
UPS system at each intersection as part of
its ongoing transportation upgrade pro-
gram, the State turned to a long-time traf-
fic control solutions provider Econolite.
Through a collaborative effort between
Econolite and Maryland, a new traffic
cabinet design was developed. Based on
an existing cabinet offering a Hybrid
Rackmount cabinet design currently
offered by Safetran, an Econolite Group
company the new Hybrid S cabinet
was developed to fit Marylands needs and
requirements to house all components
into a single modular unit while provid-
ing flexibility for future ITS upgrades.
Addressing the limited sidewalk space
and accessibility of the equipment, the
The standard EIA
19-inch computer
server rack makes
for a modular and
flexible component
installation, and
enables this
California Hybrid
ITS cabinet to
accept future
ITS components.
Note doors open
in front and back
to provide new
levels of access
14-17_TH_0214_NA_Econolite.indd 15 29/06/2014 20:22
Traffic Cabinets
The City sought a solution that would avoid having to purchase and install
separate cabinets. The City wanted a single traffic cabinet that housed the
UPS while providing flexibility for future ITS capabilities
cabinet was designed with dual front
and dual rear doors for easy and flexible
access to all components in a myriad of
locations and sidewalk configurations
even historical sites. With the ability
to mount equipment on cabinet racks
on the front and back, the cabinet pro-
vides total flexibility for virtually all
intersection and ITS applications. The
Hybrid S cabinet provides the best of
both NEMA TS2 and 33X Series cabinet
worlds by using the full functionality of
a TS2 Type 1 controller in a rack mount
cabinet assembly.
Additionally, the Hybrid S cabinet
provides Maryland the ability to main-
tain or enhance the current level of inter-
section control while also being able to
incorporate the UPS assembly eliminat-
ing the need for additional cabinets and
cabinet foundations, keeping the foot-
print the same as the NEMA cabinet the
agency was using prior.
Just a couple of years later, on the oppo-
site side of the country, a Californian city
was facing a similar situation with its
traffic system upgrade and traffic control
cabinets. Part of this Citys ongoing traf-
fic system and safety upgrade included
ensuring signal operation during power
outages (due to earthquakes, wild fires,
or black outs), it incorporated a UPS at
each intersection, as well as upgraded its
network communications to fiber optic.
However, the City sought a solution that
would avoid having to purchase and
install separate cabinets. The City wanted
a single traffic cabinet that housed the
UPS while providing flexibility for future
ITS capabilities.
With the success in Maryland, the City
and its transportation department turned
to Econolite to collaborate on a traffic
cabinet solution. As a result, the City is
now receiving a Hybrid Rack Mount
cabinet that incorporates two standard
Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) 19
racks. It houses the entire UPS, accom-
modates the fiber optic communications,
and provides additional space and flex-
ibility for future ITS components.
THE NEAR FUTURE
As automakers, ITS companies, and net-
work/communications providers con-
tinue to work ever more closely to bring
the driving populous crash avoidance
through vehicle tracking, autonomous
vehicle, adaptive signal control technolo-
gies, just to name a few, the equipment
powering all of these technologies will
likely be housed in the traffic control
cabinets. In addition to the components
and equipment, a large portion of the
technologies will be driven by wireless
communications (eg, Bluetooth, micro-
wave, etc), increasing the use of routers,
antennas, and other wireless communi-
cations devices. All of this will need to be
packaged into the traffic control cabinet.
As the traffic control cabinet is called
upon to be more of a computer server
room and communications hub, it will
become even more critical in the world
of connected vehicles, robotaxis, and
driverless cars.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Shea is Econolite Group, Incs
Senior Product Manager
mshea@econolite.com
www.econolite.com
With front and
back double doors
and standard
computer server
racks, the Hybrid
ITS cabinet
provides flexibility
in mounting ITS
components,
such as this
video detection
interface system
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thinkinghighways.com ONLINE BONUS CONTENT Vol 9 No 2 North America
SAFETY & SECURITY Smart Bridges
So what exactly constitutes a
smart bridge? What is
connected bridge
technology? Bruce
Abernethy has the answers
A bridge
too far?
T
his article addresses SMART Bridge technology and
the associated benefits of a connected bridge. SMART
connected bridges can solve the bridge too far issue
where a bridge gets inspected every two years for deteriora-
tion and structural integrity with departments of transporta-
tion having only this information and the resulting analysis
until the next two-year inspection time. Manual inspection is
not only manpower-intensive but can miss critical informa-
tion related to structural deterioration. Connection enables
analysis of bridge sensor data that supports ongoing confi-
dence in the safety integrity of the connected bridge and this
can apply to urban bridges in city centers or rural bridges in
the remotest of regions.
REQUIREMENTS FOR A SMART BRIDGE:
A SMART bridge includes:
Variety of sensors properly placed and installed on the
bridge structure;
Communications network supporting collection of sensor
data;
Local SMART applications processor interconnecting to a
wide area communications network (WAN);
WAN interconnecting the bridge to Bridge Safety Integrity
Analysis and Monitoring Center;
Center with Bridge Structural Model with sensor data
interpretation and safety integrity prediction;
Transportation Safety Management HMI.
A structural model provides the intelligence needed to
understand structural changes that impact safety integrity
of the bridge. The model translates a bunch of sensor data
into meaningful safety management information facilitating
responsive action if required.
Some of the key requirements for SMART bridges are:
Low cost, low power consumption, networkable sensors;
Placement of sensors to provide required force change/
movement measurements;
Threshold analysis of sensor data which establishes a prior-
ity for sensor data transfer and analysis;
Event detection that identifies possible damage to the bridge
structure (such as a truck impacting the bridge structure);
Affordable WAN with adequate bandwidth for bridge
sensor data collection;
Networks security to protect the integrity of the sen-
sor data and to prevent infusion of corrupted data and
malware into the SMART bridge sensor processing and
modeling function;
A structural model provides the intelligence needed to understand
structural changes that can impact safety integrity of the bridge
thinkinghighways.com ONLINE BONUS CONTENT North America Vol 9 No 2
Smart Bridges
Model Constructed Bridge validation (i.e. model properly
represents constructed bridge).
Cost is an important factor; however the cost of losing lives
and replacement of a total new bridge structure must be con-
sidered. With the advent of MEMS and fiber optic sensors,
cost of sensor deployment has been significantly reduces in
the past few years. MEMS accelerometers, inclinometers,
and pressure/strain sensors are available from a number of
manufacturers. Measurement accuracy of MEMS sensors in
roadway environment is suitable to support SMART bridge
applications. MEMS sensors with embedded Wi-Fi wireless
links are available 0on the market. The most productized
optical sensor uses fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) technology.
FBG sensors support measurement of temperature, strain,
pressure and vibration. Multi-point sensing along a fiber can
be accomplished with a FBG sensor. Other fiber sensors use
Raman, Brillion and Raleigh scattering. Only Raleigh and
Brillion scatter support temperature and strain distribution
monitoring and perhaps Brillion Scattering sensors are more
advanced from a sensor product standpoint.
CROSSING THAT BRIDGE
Fiber sensors have been used in road structures to detect
wash outs under the concrete and have also been deployed
along high speed rail tracks to detect rail safety issues. They
are further used in dam structures to determine water
leakage, earth movement and erosion which can result in
dam failure.
For new bridges, sensors can be embedded in the concrete
structural members during fabrication to measure stress
forces. Sensors can be added at connecting joints that meas-
ure movement and compressive forces. Sensors are available
for installation on older bridges.
Cost is an important factor; however the cost of losing lives and
replacement of a total new bridge structure must be considered
thinkinghighways.com ONLINE BONUS CONTENT Vol 9 No 2 North America
SAFETY & SECURITY Smart Bridges
The primary objective of
deploying a SMART Bridge
System is to correct structural
degradation issues before the
structure collapses
LTE communications technology has emerged facilitating
low cost M2M WAN interfaces with Picocells. ITS sensors
that support Wi-Fi links from an imbedded sensor in the
road to traffic signal controllers or directly to traffic manage-
ment centers are on the market today. This same technology
is utilized for bridge sensors. Electronics that support fiber
optics sensors manage communications within the fiber and
support interface to a local applications processor. The appli-
cations processor installed at the bridge supports:
Data Collection from sensor strings;
Logs sensor identity and date/time of collection;
Can determine critical threshold of a sensor signal being
exceeded, causing an alarm to the central system and can
cue full sensor data collection and monitoring;
Stores collected sensor data until uploaded to the SMART
Bridge modeling processor;
Monitors sensors and reports sensor failures.
The structural modeling system stores bridge sensor data,
selects the correct bridge model, accesses sensor data (based
on source/date/time), executes the model, analyzes results
and predicts failures of the structure. It provides information
to bridge engineers related to safety risk. If the bridge rep-
resents an immediate safety hazard to vehicles, Emergency
Management and the Traffic Management Center (TMC)
associated with the corridor would be notified. Emergency
Management and Roadway Maintenance would place barri-
ers closing the bridge access. The TMC would post on DMS
notifying travelers of the bridge closure and detour route
and would notify the 511 Traveler Information System of
the bridge closure and detour route. Should connected vehi-
cle-highway technology be deployed, RSEs would be sent
messages of the bridge closing and detour route details for
transmission to vehicles OBEs. Lives and property would be
saved by this responsive action.
BENEFITS OF A SMART BRIDGE SYSTEM
The primary objective of deploying a SMART Bridge Sys-
tem is to correct structural degradation issues before the
structure collapses and cause loss of life, public infrastruc-
ture and personal property. After a major natural disaster,
such an earthquake or major hurricane, structural dam-
age can be measured and assessed with rapid closure of
the bridge if structural integrity is compromised. SMART
bridges allow near continual electronic inspection to
be accomplished, thus identifying structural deteriora-
tion issues within a time period that they can be corrected
before safety is compromised.
SUMMARY
As a famous British general said during the Second World
War, Its all about bridges. Bridges are critical to our trans-
portation infrastructure. The intelligence provided by sen-
sors, as related to the bridge, is correct and action should be
successful. Loss of lives and property should be minimized,
maintenance cost should be less because corrective action
can be taken before major structural damage occurs. Tech-
nology is available today to deploy SMART Bridges.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Abernethy is principal of VASI, based in Allen,
Texas
b.abernethy@ieee.org
Structural degradation could become a thing of the
past with the advent of the truly SMART bridge
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PUBLICPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS Virginia focus
With about two-thirds of
Americas new
transportation construction
public-private-partnerships,
design-build P3s have been
highly praised over the last
decade. Contractors,
politicians and financiers
have been claiming that tiny
slivers of private money bring
efficiency to the formerly
public process of highway
building, spurring innovation
and freeing taxpayer dollars
for other key needs. But as
Randy Salzman discovers,
P3s benefit to taxpayers is
questionable
A model scheme?
I
n the media, congress and across the political world,
promoters pushing design-build public-private partner-
ships (P3s) are claiming that private innovation is saving
taxpayer money, creating good jobs and easing congestion.
In wanting to institute an Infrastructure Bank to address
Americas crumbling highway infrastructure, even Presi-
dent Obama, using New Yorks Tappan Zee Bridge as a back-
drop, recently encouraged P3 construction with a US$302
billion plan. The president had apparently not read Congres-
sional Budget Office research into P3s, nor heard the Tappan
Zee contractor speak at a congressional hearing.
In March, Fluors senior vice president Richard Fierce
bragged that his company was saving taxpayers US$1.7 bil-
lion on the new bridge across the Hudson until one con-
gressman offhandedly remarked that hed heard the Tappan
Zee project would cost US$5 billion, not US$3.1 billion as
the contractor claimed.
That may include work outside our present contract,
Fluors VP replied.
Design-build is in effect cost plus, tailor-made for expen-
sive change orders once construction is underway when no
politician can dare pull the plug on runaway spending. P3s
The Congressional Budget
Office reports P3s cost the
public as much as traditional
highway construction. And
then citizens have to pay tolls
18-23_TH_0214_NA_Salzman.indd 18 29/06/2014 20:23
Virginia focus
are even more geared for lining the pockets of financiers;
hence foreign money is flooding into US highway projects
today. The costs and risks, P3 promoters consistently claim,
are dumped on the privates but the reality is much more
complex and, according to the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO), at best delays taxpayer pain. There is little, if any,
long-term savings for citizens, the CBO notes, and the tiny
amounts of private equity serve primarily to get construction
underway quicker.
Theres a set of financial interests who have really learned
how to mine the tax code, P3 supporter Doug Koelemay,
Virginias new director of Public-Private Partnerships,
frowns.
THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN MAJOR PPP?
Virginias 1995 Public-Private Transportation Act is held up
as the model by contractors and financiers, especially as it
was implemented at break-neck speed during Governor Bob
McDonnells administration. In four years, the number of
Virginia P3s skyrocketed to 22 and with the Commonwealth
signing over US$6 billion in P3s during 2012 alone, Infra-
structure Investor magazine named McDonnell man of the
year and called the states legal consultant, Allen and Overy,
the worlds best law firm twice. Does any magazine for inves-
tors venerate hard bargainers for taxpayers?
A great deal of the media praising public private part-
nerships in transportation projects comes from sources
that have a self-interest in promoting them, says Jack
Trammell, a candidate for Virginias 7th Congressional Dis-
trict. A major factor motivating me to run for office is what
I think should be a national concern about this trend away
from transparency and toward greater taxpayer risk in such
projects.
In the past, even Virginias Commonwealth Transporta-
tion Board (CTB) never saw P3 contracts, only being allowed
up-down votes on the total taxpayer bill, which consistently
put 95+ per cent of all costs on state and federal taxpayers.
The privates put up tiny bits of equity, though they imply
more because they borrow dollars from Uncle Sam that they
likely will not pay back and they sell bonds that Uncle Sam
guarantees and which will cost taxpayers when the P3 goes
bankrupt as they almost inevitably do about 15 years
down the road.
It is a win-win-win for private money and contractors
but for unaware taxpayers it could be the biggest scheme
ever in Virginia and potentially US history. Is getting a
highway or other transportation infrastructure, which may
or may not be needed, returned to we taxpayers just when
its beginning to need maintenance worth the fact that weve
left virtually all construction costs, all risk, all financing costs
and 10-15 years of tolls to the next generation of taxpayers?
A CLEAN SLATE?
Secretary Layne has been shaken by what hes found in a
hard look at a couple of former transportation secretary Sean
Connaughtons P3 contracts. For example, although neither
the Virginia Department of Transportation nor the Corp of
Engineers ever indicated they could mitigate 480 acres of
wetlands and hence issue a construction permit Virginia
has paid 460 Mobility Partners almost US$300m and is on
the hook for another US$900m for a highway that will likely
never be built.
With that sort of issue possible in 21 other projects, Layne
has ordered a scrub of all past P3s to find, for example, non-
competitive clauses which prevent Virginia from improving
nearby roads without having to pay toll operators for poten-
tial lost income. Whether the Commonwealth can get out
of some of these disturbing contract stipulations is still up
in the air.
We asked Secretary Layne if there was anything criminal
in what hes learned. His hesitant reply, I dont think so, was
echoed by Koelemay but, still, the new administration has
asked two CTB members to lead an inquiry and highlight
better contracting methods. Regardless, even if some of
these improvements (P3 projects) are desperately needed,
as Trammell puts it, we shouldnt get them at the cost of
transparency and accountability to taxpayers.
A great deal of the media praising public private partnerships in
transportation projects comes from sources that have a self-interest
in promoting them
Used as a backdrop for President Obamas support for P3s,
New Yorks Tappan Zee Bridge would cost US$5 billion, not
US$3.1 billion as the contractor claimed
Trammell believes financiers can hide in plain sight
because the terms of these contracts often over 700 pages
are so complicated that even after studying the issue for
more than a year, he cant put all of the pieces together. How,
he asks, could the general public, reporters without finance
degrees or part-time bureaucrats like the Commonwealth
Transportation Board understand this complexity? Espe-
cially when they dont hear it.
You did get a high level briefing on the benefits of the [460]
project, Layne explained to CTB members in March, but you
were not privy to the [460] contract, the contract terms, the
payments schedule, the risk being taken or any terms.
CTB members were subdued with one thanking Layne for
promising greater openness: I have been very uncomfort-
able on a couple of projects we had (under Connaughton).
I didnt have the data I needed to make a decision at the
same time I was asked to vote. Dont ask me to do something
without giving me the information I needed. Another was
shocked that we allocated money yet we had no
authority in approving the project?
Only Jim Rich, later fired by McDonnell and
Connaughton over his staunch opposition to fis-
cal irrationality, stood up and questioned financing
and risk management when Connaughton brought
rapid-fire P3s before the CTB over the past four
years.
Layne, who served as head bond salesman for
the 460 Commonwealth Connector and still sup-
ports the project, assures there will be competi-
tion and transparency in future P3 contracts. As
secretary of transportation today, he said his prime
fiduciary responsibility is to taxpayers, not bond
holders, as it was when he ran the bond operation
for the now-suspended 55-mile Connector.
Layne and Koelemay indicate the Common-
wealths representatives in past P3, Connaughton
and Tony Kinn, the original Virginia public-pri-
vate-partnership office director, were outclassed
and, due to ideological considerations and trapped
by promises to do something about congestion, couldnt
just walk away from the table. They may not have realized
their legal consultants were conflicted by work for private
infrastructure bond sellers.
Media coverage of P3s over the past decade, furthermore,
has been overwhelmingly positive, consistently following
the contractor line that private innovation is offsetting sig-
nificant amounts of expense, improving projects and freeing
public dollars for other activities. However, the Congres-
sional Budget Office indicates P3s provide little, if any, finan-
cial benefit to taxpayers.
The cost of financing a highway project privately is
roughly equal to the cost of financing it publicly after fac-
toring in the costs associated with the risk of losses from
the project, which taxpayers ultimately bear, and the finan-
cial transfers made by the federal government to states and
localities, the CBOs Microeconomic Studies director told
congress in March. Any remaining difference between the
costs of public versus private financing for a project will stem
from the effects of incentives and conditions established in
the contracts that govern public-private partnerships.
In that congressional hearing, Bostons Michael Capuano
Top: Elizabeth River Tunnels Project under construction at Sparrows
Point Shipyard
Above: The Pocahontas Parkway (Route 895), seen here crossing
I-95, is facing its third bankruptcy in a decade
Right: I-95 Express Lane Construction between Garrisonville and
Dumfries
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Virginia focus
The cost of financing a highway project privately is roughly equal to the
cost of financing it publicly after factoring in the costs associated with
the risk of losses from the project, which taxpayers ultimately bear
reminded congressmen that people stole money in prior
equivalents of design-build P3s, and thats why the highway
construction paradigm became inefficiency intended to
avoid malfeasance.
We need to remember the potential downfalls before we
go too far down the road too quickly and want to be con-
scious of not opening up the barn door, he cautioned.
Washington, DC shadow congresswoman Eleanor Norton
was more specific: I wonder if its (P3) an equitable or fair
deal for the public? Theres a very high level of public funding
and a low level of private risk. The rundown of figures amaze
me and Im trying to find out what the real advantage here is
of the public-private-partnership.
WORST CASE SCENARIO?
So, is this an ethical issue? In Virginia, at least, it should be.
Having researched P3s deeply, we laid out this long-range
scenario to Secretary Layne,
culled heavily from the work
of former Penn State law pro-
fessor Ellen Dannin:
A private creates a shell
company with a major finance
usually foreign arm and
an international construction
contractor to bid on the P3.
It sells private bonds, bonds
generally backed by federal
guarantee, and includes those
funds as the major part of its
private contribution. Any
states representatives at nego-
tiations are outclassed because
they have little background in
finance or contract law and its
legal consultants, like Allen
and Overy, are conflicted.
The privates upfront financ-
ing allows the project to get
underway quicker and it is
implied that private efficiency
is overcoming bloated pub-
lic bureaucracy while heav-
ily inflated traffic projections
indicate the privates will be
compensated through tolls.
The construction bid comes in
low with design-build tailor made for forcing the state to
accept expensive change orders after construction is under-
way and the public is no longer paying financial attention.
True construction costs climb as the change orders needed
for functionality are accepted but no politician can dare pull
the plug once dirt is turned. There are too many good jobs
at stake and too much explaining for a public that thinks Jon
Stewart provides news.
Because P3s are exceptionally long contracts, longer than
the projected lifespan of the project itself, Elizabeth River
Crossings in Norfolk, for example, is 58 years and the Capital
Beltway Express in Northern Virginia is 80 years the shell
company is allowed to treat its lease as ownership for tax pur-
poses. Hence, it enjoys a hefty depreciation allowance, like
homeowners take on houses.
Once the highway is built, the shell company and we
used that word consistently with Secretary Layne acceler-
ates the depreciation and about 15 years later, just when the
highway is actually needing much repair, often goes bank-
rupt. The bond holders, however, are protected because of
federal financing guarantees and taxpayers find themselves
facing the costs of a highway re-build when all of the toll
income has gone to the shell company backers, now pro-
tected by bankruptcy laws from having to pay back loans,
bonds or depreciation. When the shell goes under, further-
more, the state becomes responsible for design flaws and
safety issues, regardless of how much oversight it applied
during construction. Since today that oversight is also con-
tracted by incestuous Laynes word private firms, the
public has little idea of how well constructed a project was
when it is returned to taxpayers.
Meanwhile, under many contracts, the state is prevented
by non-competition clauses from improving nearby roads,
bridges or adding bus-rapid transit unless it compensates the
privates for potential lost tolls.
Every bankruptcy, finally, increases the return rate for the
next P3 bonds. Investors, therefore, get junk bond rates due
to a risk that is primarily accruing to taxpayers. Bondhold-
ers, again, will be compensated by taxpayers due to Uncle
Sams guarantee when the toll income fails to meet projec-
tions.
It has happened, Secretary Layne agreed without point-
ing to any specific Virginia, or indeed national, project.
SOMETHING DOESNT QUITE ADD UP
While we cant predict the future and cant see the con-
tract itself Capital Beltway Express in Northern Virginia
provides a possible example. According to PW Finance, CBE
bond-buyers were told to expect a conservative US$335,000
per day income from tolls by 2015 but, as of April 2014, there
were 28,600 daily vehicles averaging US$62,357 in tolls.
Of the original US$350m in private equity from Capital
Beltway Express, only US$88m was paid upfront by CBE
partners, Transurban and Fluor, according to the public
works journal. Virginia ponied up US$409m with Uncle
Sam loaning CBE US$587m and backing bondholders to
the tune of another US$587m. Capital Beltway Express indi-
cated bond purchasers could expect a 13 per cent return on
investment or over five times the return on Treasury Bills
because PW Finance reports the contract allows CBE to pay
zero interest for 10 years on the loan and not begin paying a
penny on the principal for 25 years.
Long before the federal re-payment schedule kicks in,
however, Capital Beltway Express will likely go bankrupt, as
the experience of other American P3s illustrates. Generating
today only one-fifth of its projected toll income, Transur-
bans shell company indeed announced a restructuring of
some US$280m in remaining private equity in February just
months after Transurbans other Virginia P3, the Pocahontas
Parkway, went belly up again.
In the midst of the Beltway and Parkway debacles, unless
Transurban totally misunderstood its own financial situation
and couldnt read its own CBE traffic and income counts or
understood something taxpayers dont it would never have
sought and won the 95 Express Lanes project. If Transurban
was losing that many real dollars, why would the Australian
multi-national throw good money after bad on another P3,
the I-95 toll lanes?
Like the Pocahontas Parkway, Virginias first P3, the stage
is set for Capital Beltway Express bankruptcy once the accel-
erated depreciation schedule is over. CBE and Transurban
can easily walk away and Fluor already has because the
money they actually did provide has been reimbursed by
actual tolls and design-build change orders, leaving the next
generation of taxpayers not only compensating bond holders
but also now responsible for maintaining a highway which is
beginning to show wear and tear. Uncle Sam will likely not
collect Capital Beltway Express US$587m loan and, instead,
will pay off bond-holders at a rate multiple times what theyd
have received through T-Bills or state securities.
Yet the consistent media story is that privates paid three-
quarters of the US$2 billion Capital Beltway project, never
pointing out that the actual upfront cash that privates pro-
vided is covered in only four years of actual tolls. This lack of
insightful mainstream media coverage even around Wash-
ington, DC, the center of American news media leaves ill-
informed citizens and policy makers.
Unconnected coverage of each individual P3 makes it
difficult for citizens and policy makers to comprehend the
hoopla and recognize that private money dots every i and
crosses every t to ensure profitability. To the reporter who
is assured private industry is more efficient than public
bureaucracies, and is rarely versed in finance or tax law, each
project sounds reasonable when inflated traffic projections
implying tolls will cover all debt are handed out in press
releases. However, we cannot find an operating American P3
project that is making the toll income it projected prior to
construction.
There are well-reported positives in individual P3 projects,
but this guaranteed bonds-depreciation-bankruptcy-pay off
scenario; this mining of the tax code is happening behind
the scenes and over decades in a bumper-sticker culture
obsessed with fashion, sports and trivia.
Mainstream media, meanwhile, forget that private indus-
try rarely leaves a dollar on the table. It does not participate
unless it has strong assurances it will profit in the long haul.
Virginias program, remember, is called the model by
financiers and contractors. Not by taxpayers.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Randy Salzman is Associate Editor of Thinking
Highways North America
salz@rocketmail.com
Once the highway is built, the shell company accelerates the
depreciation and about 15 years later, just when the highway is
actually needing much repair, often goes bankrupt
Express Lane Construction on the Capital Beltway I-495
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Its unmatched combination of 5-megapixel resolution, real-time through-the-lens
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ACCIDENT PREVENTION Automotive radar
Davide Brizzolara looks at how
automotive radars evolution is
good news for those tasked with
reducing North Americas vehicle
accident statistics
Summer of 79
A
utomotive radars play a key role in making the long-
term goal of zero accidents a reality. Applications are
currently evolving from comfort to safety and they
require Short Range Radars (SRR) that meet demanding
requirements such as higher range resolution, better object
discrimination, high spatial resolution and reduced mutual
interference. The use of the 79 GHz band is the enabling
technology to support this evolution.
Automotive radars support a wide range of applications
that are currently evolving from comfort functions giv-
ing indications to the driver (such as sound alert or visual
warning) to safety functions that will automatically control
the vehicle (for example brakes or steering). This evolution
will enable us to reach the long-term goal of zero accidents
which requires a 360 surround vision or semi-autonomous/
fully autonomous driving.
79 GHz radar technology (in the frequency range 7781
GHz) is seen as the next generation in the automotive radar
development roadmap to meet this need for high-level
requirements as it enables better performances to be achieved.
A better target discrimination capability will be available
at 79 GHz, thanks to the bandwidth of 4 GHz. This fre-
quency will also benefit spatial resolution, directly linked to
the available bandwidth, allowing an exact location determi-
nation: the higher the used bandwidth, the better the spa-
tial resolution will be. Radar devices are also much smaller
at 79 GHz compared to 24 GHz: HF-circuit structures and
antenna sizes directly depend on the wavelength used. The
higher the operational frequency, the smaller the total size of
the radar device will be.
Another interesting benefit is the common usage of one
technology concept for all applications: currently automo-
tive radar applications use different frequency ranges for the
different applications. By using a common 76GHz to 81GHz
technology platform a holistic and flexible system concept can
be established. This results in advantages regarding system
development and multi-functional use of individual sensors.
A wide range of applications can be improved by using the
79 GHz band (see Table 1): the Collision Warning System
(CWS) and Collision Mitigation System (CMS), that pro-
vide an acoustic and/or optical warning to the driver and
may prepare the braking system if the driver doesnt gener-
ate the necessary deceleration to avoid the collision, or the
Vulnerable road User Detection (VUD) which supports the
detection of vulnerable road users
(cyclists or pedestrians) in front
(potentially also on the side of the
host vehicle) in order to enable
warning or assist brake functions.
THE 79 GHZ PROJECT
Considering the all the above-
mentioned benefits, the Euro-
pean Commission defined the 79
GHz band as the frequency allo-
cation for automotive SRR and
supports the 79 GHz project, an
international automotive 79 GHz
In Europe, automotive radars support a wide range
of currently evolving applications
Table 1: Short-Range Radar automotive applications
Applications Sensor location:
Front/rear or side? Comfort or safety?
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) Front Comfort/Safety
Collision Warning System (CWS) Front/Side Comfort
Collision Mitigation System (CMS) Front/Side Safety
Vulnerable Road User Detection (VUD) Front Safety
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSD) Rear Comfort
Lane Change Assistance (LCA) Rear Comfort
Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) Front/Rear Comfort
What happens today is in your hands. Whether youre
faced with congestion, accidents or severe weather,
its your job to keep the trafc moving. And its our job
to help you. Our smart trafc monitoring solutions will
take you straight to the heart of the action, so you can
make the right move, at the right time every time.
Make your next move now,
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24-27_TH_0214_NA_79Ghz.indd 24 29/06/2014 20:34
What happens today is in your hands. Whether youre
faced with congestion, accidents or severe weather,
its your job to keep the trafc moving. And its our job
to help you. Our smart trafc monitoring solutions will
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24-27_TH_0214_NA_79Ghz.indd 25 29/06/2014 20:34
ACCIDENT PREVENTION Automotive radar
79GHz radar technology (in the frequency range 7781 GHz) is
seen as the next generation in the automotive radar development
roadmap to meet this need for high-level requirements as it enables
better performances to be achieved
frequency harmonisation initiative: European car manufac-
turers operate in world markets and therefore the 79 GHz
frequency must be regulated on a global scale. Due to the
intense continuous work of the 79 GHz project partners, the
awareness of the significant contribution of high-resolution
automotive radar to passenger and pedestrian safety is con-
stantly increasing and administrations and other regional
and international organizations are including 79GHz high-
resolution automotive radar in their considerations.
Significant progress on the International Telecommu-
nications Union (ITU) level was made in November 2013,
when the relevant ITU groups finalized a recommendation,
approved by relevant bodies, containing the technical char-
acteristics of high-resolution automotive radar systems.
This milestone will help boost the ongoing the country
specific activities.
At the beginning of the project in 2011, the 79 GHz radar
equipment was only authorised in the 27 EC member states,
in most of the further 21 CEPT countries, in Singapore and
Australia. In all other countries, the operation of 79 GHz
radar devices was not possible due to the lack of any regula-
tory framework for this frequency band.
HOPE OF THE STATES
Various actions have been taken by the 79 GHz project part-
ners to booster the allocation process and the current status
of allocation is illustrated in Figure 1. Focusing on the situa-
tion in North America, the following points should be noted.
In the United States there have been extensive discussions
and meetings with the US Federal Communications Com-
mission (FCC) and we are now waiting for it to adopt and
release a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, proposing to
adopt rules permitting the use of the 7781 GHz band for
automotive radar applications in the United States on an
unlicensed basis.
Canada tends to follow the US regulation regarding spec-
trum. A proposal for the update of RSS-210 was developed
and was sent along with an explanatory document to Indus-
try Canada for review.
In Brazil, the 79 GHz project developed a proposal for the
revision of Resolution 506. This proposal was sent to ANA-
TEL for review. As the revision process of RES 505 is ongo-
ing, there has been no decision on the allocation of the 77-81
GHz band for automotive high resolution radar yet.
In Argentina, 79 GHz project is in contact with both the
Figure 1:
Current status
of allocation
24-27_TH_0214_NA_79Ghz.indd 26 29/06/2014 20:34
27 North America Vol 9 No 2
Automotive radar
National Communications Commission (CNC, Comisin
Nacional de Comunicaciones) and the Secretariat of Com-
munications (SECOM, Secretara de Comunicaciones) and
an official and formal request to start the rulemaking in
Argentina was sent to these two administrations.
In Chile, SUBTEL has regulated the 79GHz frequency
band and this is affected through an extension of Resolution
No. 755 DE 2005 in June 2013 with Resolution 2094.
ITU WORLD RADIO CONFERENCE 2015:
RELEVANCE FOR THE 79 GHZ PROJECT
In parallel to the national activities focusing on countries
that are important for the car manufacturers and suppli-
ers, the worldwide frequency harmonization process as a
whole takes place on the ITU-R level tasked by the World
Radio Conference (WRC). This is the place where Radio
Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of
the radio-frequency spectrum, is discussed and, if neces-
sary, revised.
Therefore, one of the 79 GHz project partners, Robert
Bosch GmbH, supported an initiative together with the
Federal Network Agency of Germany (BNetzA) to include
the 79 GHz initiative as an Agenda Item (AI) for the next
possible WRC in 2015.
From the perspective of the 79 GHz project the following
points can be noted:
On a worldwide perspective, there are countries that
have a supportive position for high resolution automo-
tive radar in the band and contribute to the preparation
process of WRC-2015
Other countries, that have not yet allocated the 7781
GHz band to automotive radar, are waiting for the deci-
sion of WRC-2015 on automotive radar, before taking
any steps on a national basis.
In the work on ITU level, industry is actively contribut-
ing on technical level. The decisions in the conference are
made by the administrations. So it is important to have
as many administrations as possible in support for WRC-
2015.
The support for a worldwide allocation of the 79 GHz will
continue now at ITU level, enabling a higher level of safety
in our cars in the future not just in North America, but
globally.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Davide Brizzolara is project support manager for the
79 GHz project
d.brizzolara@mail.ertico.com
www.79ghz.eu
www.linkedin.com/groups/79-GHz-Project-4656640
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24-27_TH_0214_NA_79Ghz.indd 27 29/06/2014 20:34
OPINION PIECE Knowledge sharing
Whether viewed as intellectual curiosity or simply a matter of common
courtesy, acceptance of a broad view of ITS development goes a long
way towards fostering collaboration, says David E Pickeral
Open to suggestion
N
ot long ago I was attending a major international
transportation conference, with all modes well rep-
resented. As I always do at such events, between
some of the specialized ITS sessions and client and part-
ner meetings, I wandered about on my own to canvass the
exhibit floor, looking for both familiar faces as well as a sense
of what and who was new in the industry.
In so doing, I stopped by a booth belong-
ing to one of the major transportation
research organizations in the host
county. There I found a young
engineer a newly minted
civil engineering PhD, in
fact who was covering
the exhibit booth alone
while his senior col-
leagues were off the
floor in an executive
session. A group of
people was listening
to him expound upon,
what turned out to have
been the topic of his doc-
toral dissertation, method-
ologies for the collection and
monitoring of data regarding
the condition of bridges, highways,
tunnels and other infrastructure within
the transportation industry. He asserted that
the ability to collect and analyze such data was a matter of
national priority for his government, as well as the trans-
portation industry worldwide. His chief complaint was that
there thus far a complete lack of any data in this area, nor any
current ability to go about obtaining it.
After several minutes, at what I deemed an appropriate
pause for commentary, I politely suggested that it might be
helpful to see the problem not so much as the lack of data
per se, as it was the lack of structured data, noting that his
predecessors had been doing careful inspections of critical
infrastructure assets for decades, even generations, with the
results captured often in great detail in the form of spread-
sheets, standalone databases, handwritten notes, logs and
journals, or even just in their own personal recollections of
what might have been many years of observations. If such
data it could be properly extracted and analyzed, I hypothe-
sized, perhaps this would be an excellent baseline for further
development, even as more advanced means of collection
became available through the deployment of sensors and the
use of open standards now ongoing around the world.
His reaction was unexpected, and could best be described
as openly hostile. Rather than assess the merits of
what I had proposed, he responded defen-
sively, almost explosively, that this
line of thinking was absolutely
and unequivocally wrong
again asserting the data sim-
ply did not exist. Rather
than offer evidence to
support this however,
he then launched into
a discussion of the
academic study he
had done on multiple
continents to support
the idea that only a
whole new set of data
gathered with appropri-
ate new techniques would
even begin to address the
issue. Clearly anyone who per-
ceived otherwise including and
at the moment especially me was
guilty of ignorance bordering on sacrilege.
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
During this diatribe, the others who had been gathered
around the booth wisely took the opportunity to drift off
elsewhere. For me, a graceful resolution was far less practi-
cable. Although, those who know me will attest I am hardly
one to shrink from conflict, there are two instances where I
will never engage in an open argument under any circum-
stances; the first is when dealing with airport security, law
enforcement and border guard personnel in any country,
and the second is at industry conferences, which I consider
by definition to be neutral ground for candid debate. At this
point, I therefore saw only one option rapid retreat! Seeing
no signs that my new adversary was planning to pause any
time soon, I simply tuned on my heels and walked briskly
28-29_TH_0214_NA_Pickeral ideas.indd 28 29/06/2014 20:34
Knowledge sharing
away without a backward glance. For several seconds before
I purposefully rounded the corner, I could still hear him
talking apparently at this point to no one but himself.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
As I had joined the conversation in progress I had not had
the opportunity to do any introductions or exchange busi-
ness cards beforehand, and as I discovered a few minutes later
I had put my conference badge with its speaker and sponsor
ribbons into my jacket pocket while outside earlier and had
forgotten to put it back on. The recent grad, therefore, had no
idea whom he was passionately excoriating. As far as he knew,
he could well have been dressing down the head of a university
department, a transport minister, a politician or an industry
leader that might well have been in a position to both support
his cause and advance his career. Far worse I think, he could
have blasted someone entirely new to the ITS industry who
was still trying to understand it and merely wishing to toss a
few ideas around in aid of furthering that understanding.
My point in relating this is if course not to denigrate, even
anonymously, this studious, passionate and otherwise highly
intelligent professional. Rather, it is to offer up a cautionary
tale of sorts.
ITS is, as we all know, an extremely arcane and esoteric
industry, where interstate meets Internet meets intermodal.
It continues to evolve as a patchwork of other disciplines
combining elements of physical infrastructure, ICT and
complex political and strategic overlays. We might be engi-
neers, architects, lawyers, academics, executives or others
with highly advanced educational backgrounds. Likewise,
we are also practitioners with years of hands-on implementa-
tion and operational experience. Almost invariably, those of
us who have been in the industry for some time bring some
unique combination of academia and experience to the table
as headhunters will tell you, it is very difficult to anonymize
the CVs of veterans in the ITS community such that their
peers wont recognize them. Regardless of our individual
backgrounds, ours is a field where it is virtually impossible
for anyone to be an expert in everything.
It is thereby essential in this industry, as in no other, to
allow adequate consideration for not just the views of others,
but to acknowledge both the potential for something entirely
new to appear on the scene and for something that has been
around for quite some time to be used in entirely new ways.
Unstructured data will indeed become an ever more use-
ful resource with the advent of artificial intelligence, that
will eventually allow absorption, consolidation and inter-
pretation of vast amounts of seemingly disconnected archi-
val material. The infrastructure inspection data mentioned
earlier can be infused with materials analysis, climatalogical
records, and other sources within the Big Data ecosystem.
Analytics can be applied at any point of the process -includ-
ing when real time sensor data does eventually become avail-
able regarding the structural integrity of individual assets.
Cloud capabilities, facilitated by open standards to allow
sharing between networks, will let that data to be aggregated
and shared securely with appropriate users in the next office,
next building or worldwide.
In summary, while I would be the last one to blur the art
of the possible against hard practical reality, in terms of dis-
cussions with our colleagues in ITS, and even more with
the broad stakeholder community that will be necessary
to ensure the political, financial and institutional viability
of future ITS enhancements, I would respectfully submit it
never hurts to be open to suggestions!
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Pickeral is Transportation Sector Lead for the
IBM Industry Smarter Solutions Team
depicker@us.ibm.com
www.linkedin.com/in/pickeral
Taking on board a broad scope of ideas is key to successful
collaborative thinking
Regardless of our individual backgrounds, ours is a field where it is
virtually impossible for anyone to be an expert in everything
28-29_TH_0214_NA_Pickeral ideas.indd 29 29/06/2014 20:34
MOBILITY EU insurance
Europe is perfectly poised to lead a new era of
mobility. Guy Fraker explains howand why
Moving continents
30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 30 29/06/2014 20:35
EU insurance
As capabilities emerged, and stakeholders responded, the dollars
invested by government have also grown and become more focused
F
or nearly a decade, the United States, EU and Japan
have been collaborating to accelerate the development
and deployment of advanced vehicle technologies. In
very general terms, this effort took on the classic structure of
an innovation funnel, with the early years seeing investments
being spread across a very broad horizon of capabilities.
For example, this list would include intersection sensors,
intersection enforcement cameras, vehicle-based sensors,
connected vehicle technologies, autonomous driving capa-
bilities, hydrogen fuel cells, electric drive trains, new mate-
rials and telematics technologies. Figure 1, as an illustrative
example, charts the US government spending since 2008
dedicated to advances in vehicle tech, and shifts in consumer
use of mobility models such as car sharing and bike sharing.
Along the way, the myriad of issues created a tremen-
dous fog from which regulatory bodies would have to first
create, then define clarity. Among the most difficult of tasks
would be just prioritizing the issues. As capabilities emerged,
consumers, regulators, auto manufacturers, Tier 1 and Tier
2 suppliers have engaged in a global dialogue about accept-
ance, privacy, liability, reliability, security, cost, timelines, etc.
This somewhat chaotic conversation is now practical, given
the ubiquitous nature of our connectivity, albeit taking place
largely out in the ether of the worldwide web.
Since 2008, certain issues have risen to the top, particu-
larly in the United States and across the EU. Goals have been
clarified and priorities for legislation and regulatory research
seem to be taking form. All the while the simultaneous
growth in technological capabilities matched by collapsing
cost per unit of capability continues to create pace in this
societal shift known as personal mobility.
As capabilities emerged, and stakeholders responded, the
dollars invested by government have also grown, and become
more focused. Specific capabilities emerged as funded pri-
orities such as electric vehicle battery science and manufac-
turing, active (autonomous) driving safety, pedestrian safety
and connected vehicles. A 2010 report to the President from
The Presidents Technology Investment Council labeled
robotic control systems in vehicles as one the top national
security priorities given the potential impact of eliminating
accidents on dependencies of foreign oil. This background
information can be found via countless white papers, budg-
ets, trend analysis and demographic research documents.
Again, in general terms, this information represents a syn-
opsis from six years of direct involvement. As priorities have
emerged, and evolved, in the various jurisdictions for new
models of mobility, each must face an inevitable philosophi-
cal and economic fork in the road over the question of
efficacy. Specifically, with respect to connected vehicle tech-
nologies, and even more so with autonomous vehicles, very
fundamental questions rise to the top requiring answers.
How great is the liability risk exposure from relying on
technology, to operate a machine that has been opera-
tional exclusively at the hands of a human driver since the
invention of the machine?
How will that risk, and liability, be allocated?
How much risk is reasonable, sustainable?
MARKET FORCES
Historically, first in Europe, later in the United States, answers
to these questions in the past have resulted in solutions pri-
marily comprised of both of private sector enterprises (the
insurance industry) and regulatory bodies. As the second
largest insurance market in the world, the United States
insurance industry has grown to a US$7.3trillion industry
when measured by total assets, combining Property and
Figure 1: U.S. DOT, DOE, NSF budgets for vehicle tech Figure 2: Global distribution of insurance premiums
30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 31 29/06/2014 20:35
Casualty with Life and Health. The largest insurance market
globally is of course the EU, holding approximately 33 per
cent of the total premium revenue stream. See Figure 2.
This enormous economic sector is regulated in the United
States by the 50 individual state jurisdictions, each with an
Insurance Commissioner. Some of these are elected, while
others are appointed, again based on the procedures estab-
lished by each state. Each Department of Insurance partici-
pates in a national coordinating body known as the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
In a 2013 report produced by KPMG, the EU insur-
ance regulatory system is overseen by Solvency II and the
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
(EIOPA). Another entity exists, that both US and EU regula-
tors support, namely the International Association of Insur-
ance Supervisors (IAIS). In short, the US system is quite
mature and as KPMG described, robust. While the EU
bodies are still described as works in progress, the goal is
a more holistic approach designed to harmonize regulation
across boarders. How does any of this relate to autonomous
vehicles? The implications are actually quite significant. The
relationship of insurance regulation to the overall transpor-
tation goals set forth by each jurisdiction, with respect to
autonomous control systems and connected vehicle capabili-
ties, is setting the pace for slower deployment in the US.
For an auto insurer to consider making a change in their
core revenue stream because a new vehicle technology is
coming to market, a multitude of factors has to be consid-
ered. In grossly oversimplified terms, among these consid-
erations, the companies must assess the cost of being wrong
against the cost of owning the liability. First, consider this
phrase, the cost of being wrong.
When Volvo first unveiled the XC60 and XC90 vehicle
models, with the groundbreaking CitySafeTM active safety
systems, global insurance leader Zurich announced a 20 per
cent discount on their motor insurance premiums for those
vehicles. This announcement was the first of its kind, given
the largely unknown real world efficacy of the technology
and was applicable only in Europe, and not in the US. Why?
KPMG describes the relatively greater degree of discretion
among each of the 50 Commissioners in the US contrasted
to the EUs more rules-based prescriptive approach, with
quantitative and qualitative checkpoints. In other words, the
EU approach is to rely on clearly defined rules with a very
specific focus on maintaining solvency ie, more consistent
rules of operation, which translates into significantly greater
degree of flexibility when setting rates. If the technology
doesnt perform as advertised, the ability to correct the pre-
miums for the actual experience is far greater in the EU than
in the US where the industry faces approval by 50 individual
regulatory bodies. Consumers tend to pay more attention to
rate increases than decreases, which can translate into a re-
election problem for several of the US Commissioners.
The cost of owning the liability only magnifies the risk
aversion in the US auto insurance industry. See Figure 3
from a 2013 report prepared for the US Chamber Institute
for Legal Reform on the relative cost of liability and litiga-
tion, by NERA Economic Consulting. Note in particular the
quote called out in the box below. These figures clearly show
how being wrong can become a genuine drain on capital
The relationship of insurance regulation to the overall transportation
goals set forth by each jurisdiction is setting the pace for slower
deployment in the US
Figure 3: Liability
Costs Per Country
as a Percent of GDP
30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 32 29/06/2014 20:35
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COMBINED INTELLIGENCE
WORKING TOGETHER FOR SMARTER TRANSPORTATION
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30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 33 29/06/2014 20:35
fairly quickly for a US auto insurer, who may not be able to
realize corrective steps for years following the initiation of
the filing process.
US insurance executives routinely articulate both the need
for innovation in the core product suite, and the sound logic
behind the lack of innovation given a regulatory system that
can require years of effort and millions in legal fees both to
put a new product in market, then fix that product if needed.
A DEGREE OF TRANSPARENCY
The European model actually seems to encourage innova-
tion in motor insurance. Finally, the EU Transportation
Commission is remarkably clear when articulating both
goals and progress compared to the US. Figure 4 is a col-
lection of data points pulled from an infographic published
by the European Transportation Commission. For any trans-
portation-related stakeholder in the EU, the messages and
goals are concise, bold, and clear.
In the practice of disruptive technological adoption, these
are the key elements needed to create a shared sense of own-
ership among the stakeholders, including the insurance
industry. The goals, and the progress, may appear aspira-
tional. In the context of vehicle technologies as we have expe-
rienced these past 100+ years, such goals would seem fairly
lofty. However, in the context of those technologies already
being deployed by auto manufacturers, and supported by
pioneering insurers such as Zurich, these may turn out to be
rather conservative.
When a more innovative ecosystem is also supported by
the key regulatory entities as well, then exponential results
can be, and certainly have been, achieved. The results speak
for themselves. Consider for example the safety goals and
statistics declared by both the US and the EU Transporta-
tion Commission. The USDOT has not formally put forth a
goal for accident decline. In recent mission statements and
technology forecasting, figures have been articulated as pos-
sible, probable but not as goals.
The US roadway fatalities have declined from by nearly 30
per cent, or 15,000 from the peak of 1980, or over a period of
34 years. The EU has experienced a decline in fatal crashes
totaling approximately 28,000, exceeding 50 per cent, since
Figure 5: Roadway Fatalities in the U.S. and EU
Figure 4: Infographic From the EU
Transportation Commission Update
30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 34 29/06/2014 20:36
EU insurance
The USDOT has not formally put forth a goal for accident decline. In
recent mission statements and technology forecasting, figures have
been articulated as possible, probable but not as goals
a peak in 2001. See the comparative graphs in Figure 5. This
remarkable result, along with the annual goal of 8 per cent
cannot be attributed exclusively to a more adaptive, proactive
insurance regulatory environment. However, this is a shining
example of what can be accomplished when both private and
public stakeholders can embrace aspirational goals, and cre-
ate the environment for success.
Connected Vehicle technologies and Autonomous Vehicle
technologies are expected to prevent 80 per cent to 90 per
cent of all accidents by some point in the future. The liability
and Tort system in the US has thus far indicated a focus more
on the 10 per cent to 20 per cent that cannot be prevented
due to a risk aversion that has evolved over time, and is rein-
forced by an inflexible and expensive regulatory ecosystem.
The EU appears to be more focused on the 80 per cent
to 90 per cent of preventable crash incidents and has articu-
lated clearly defined and credible goals, leveraging a risk
management (liability management) ecosystem to reinforce
achieving those goals. The new era of mobility will bring
unprecedented opportunities in the form of jobs, STEM
educational priorities, artificial intelligence, robotics, net-
working, data, providing the necessary leadership to resolve
specific global grand challenges. In the context of relying
upon the rule of law to rationally manage liability exposures,
the EU appears to be in that leadership position, welcoming
the future of transportation innovation.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Guy Fraker is CEO, get2kno, Inc; CLO of
AutonomouStuff, LLC; and President AUVSI:
Heartland Chapter
guy@get2kno.com
guycf4@gmail.com
30-35_TH_0214_NA_Fraker.indd 35 29/06/2014 20:36
OPINION PIECE Big Data
Until now the development and evolvement of Intelligent Transportation
Systems has been thwarted by the limitations of the data currently
available. But, says Tip Franklin, this is no longer the case
The Big Data transition
A
ll too often ITS has been more about simply collect-
ing all available data without really understanding
how best to process and use the data that is available,
and therefore how to transition raw data to information and
then onto actionable intelligence. Instead, we are thwarted
by our own inability to understand the data that is available
and simply do not understand systems and processes well
enough to be able to process the raw data and the quantity
of raw data that is actually available. As a result our focus
has been on the mantra of We just dont have all of the data
required to effectively operate and manage the surface trans-
portation networks. But in the world of Big Data this is no
longer true.
DISCUSSION
As an underpinning to the following I would postulate that
there is a continuum which establishes the utilization of
data in any decision process. Data, once collected, becomes
Information; Information, once processed, becomes Intel-
ligence; Intelligence, once distributed, becomes Actionable.
This is the Data Processing Stream (DPS). NOTE: for clarity
throughout the rest of this paper the term data may be used
regardless of the stage along the continuum under discussion
Each of these general descriptors data, informa-
tion, intelligence, actionable has a set of characteristics,
attributes and parameters that must be applied. For example,
the parameters for data require that it be accurate, timely and
above all, complete. If a bit of data does not meet these crite-
ria singularly and in composite, the entire ensuing flow along
the continuum becomes suspect.
As can be imagined the attribute of accurate is not con-
stant throughout the process, but is an attribute of timely,
or of how the data is to be used, and as we transition into
this big data world, this data may acutely alter.
It is the steps at each of these transition points that we
have to solidify. At each point along this DPS process we
have to identify potential sources, the appropriate filters, the
necessary processing (which could include transmission to
another DPS) and storage requirements. Plus we are going
to have to establish a set of priorities for collection, transmis-
sion, processing, analysis, distribution and storage.
To date there has been a little, but slowly increasing, flow
of data between the major players in this space the traffic
managers, the transit properties and the tolling authorities.
That is now changing with the advent of integrated corridor
management deployments that have brought freeway and
arterial traffic managers together and joined them to the
transit authorities within the corridor. Similarly, managed
lanes have caused the tolling authorities and the traffic man-
agement community to work together.
The data we have had in the past could best be categorized
as historic or real-time (which for a long time was consid-
ered to be the Holy Grail), yet the emergence of new data
sources must force us to reassess how best to use the data that
is becoming increasing available in ever-increasing amounts.
The emergence of the Connected Vehicle as an example, will
36-39_TH_0214_NA_Franklin.indd 36 29/06/2014 20:36
Big Data
revolutionize the amount of raw data that is available, the
data, as with all data sources will need careful analysis, need
to be run through algorithms tuned to a specific location,
and ultimately could provide a level of accuracy until now
only dreamt of. The latest estimate is that the full deploy-
ment of the Connected Vehicle will generate 11.1 Petabytes
(equivalent to 1m GB) of data points by 2020.
Given the current state of the industry in which all of the
data we currently have is neither fully understood nor partic-
ularly well utilized, how will DOTs respond to data sources
which will ultimately provide 100s of times more raw data
than ever previously received?
In order to understand and
address this increase in data
availability and successfully make
transition from data to information we
must:
1. Better understand the data sources.
2. Understand data limitations.
3. Understand data gaps.
4. Understand how data gaps can be filled to provide
smoothed data.
5. Deliver automated pre-processing systems that convert in
real time.
In order to use information as actionable intelligence we
must:
1. Better integrate data from multiple data sources.
2. Have the ability to (both automatically and manually)
remove or add additional data sets to complete an other-
wise incomplete picture.
3. Better visualize data, including data from disparate data
sources.
4. Provide automated updates to TMC Operators and Man-
agers.
We are going to be very data rich but we are simply not
ready! We have no filters; we have no integration schema; we
have no method of prioritizing this onrush of data to make it
usable in a timely and efficient manner.
Some of the questions that must be addressed:
How will you use data?
How will you process, store and distribute it?
What will be your litmus test as to viability, usability and
credibility?
How do you identify and control your sources?
How will you process visual and aural data (ie CCTV,
machine vision and telephonic reports?
How will you prioritize establishment, restoration and
maintenance of data sources?
How will you prioritize the flow of data through the vari-
ous communication media?
What is the evaluation process for inclusion/exclusion of
sources?
Who else can use your data; how do you get it to them and
in what form (raw or processed); and what is the timeline
If a bit of data does not meet these criteria
singularly and in composite, the entire ensuing
flow along the continuum becomes suspect
OPINION PIECE Big Data
to provide it?
What are the external sources of data that could be useful
to you?
What is the filter process for identifying the correct data to
store for planning processes?
What changes, if any, need to be made within your person-
nel organization and individual attributes (skills, knowl-
edge and abilities SKA) to be able to handle this?
These are just some of the litany of questions and consid-
erations we are going to face as we move into this Big
Data realm.
WHAT WE DO WITH
WHAT WEVE GOT
It should be established now that data is
really not the issue. It is what we do with it,
how we process it and how it is integrated
into the operations, management and plan-
ning activities that we must address.
How best to accommodate the onrush of Big
Data? From a simplistic perspective this is done by
addressing the four Ps Planning, Policy, Procedure and
Process.
Planning is actually the first and yet the most constant
of the Ps. You must have a plan for the implementation
and you must have a plan for the actual Big Data sup-
ported operation; the components of these two plans are
the other three Ps.
Policy considerations are driven by jurisdictional liabil-
ity concerns, mutual aid agreements and regional alignments
as well as any factor that might impact the legal and fiscal
aspects of the subject entity. It should drive the constraints
within which the system is to operate. It may also dictate
from and to which agencies data flow is to occur.
Process aspects address how the data is to be received,
processed, aggregated, stored and distributed; it addresses
more of the communication network, computing equip-
ment, personnel and facility considerations while Proce-
dure addresses how the data is to be utilized to accomplish
the assigned task.
As can be expected, planning for the implementation and
utilization of Big Data is iterative and continuing. Develop-
ment of the implementation plan will entail a review and
analysis of currently available data and will establish the
base case plan to be implemented on Day One of opera-
tion. Additionally, a significant element of this plan has to
address the policy aspects of
how the system will grow,
flex, expand and adapt
to new and varying
sources of data. If this
system review meth-
odology is not estab-
lished as part of the
initial planning there is
a significant risk that the
resulting system will not
have the necessary breadth
and depth of life cycle manage-
ment to ensure a long and productive life cycle of the
supported system.
The operational plan must build on this base case
and constantly review all aspects of the supported
decision support system people, procedures,
HW/SW/Communication networks, facilities and
decision aids to, for example, establish new training
requirements, facility modifications, equipment mod-
ifications/upgrades/eliminations and the need to
implement or modify the processes currently
in use. In short, the operational plan is a roll-
ing plan that always looks forward to ensure
the fiscal and human resource requirements
are programmed in a sequence that opti-
mizes the system performance while mini-
mizing unexpected perturbations.
SUMMARY
The onset of Big Data will bring quantum leaps in the data
available to feed the decision support systems attendant to
the successful operation of the surface transportation net-
work. It will entail significant thought as to how best to tran-
sition from todays paucity of data to tomorrows glut of
data. Developing a clear understanding of how data is col-
lected, how it is to be processed and distributed and what
decision process needs it will support are at the core of devel-
oping a path forward. Now is the time to start.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tip Franklin is Senior Advisor, Transportation at
Schneider Electrics Smart Infrastructure division,
based in Lakeland, Florida
tip.franklin@telvent.com
Development of the implementation plan will entail a review and
analysis of currently available data and will establish the base case
plan to be implemented on Day One of operation
Reinventing Transportation
in our Connected World
September 7-11 | Detroit, Michigan
Produced by:
Co-hosts:
Join the 10,000 international transportation professionals who will
gather in Detroit, Michigan this September for the 2014 World
Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). These industry
leaders will converge on Americas Motor City with the goal of
bringing greater levels of safety, efficiency, sustainability, and
connectivity to transportation systems worldwide.

The 2014 ITS World Congress boasts keynote addresses from
industry titans at Ford, General Motors, HNTB, and Verizon;
interactive technology showcases with 30 live demonstrations on
Michigans Belle Isle; more than 250 programmatic panels,
roundtables, and interactive sessions; a 300,000 square-foot
exhibit area in the newly refurbished Cobo Hall; as well as
numerous networking events with the whos who in ITS. Dont
miss this opportunity to join the discussion as we begin
Reinventing Transportation in our Connected World.
www.itsworldcongress.org | #ITSWC14
Sponsors:
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Nonmembers $1700
Members $1540
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ThinkingHighways_AmericaJune.pdf 1 6/25/14 1:30 PM
Reinventing Transportation
in our Connected World
September 7-11 | Detroit, Michigan
Produced by:
Co-hosts:
Join the 10,000 international transportation professionals who will
gather in Detroit, Michigan this September for the 2014 World
Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). These industry
leaders will converge on Americas Motor City with the goal of
bringing greater levels of safety, efficiency, sustainability, and
connectivity to transportation systems worldwide.

The 2014 ITS World Congress boasts keynote addresses from
industry titans at Ford, General Motors, HNTB, and Verizon;
interactive technology showcases with 30 live demonstrations on
Michigans Belle Isle; more than 250 programmatic panels,
roundtables, and interactive sessions; a 300,000 square-foot
exhibit area in the newly refurbished Cobo Hall; as well as
numerous networking events with the whos who in ITS. Dont
miss this opportunity to join the discussion as we begin
Reinventing Transportation in our Connected World.
www.itsworldcongress.org | #ITSWC14
Sponsors:
Full Registration Rates
Nonmembers $1700
Members $1540
U.S. Public Sector $1000
Michigan Public Sector $700
Exhibitions Only $225
*see website for complete list
Registration
Now Open!
C
M
Y
CM
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ThinkingHighways_AmericaJune.pdf 1 6/25/14 1:30 PM
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Innovation
Innovative approaches to get travelers to help manage
transportation in metro corridors, assessed by Paul Minett
People have the power
U
s travelers have been doing a lousy job in terms of
our contribution to the successful management of
the road system and a phenomenal job contributing
to over-subscribing it.
Even though day in and day out we arrive to find the roads
full, we just keep on arriving. Some of us adjust our trip start
times, starting earlier every year. Others of us do not adjust
our trip start times, nor do we look to alternatives. Either way
we grumble, but in the end accept the early starts or trips that
take twice as long or more than they ought to take.
We do not catch the bus. We do not carpool or vanpool.
We fail to recognize that the road just does not have enough
space for all of us at the same time. We travel in hope.
Across the USA, in cities of over 50,000 people, for the
trip to work, 90.4 per cent of road-based commuters travel
as drivers. Only 9.6 per cent of us are traveling as passengers:
about 3.5 per cent in buses and 6.1 per cent in car and van-
pools (see Figure 1 ).
We set out each day in our private vehicle, generally 90% of
us as drivers, being very rational even if people think we are
not. Here is how we are rational:
1 We leave home according to our own schedule, a few
minutes earlier or later than planned or on time, in a
vehicle that is ready to go when we are;
2 As we leave home, we take with us the means of our
return on similarly convenient terms;
3 As we leave home, we travel with hope in our souls. The
hope is that today will be the day that there is magically
less traffic than usual, that we will get a clear run, and
arrive at our destination early, not stressed, and there will
be a perfect parking space waiting for us. Hope is a pow-
erful thing, and as long as we get that dream run every
once in a while, we will keep on traveling in hope rather
than changing what we do.
4 While the all-up cost of owning and operating a car does
indeed work out to over 50 cents per mile, most of those
costs are fixed costs on an annual basis, or over the life of
the vehicle, so the added cost of driving to work on any
given day is really very little.
Figure 1:
Workers mode of
getting to work
40-44_TH_0214_NA_Minett.indd 40 29/06/2014 20:50
Innovation
We hide behind the idea that this is all someone elses responsibility:
either the politicians or the engineers or both
5 Our employers provide us with free parking, or allow
us to pay for our parking with pre-tax dollars for a fixed
monthly amount that is pretty reasonable. We would not
get any savings in parking costs as a result of not driving
some days.
6 When we consider taking transit we see: overcrowded
buses or suspiciously empty ones; huge complexity of
chained bus trips; high potential for missed connections;
a huge risk of being stranded and unable to get home; and
even if those things happen only rarely, they seem to hap-
pen often enough to convince us to steer clear of them.
7 When we consider carpooling or vanpooling we see sim-
ilar complexity and risk, as well as a potential straight-
jacket that removes our flexibility to change our plans
without worrying about other peoples needs.
Us travelers generally think that the best answer to traf-
fic congestion is expanding the number of lanes or adding
more public transport so there will be more room for all
of us. This might be because when transportation planners
ask for our input they generally offer us two boxes: one says
expand roads, the other says add public transport. We tick
both boxes, and hope. We hope other people will take public
transport so we can keep driving.
We hide behind the idea that this is all someone elses
responsibility: either the politicians or the engineers or both.
Sure we spend an extra hour or more each day away from our
loved ones, but it seems unavoidable.
But if we were to think deeply about these two choices
what might come to mind is the old adage that the thinking
that got us into this mess is not likely to be the thinking that
gets us out of it.
What is the thinking that got us into this mess? Figure
2 shows vehicle speed compared with vehicle flow. This
is a well-accepted picture in transportation: Vehicle flow
Figure 2:
Speed vs vehicle
flow
Key Point: The killer app that
magically gets us to stop driving is
pretty unlikely to come along.
40-44_TH_0214_NA_Minett.indd 41 29/06/2014 20:50
increases until demand reaches physical capacity, and as
demand increases beyond physical capacity flow decreases.
Note that this chart shows the flow of vehicles.
It does not show the flow of people and goods that are
being carried in those vehicles.
Us travelers experience two different types of congestion,
as highlighted in Figure 2: Type 1 Congestion that occurs
between free-flow and the system just being full, where addi-
tional vehicles might slow the traffic but the total throughput
increases; and Type 2 where each additional vehicle causes
the total throughput to decrease. Think of Type 1 Congestion
as the delay you experience when you are third in line at the
traffic light, and after the light turns green you wait about
four seconds before you can start moving.
Those four seconds are a Type 1 congestion delay. Think
of Type 2 congestion as the delay you experience when you
are third in line, but after the light turns green the first and
second cannot get through the intersection because the next
block is full, and you are delayed a whole cycle. That whole
cycle is a Type 2 congestion delay.
We do not generally notice Type 1 congestion, but we
really dislike Type 2: fewer vehicles get through; the traffic
is more unpredictable; we have to allow more and more time
to reach our destinations; there is a greater probability of
fender-benders that cause even greater delay; we use energy
and create tail-pipe emissions while going nowhere; and it
is also now emerging that there are bad health outcomes
caused by sitting in traffic. The key point to understand
about Type 1 and Type 2 congestion is that Type 1 occurs
within the design capacity of the road, while Type 2 is caused
by how we travelers use the road. While we are individually
rational, collectively we create a mess by not using the road
within its capacity.
When there was plenty of space to expand roads, and
the Highway Trust Fund was healthy, the simple solution
to Type 2 Congestion was to expand the physical capacity
of the roads. Now that both those conditions have changed,
the solution to Type 2 congestion is no longer an engineer-
ing matter. It has been at least two decades since conditions
changed, but as community we persist in turning to trans-
portation engineers and politicians to fix the problem. While
Transportation planners and politicians develop ever-more
expensive solutions, they dont do enough to discourage us
from continuing to use the roads in the same way we did
when there was ample capacity.
Here are some suggestions for ways to get us travelers to
participate more in efforts to manage corridors. We assume
the goal is to get all travelers and freight to our destinations,
at the time we want to get there, without wasting time in
Type 2 Congestion.
1 The first job would be to calculate the capacity of the road
in logical segments (that us travelers can understand) and
to develop a way of measuring what percentage of capac-
ity is being used at any point in time.
2 The second job would be to set a target for managing that
capacity. Some allocation should be made for freight and
services. The target should be to eliminate Type 2 Con-
gestion, with an added margin to ensure there is always
Figure 3:
Making
passengers
visible
40-44_TH_0214_NA_Minett.indd 42 29/06/2014 20:50
Innovation
room for some variability in volumes without tipping
into Type 2. As a suggestion: consider 85 per cent of vehi-
cle capacity as the optimal target.
3 The third job would be to use this information to deter-
mine the amount of reduction in vehicle counts required
on a time slice basis, to get traffic down to that target level
on a route-by-route basis within each time slice.
4 Given there are hundreds of empty car seats for every
empty public transport seat, the first place we would turn
for help would be to the people driving cars with empty
seats. The fourth job would be to work with these people
to understand what is needed for them to:
a) Increase the rate at which they choose to be passengers;
and
b) Increase the rate at which they offer rides to other
people
Each person who switches to being a passenger instead of
driving reduces the probability of Type 2 Congestion occur-
ring. People who are prepared to switch are therefore the
most valuable people on the system, and they should be
treated very well, because if they switch it makes the traffic
better for all of us: freight and services included. For example,
if all current drivers left their car at home one day per week,
there would be a 20 per cent reduction in traffic volumes,
and likely, for a short time at least, a 100 per cent reduction
in (ie elimination of) Type 2 Congestion. The goal would be
to manage not only the demand, but the latent demand as
well, so that the reduction in Type 2 Congestion is sustained.
A logical approach would be to get the community of users
(that is us travelers and the freight and services people) to
assume some responsibility for achieving the target. Travel-
lers are not usually engaged in this way, except during bus
strikes and Carmageddon
1
!
While figuring out how to get us drivers to help achieve
the target, there are several things managers of the transpor-
tation system could do to encourage people to become pas-
sengers more of the time. For example:
Policy Changes or Clarification
1 Charge us daily for employment-location parking. Sure,
no one really wants to have to pay, but we know this will
make us think more about the options. To make sure it is
fair, require our employers to pay us cash-out for parking
at fair value, and charge us for parking at a market rate on
the days that we use it.
2 Make it clear that if we give people rides on our way to
work, and they give us some money, it is not going to be
taxable income or mess up our insurance cover.
Recognition and Reward
3 Recognize us for being good citizens when we travel as a
passenger whether on a bus or in a car or van put us
in prize draws or pay us or give us other benefits (perhaps
points we can use to make parking tickets go away, or to
use the bike-share system).
4 Integrate the fare-paying mechanisms, including any
amount we pay as passengers in carpools or vanpools,
so that we get the same transfer benefits as people who
transfer bus to/from bus, or bus to/from train, and put
these all into a single payment media.
5 When we travel as passengers, provide a back-up system
that makes it easy for us to get home in an emergency
either transit, or vouchers for a taxi, or both.
6 Support testing of new ways to make passengers visible,
especially automatic mechanisms that require no action
by the participants, and explore mechanisms for reward-
ing passengers based on this data. See Figure 3 for one
idea for doing this.
NOTE
1 Improvement work for the freeways in Los Angeles
in 2011 and 2012 was expected to cause chaos,
dubbed Carmageddon. Chaos did not occur.
If all current drivers left their car at home once a week, there would
be a 20 per cent reduction in traffic volumes a 100 per cent
reduction in Type 2 Congestion
Key Point: Solving Type 2 Congestion
is not an engineering problem
Key Point: We are equally valuable
whether in a carpool or a bus. You
need to get over the scavenger issue.
Key Point: Turn first to capacity in cars.
There is more of it and it costs much less.
40-44_TH_0214_NA_Minett.indd 43 29/06/2014 20:50
Key Point: the 90 per cent who drive are
not well understood. Research is needed.
Make Alternatives Work Better
7 Make it really easy for us to get around at the destination
without our cars an inexpensive bike-sharing system, a
low-cost car-sharing system, a very responsive taxi sys-
tem, and really frequent transit or circulator buses are
all ways to achieve this; and present them all as choices
on a single mobile app.
8 Make taxis much easier to get, easier to pay for, and less
costly review taxi regulations to remove caps on the
number of taxis and the technologies they can use.
9 Expand park-and-ride wherever it makes sense, so that
we can access either planned or casual carpools or van-
pools or transit. Establish casual carpooling meeting-
places to fill up the HOVs, and reward us with HOV3
lanes and priority HOV3 parking.
10 Support testing of new ways to form carpools, to make it
easier for us to be passengers on a dynamic basis.
11 Support testing of new ways to get people to transit sta-
tions such as demand responsive shared shuttles or
dedicated cycles and walking paths, or flexible carpool-
ing solutions.
12 For the times we take transit, make sure the connections
work so that we do not get stranded, or provide reliable
back-up systems.
Communicate
13 Communicate with us honestly and directly about what
we need to achieve: tell us how we did yesterday and
today, and what we need to do to make tomorrow work.
Dont be afraid to ask us to help. Just be prepared to rec-
ognize us in an appropriate way for the help we give.
CONCLUSION
Travellers jam up the roads, and this wastes time and energy,
pollutes the atmosphere, damages our health and has other
negative externalities. This paper puts forward the idea that
travelers might help manage traffic demand in corridors if
the goal was for getting everyone, freight included, to the
destination on time while avoiding Type 2 Congestion, and
if: travelers were appropriately understood; parking and tax-
ation policy encouraged change; there was sufficient recog-
nition and reward; the alternatives to driving worked better;
and there was appropriate communication so we know what
is going on.
The main points are that the goal should focus on getting
people and freight through rather than vehicles; that the
massive capacity of the empty seats in private cars should be
the first port of call for changing total throughput; and that
there is unlikely to be a solution that is a magic bullet that
makes driving cars a less attractive option, so a more collabo-
rative approach should be used.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Minett is the Auckland, New Zealand-based chair
of the Ridesharing Institute, a US non-profit; chair of
the Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Subcommittee
of the TRB, and a founder of Raspberry Express, a
carpooling solution based on meeting-places rather
than databases.
paulminett@tripconvergence.co.nz
http://www.ridesharinginstitute.org
This paper puts forward
the idea that travelers might
help manage traffic demand
in corridors if the goal was
for getting everyone, freight
included, to the destination
on time
40-44_TH_0214_NA_Minett.indd 44 29/06/2014 20:50
Listen to how the
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45_TH_0214_NA_Podcast sponsors.indd 45 29/06/2014 20:51
STATE CHAPTER FOCUS GRITS
The Gulf Region Intelligent
Transportation Society (GRITS)
has paved the way for numerous
advances in ITS, supporting
improved mobility, safety and
sustainability. As the name
implies, GRITS is an organization
characterized by Southern
tradition from its members to
the values that serve as the
driving force behind the chapters
achievements, as Laura Hartley
describes
Trust works
T
he GRITS philosophy is centered on relationships
and providing added value to members. The chapter
provides the opportunity for those relationships to
be forged and strengthened. With each passing year mem-
bership numbers have grown, and members are becoming
more engaged. Chapter growth can be attributed to strong
leadership and successful annual events, which are marked
with a uniquely Southern flair. New projects, technologies
and applications in each state have advanced as a result of
the chapters initiatives. GRITS serves as an educational and
advocacy group for ITS, reaching out to not only its current
regional stakeholders, but the next generation of profes-
sionals, policy makers, and neighboring chapters. And it all
began as a casual discussion between two DOT ITS program
managers, colleagues that held common values.
GRITS BEGINNINGS
GRITS was founded in 2009 as a tri-state regional chapter
of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITSA)
inclusive of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Before its
Below: 2013 Annual Meeting
New Orleans Exhibit Hall
First GRITS Board Meeting
LADOTDs ITS Program Manager
Steve Glascock and Chris Hilyer,
ALDOTs Operations Manager
2012 Meeting ITS
Americas Scott Belcher
with Mississippi DOTs
Mike Stokes and
Louisianas Jonathan Fox
46-49_TH_0214_NA_GRITS.indd 46 29/06/2014 21:51
GRITS
It all began as a casual discussion between two DOT ITS program
managers, colleagues that held common values
said Chris Hilyer, Alabama Department of Transportation
(ALDOT) Operations Manager.
With all three states committed, the board was finalized
and the inaugural board meeting was held. Over 200 attend-
ees were present for the 2009 event, deeming it a success for
the chapter.
The first annual GRITS meeting featured a sound tech-
nical program, great food, fellowship, and of course South-
ern hospitality, said Stokes. Weve emphasized partnership
building as the cornerstone. Its how we launched GRITS and
how weve continued for every GRITS event since.
ANNUAL MEETINGS
The annual meetings provide a wide array of educational
opportunities and networking activities. The events serve to
advance programs and projects as well as provide an opportu-
nity for new relationships to be formed.
If it werent for the formation of GRITS and the services
provided through the annual meetings, the ALDOT ITS pro-
gram simply wouldnt be where it is today, noted Hilyer. I
can pick up the phone and call any one of my GRITS col-
leagues with an ITS question and within 30 minutes receive
the answer I need. It is those relationships that are forged
through GRITS that are invaluable.
The annual meetings alternate between the three member
states each year to provide equal opportunities for all involved
while including more stakeholders across the region.
It can be hard sometimes to get out-of-state travel
approved, said Glascock. In having our annual meetings
alternate between the states we ensure that folks that cant
get travel approved during these hard economic times can
still participate.
A testament to the success of the annual meetings can be
seen in the number of attendees. The GRITS annual meet-
ings draw upwards of 200 participants each year, and the
number of attendees steadily increases.
It is a little bit of a competition between the states to make
each meeting better than the last, a healthy rivalry that is
much like how we are about college football, added Stokes.
It helps keep us energized, and allows each state a sense of
ownership and pride in the successes each meeting brings.
It is not only in the numbers that indicate the success of the
meetings, but in the ITS advancements made.
Alternating between the states not only allows us to pro-
vide member value, but also allows us to learn about new
ITS projects and programs that we can then use in our own
projects, commented Glascock.
Each annual meeting features a ITS State-of-the-State ses-
sion to provide an opportunity for each of the state DOTs to
inception, Mike Stokes, Mississippi Department of Transpor-
tation (MDOT) ITS Program Manager and Steve Glascock,
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
(LADOTD) ITS Program Manager began discussing the
possibility of forming an ITS state chapter in 2008 following
that years MDOT ITS Forum.
We knew we wanted to start a chapter and so MDOT
hosted the Forum to engage local stakeholders as well as
bring in representatives from neighboring states to determine
if enough interest was there, said Stokes. The response was
overwhelmingly favorable that there needed to be some form
of educational and advocacy group for ITS.
Following the event, a steering committee was established,
and the collaborative work to form the chapter officially
began. The steering committee was responsible for setting
the goals of the chapter along with its bylaws. A key compo-
nent in the chapters formation was establishing the first slate
of board members.
Early on we knew we would need a champion in each
state that would participate, commented Steve Glascock.
We also wanted balanced representation from the public,
private and academic sectors from each member state.
With Mississippi and Louisiana on board, a steering com-
mittee eagerly working to secure a diverse board, all that was
left was an official response from Alabama. MDOT invited
Alabama to attend the first official GRITS meeting, which
was held in Biloxi, MS in 2009, hopeful that ALDOT would
decide to participate in the joint chapter.
It was at the 11th hour, around the time of the first GRITS
meeting, I worked with our ITS committee and in recog-
nizing the benefits, we enthusiastically responded Yes!,
GRITS Regional
Workshop in Spring
2012 at the University
of Alabama Students
helping with registration
46-49_TH_0214_NA_GRITS.indd 47 29/06/2014 21:51
STATE CHAPTER FOCUS GRITS
present on their latest ITS projects or programs. Interestingly
enough, last years annual meeting featured one such project
that exemplifies how the chapters partnership mentality
has catapulted region-wide initiatives. Of recent and nota-
ble mention are the recent efforts surrounding each states
Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) software
deployments. MDOT deployed its ATMS in 2013 and seeing
the capabilities of the system, Louisiana and Alabama fol-
lowed suit shortly afterwards.
Having access to the lessons learned from other states
has been a tremendous advantage to our own ATMS deploy-
ment, commented Glascock. We were able to glean useful
information and apply that to our deployment.
SEAMLESS TRANSITION
The ATMS deployment also highlights another initiative
reflective of the how GRITS has enabled partnerships that
advance ITS, the Mississippi River Bridges Incident Manage-
ment, Freight Movement and Security Project. The project is
being funded by 100 per cent federal funds awarded under
the United States Department of Transportations TIGER
III Grant. The grant application was a joint effort between
MDOT, LADOTD, and Arkansas Highways and Transpor-
tation Department (AHTD). The system also uses an ATMS
system that is compatible and seamless between each states
individual ATMS system.
Knowing that both Louisiana and Mississippi were on the
road to their own ATMS deployments we reached out to our
ATMS software vendor. They agreed to provide private sec-
tor partnership funds to support the project, said Stokes.
Following project completion, slated for August of this
year, the three states will collaboratively operate and manage
the system. Additionally, the project includes the formation
of a joint Traffic Incident Management (TIM) coalition
to deploy unified, multi-disciplinary policies to improve
incident management.
In addition to these initiatives each state has high hopes
for future partnerships and information sharing opportuni-
ties. GRITS has been a driving force in these advancements;
not only in each member states individual ITS programs, but
also in ITS programs that drive the region as a whole.
ACADEMIC AND LEGISLATIVE OUTREACH
Over the last two years the chapter has been looking to
engage students in ITS. Beyond the annual meetings GRITS
has also hosted several regional workshops at Universities in
each state to foster student participation.
A core philosophy that has enabled this chapter to expe-
rience unprecedented growth has been to initiate and work
with the next generation of leaders through our Academic
Committee and the 14 Universities that are spread across our
three states, said ALDOTs Chris Hilyer.
The chapter holds two workshops a year that alternate
between the states not hosting the years annual event. The
topics of the workshop are chosen based on what is most
relevant in the area. The location is also chosen to facilitate
exchange between more locals that may not have an oppor-
tunity to travel to the annual events.
We wanted to make sure throughout the year the entire
region felt engaged along with our students, commented
Stokes. The workshops are geared to provide an economical
alternative to those that cant come to the annual meeting.
GRITS is not only looking to the next generation, but
actively engaging with state legislatures and policy makers to
advance ITS initiatives.
We are working with our private sector legislative com-
mittee chairs in each state to more actively engage with leg-
islators, provide educational opportunities, and ultimately
advance ITS, stated Hilyer.
LOOKING AHEAD 2014 ITS 3C
SUMMIT AND BEYOND
Today the chapter is reaching beyond its borders to share
its vision with others alongside neighbors in Georgia
Right: GRITS Membership
Growth Award presented
by ITS America
Above: Installing devices on a bridge; Above right: Natchez, MS
river bridge MSRITS project
46-49_TH_0214_NA_GRITS.indd 48 29/06/2014 21:51
49 North America Vol 9 No 2
GRITS
and Florida through the combined ITS 3C Summit that
takes place 14-17 September in Mobile, AL. The meeting
is estimated to draw over 700 attendees from across the
United States.
In the South, families live on a sense of core values and one
of those is to always lend a hand to your neighbor, said Hilyer.
In January 2012, the concept was born to partner with
other neighboring ITS chapters to form a southeastern
regional Intelligent Transportation Summit. GRITS engaged
with leaders from ITS chapters in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia,
and Florida to facilitate input and determine interest in hold-
ing a joint event.
We learned of some BP oil incentive funds that would be
available for events held on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, said
Hilyer. So we reached out to our neighbors to pitch the con-
cept. We also thought this would be a great way to engage
with neighbors and provide enhanced learning opportuni-
ties to our members. We also recognized that by combining
chapter annual meetings we would provide an economic
advantage to our vendors and sponsors.
The decision was then made for the GRITS, ITS Georgia
and ITS Florida chapters to host the joint event. A Planning
Committee was established with volunteers from each of the
chapters involved.
The meetings theme of Combined Intelligence Work-
ing Together for Smarter Transportation is indicative of
GRITS. The chapter embodies the credo by focusing on rela-
tionships, partnerships, added member value and of course
combined intelligence.
In the South trust and confidence is established through
years of relationship building, commented Hilyer. GRITS
provides opportunities to build these through the Summit
and other activities; providing added member value for the
advancement of ITS, transportation safety, mobility and
sustainability.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Laura Hartley is an Associate Transportation
Engineer at Gresham, Smith & Partners in Jackson,
Mississippi
laura_hartley@gspnet.com
www.its3csummit.com
Weve emphasized
partnership building as the
cornerstone. Its how we
launched GRITS and how weve
continued for every GRITS
event since
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46-49_TH_0214_NA_GRITS.indd 49 29/06/2014 21:51
thinkinghighways.com Vol 9 No 2 North America
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS Connected camping
ONLINE BONUS CONTENT
How ITS can connect camping and recreation
parks to the outside world and, therefore,
safety by Bruce Abernethy
Parks and recreation
C
amping and Recreation Parks (CRP) are popular des-
tinations for travelers. Many require reservations for
camping locations, which may include camper hook-
up or tent erection areas so safety is a major concern. Past
news reports includes loss of life due to flash-flooding, unpre-
dicted severe storms, forest fires and mudslides. Accidents can
also occur from falls during hiking, swimming, burns from
campfires and even attacks from wild animals. Visitor safety
requires the ability of emergency services to detect and assess
risk of harm to visitors as well as the ability to communicate
advisory and warning information to visitors.
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology can
support both the management of camping and recreation
parks as well as safety related to visitors to the parks. The
emergency of connected vehicles and highway technology
will facilitate distributing information to visitors as they
approach the park area as well as when they are in the park
area. In addition, emphasis is now being placed on closer
integration of weather assessment and reporting by ITS cent-
ers. Thus in the future, improved assessment of park weather
conditions and risk assessment will be possible.
NEEDS MUST
The needs of a CRP include:
Sensors to support information collection related to
assessing safety risk. This includes:
o Localized weather sensors including flooding condi-
tions in CRP streams (water depth, rise versus time
and flow velocity), dense fog inhibiting visibility; and
high winds which would place tents and trailers in
danger;
o Localized fuel moisture content complementing
weather sensors (wind direction/velocity, temperature,
and humidity) supporting fire danger assessment and
restrictions on open camp fires;
o Soil conditions supporting mud slides;
o Snow avalanche and rock fall;
o Presence of out of control fires (smoke and heat
detection sensors);
Surveillance sensors around safety risk areas (such as
swimming areas in a river or lake and rock climbing areas)
that support detection of an accident and assessment of
emergency needs;
thinkinghighways.com North America Vol 9 No 2
Connected camping
Early assessment of risk and rapid CRP visitors
warning is a requirement for minimizing injuries
and loss of life within CRPs
Sensors to support park access control, traffic, vehicle
parking and camping site management;
Ability to communicate with mobile visitors (in vehicles,
on bicycles and walking);
Integration of traffic, weather, parks management,
and emergency information supporting safety risk and
resources management;
Early assessment of risk and rapid CRP visitors warning is a
requirement for minimizing injuries and loss of life within
CRPs.
In addition to natural disasters in CRPs, there is also the
potential for assaults and robberies.
While campers are away from their vehicles and tents,
their property is unprotected. Thus a further need is security
surveillance and the ability to identify vehicles entering and
leaving the park area.
Vehicles with DSRCs support this via their basic safety
measure and communications security. Video detection with
license plate readers can support detection and identification
of vehicle not equipped with DSRCs.
GOING MOBILE
DSRC will connect vehicles to roadside equipment associ-
ated with the CRPs. RSE along the main corridor can provide
the announcement of the upcoming CRP area. It can further
provide information on:
CRP open or closed (due to safety conditions and/or
maintenance activity) status;
MAP of the CRP access;
Available parking and/or camping sites;
Entry restrictions (size of vehicles, fire arms, etc.);
Entry requirements (reservations if required and fees for
use);
At the entrance of the CRP, an RSE may be used to:
Control access,
Collect park use fee;
Provide a detailed park MAP that is used by the OBE VAD
to guide the driver to assigned parking and/or camping
site;
Provide a log of vehicle ID, and park entrance/exit for
security;
Figure 1. SMART Camping and Recreation Park Supported by ITS Technology
thinkinghighways.com Vol 9 No 2 North America
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS Connected camping
Provide weather information to the visitor;
Identify services and location provided within the park
area;
In addition to the DSRC network, a Wi-Fi wireless network
may be set up in the CRP area with access points providing
coverage. Technology standard would be compatible with
that integrated into smartphones. The Wi-FI link would be
used to:
Provide safety alerts and warnings to visitors including:
o Weather Alerts and Warnings;
o Fire Danger Warnings and associated fire restrictions;
o Park evacuation;
o Closed areas due to hazards (such as rock climbing,
swimming area, or hiking trail with sighted, potentially
harmful animal such as a bear or cougar);
Provide a means of communications an emergency need
request to park rangers and emergency services via the ITS
network and receiving instructions while emergency serv-
ices are responding to the emergency notification.

As the visitors vehicle exits the CRP, the park area CRP can
provide the driver with corridor traffic conditions, roadway-
related weather and exit instructions. The exit event of the
vehicle would also be logged. Should a criminal event occur,
the RSE can also be used to shut down access and exit cor-
ridor, supporting emergency services investigation of the
incident. Because many of the CRPs are in rural areas, the
park ITS subsystem mar use an LTE wireless network to link
it back to a regional ITS center and the nearest emergency
operations center.
ARCHITECTURE
Figure 1 illustrates a CRP Area with DSRC used to support
information to travelers. Figure 2 illustrates the CRP ITS
subsystem linking sensors to the local processor that man-
ages the safety and resources within the park and links it to
regional management and emergency response.
As shown in Figure 3, Wi-Fi access points within the
park area allow the system to communicate with visi-
tors (not requiring utilization of cellular service time and
associated fees) providing rapid dissemination of safety-
related information and a means of quickly requesting
emergency assistance.
SUMMARY
DSRC combined with low cost Wi-Fi technology can provide
a critical link between the CRP infrastructure and support-
ing safety applications. There is always a tradeoff between
safety and privacy. In the past multiple visitors have lost their
Figure 2. Multiple Sensors and Communications Technologies Supports Visitor Safety at the SMART Park
thinkinghighways.com North America Vol 9 No 2
Connected camping
lives because of unpredicted weather activity combined with
the inability to communicate in a remote area. Perhaps peace
of mine to allow the enjoyment of the CRP recreational acti-
vates and knowledge that rapid response to an emergency is
available is a good compromise between privacy and safety.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Abernethy is Principal of Vector Alpha Systems
International (VASI) based in Allen, Texas
b.abernethy@ieee.org
Figure 3. Wireless
Communications supports
Mobility within the Camping
and Recreation Park Area
Thinking Highways Extra
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activities of countries, regions and cities, plus:
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SHOW PREVIEW ITS World Congress 2014
Coming home:
Motor City welcomes
the world of ITS
F
rom 711 September, for the first time in its history,
the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Sys-
tems comes to the home of Americas auto industry:
Detroit, Michigan.
The ITS World Congress only occurs in the Americas
once every three years so its quite an honor to host 10,000
of the worlds high tech transportation leaders as they
gather to discuss and showcase the technologies that are
driving the future of transportation. But while its an honor
to be sure, in some ways, its overdue.
Some 101 years after Henry Ford developed the Model-T
production line, it seems entirely appropriate that Ameri-
cas original Motor City is paving the way for the next itera-
tion of the transportation industry. In fact, today Michigan
is home to 375 automotive research and development cent-
ers, 120 of which are foreign-owned. With its renowned
automotive manufacturing base, concentration of trans-
portation companies, research institutions and deploying
agencies, and cutting-edge R&D footprint, Michigan has
an automotive infrastructure that is unmatched anywhere
in the world and makes it the perfect backdrop for the ITS
World Congress.
SHOWCASE
Sitting at the largest freight border crossing in North Amer-
ica, more than 25 per cent of all goods between the US and
Canada come through Detroit and that number will soon
increase. A new massive bridge will soon connect our two
The future of transportation to be showcased
where it all began: the ITS World Congress heads to
Detroit, as Jim Barbaresso explains
50-52_TH_0214_NA_Barbaresso.indd 50 29/06/2014 21:51
ITS World Congress 2014
Michigan has an automotive
infrastructure unmatched anywhere in
the world and makes it the perfect
backdrop for the ITS World Congress
The newly -refurbished Cobo Center provides a
spectacular venue for this world congress
P
h
o
t
o
s
:

C
o
b
o

C
e
n
t
e
r
SHOW PREVIEW ITS World Congress 2014
nations featuring the latest Intelligent Transportation tech-
nologies all designed to speed up the crossing while increas-
ing traffic flow and protecting the border.
Attendees at the ITS World Congress will not only get to
hear about the latest advances in transportation, theyll get
to see and experience them first hand. For the first time in
Detroit convention history, our conference activities will
extend to Belle Isle, a 900-acre state park in the middle of
the Detroit River, to showcase and demonstrate driverless
vehicles, connected vehicles and a host of other cutting edge
transportation technologies.
The ITS World Congress will be based at Detroits newly
refurbished Cobo Center. Its a spectacular home for our
event with 300,000 square feet of exhibition space, state-of-
the-art meeting facilities and stunning views of downtown
and the Detroit River.
Our speaker list represents a whos who of transportation
technology titans including Ford Motor Company
Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Verizon Chairman and
CEO Lowell McAdam, and Robert Slimp, CEO of HNTB
Infrastructure.
Well also draw the worlds leading transportation policy-
makers, researchers, high-tech innovators, and business pro-
fessionals from more than 65 countries to share the latest ITS
applications from around the globe. Were planning a youth
showcase to highlight the next generation of ITS talent and
investor matching opportunities for high-tech transporta-
tion startups that will shape our industry and pave the way to
smarter cities around the world.
The exhibition hall will literally be transformed into a
transportation hub where attendees will see behind the cur-
tain and experience live, multimodal transportation opera-
tions in real-time at our working replica of the Michigan
Department of Transportations Southeast Michigan Traffic
Operations Center. In addition, the World Congress will fea-
ture more than 250 panels, roundtables, and interactive town
hall sessions, and numerous networking and media events.
Its a special moment in and for Detroit. Were reinventing
Southeast Michigan as a global center for Intelligent Transpor-
tation and when you come to the ITS World Congress, youll
have the opportunity to witness that transformation and par-
ticipate in it, first-hand. We hope to see you in Detroit.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jim Barbaresso is Organizing Committee Chairman
for the 2014 ITS World Congress. A long-time
Michigan transportation leader, he is also Vice
President of Intelligent Transportation for HNTB
Corporation
You can learn more about the 2014 ITS World
Congress by visiting: www.itsworldcongress.org
The Preliminary Program is now available and
registration is open
Were reinventing Southeast Michigan as a
global center for Intelligent Transportation
Shows within shows
I
ts always nice to see the audience fig-
ures for Thinking Aloud, the Thinking
Highways podcast, and how many
people enjoy listening to our on-demand
radio programmes from various major
ITS events around the world.
But when we were at Intertraffic in
Amsterdam I actually had an audi-
ence whilst I was making a programme,
because I was putting the whole thing
together whilst seated at the Thinking
Highways stand.
One of the beauties of modern tech-
nology is the ability to do things remotely
that used to require specific equipment
in a specific place. Aside from the fact we
wouldnt be able to easily disseminate the
programme, 20 years or so ago wed never
have had the ability to build a 30-minute
news programme from remote locations
without transporting tape machines and
tape, sound mixers, microphones and
the various paraphernalia that went with
creating radio programmes (including
old fashioned tape-splicing razor blades
which they might not let on the plane
these days!).
Now, with some (fairly expensive)
software, a decent audio recorder and the
knowledge of what to do, we can create a
programme from anywhere. Thats why I
was able to sit at a desk in the middle of
the worlds biggest traffic conference and
create four episodes of Thinking Aloud.
Its also why Ive previously put these
shows together in airport lounges, on
aeroplanes themselves and even with my
Macbook perched on an ironing board
in the apartment we were renting during
last years ITS Europe Congress in Dublin
(the laundry room was the only place we
had wifi, you understand).
Our Live from series highlight so far
this year was at Intertraffic, where we
delivered a series of programmes inter-
viewing some old and new contributors
to the programme, learning about eve-
rything from radar-based lighting con-
trols to smart ANPR cameras which can
determine the make, model and colour of
a car as well as its license plate.
These programmes were sponsored
by AGD Systems, Nicander, Swarco,
Vitronic and WDM. And Id like to espe-
cially thank our sponsors for their ongo-
ing support, without whom we simply
wouldnt have Thinking Aloud.
APPOINTMENT TO LISTEN
Our programmes are very popular with
listeners because they bring an almost
summary of whats going on at the
major shows. People watching me make
the show in Amsterdam told me that
they like to download it to their phones
in the morning and listen to it en route
to the event. When they get there they
already have a feel for whats worth see-
ing, and more than one piece of business
has been done thanks to people hearing
about an new initiative and therefore
heading straight to the relevant stand to
find out more.
Sponsors do get their moneys worth
from supporting the programmes.
Although anyone with a story to tell can
get on Thinking Aloud (we dont charge
you to be a part of the programme), we
will always include interviews with our
sponsors. They get a radio-style advert in
each programme, three sponsor credits,
logos and links on our website and on
emails to the thousands of people on the
Thinking Highways database (and some-
times the events database too) and also
in the magazine. Like in this article, for
example! As well as Amsterdam, weve
been in Athens for ASECAPs Study
and Information Days (with thanks to
DBA Lab), and also in Leipzig for an
International Transport Forum side-
event brought to you by the PTV Group
that I moderated and recorded at the
same time.
Listeners got to hear four of Europes
leading experts on logistics debate how
the logistics sector fits into governmental
planning in cities. The session itself was
about an hour and a quarter long, so we
split it into two programmes, edited out
gaps and produced two half-hour pod-
casts which are well worth a listen, if I say
so myself.
FINNISH LINE
Kevin Borras, Jason Barnes and Julia
Nelepa covered the ITS Europe Congress
in Helsinki (another handy use of tech-
nology is that I can edit the files even if Im
not at the event) and then in September
were planning our major roadshow of
the year first the World Congress in
Detroit (which you can hear about on
one our Helsinki bonus show), then onto
the ITS3C Summit in Mobile, Alabama
and the IBTTA Annual Meeting in San
Antonio, Texas. We look forward to
seeing you there, and if enough people
watch me doing the production, we may
even get a round of applause.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Hutton is the head of H3B
Medias Broadcast Services
Division
paul@thinkingaloudpodcast.com
thinkinghighways.com/podcasts
thinkinglaooudpodcast.com
For more information about
sponsorship opportunities for
Thinking Aloud, email Paul at
paul@thinkingaloudpodcast.com
H3B MEDIA BROADCAST SERVICES Thinking Aloud podcasts
Paul Hutton looks back on another busy few weeks
on the road for the Thinking Aloud production team
category/podcasts
53_TH_0214_NA_Podcast.indd 53 29/06/2014 21:53
ROAD SAFETY Tunnel safety
T
he social role of roads is undeniable. Roads service
citizens by connecting people with hospitals, schools
and workplaces. For this very reason, roads must be
not only efficient, but also safe.
The IR2B Strategic Research Agenda highlights the impor-
tance of this topic and calls for innovation on road safety solu-
tions and advanced road equipment. In particular, priority 47
of the IR2B Agenda proposes undertaking research and inno-
vation efforts in the field of fire-resistant road surfaces for
high-risk areas.
Tunnels represent one of the features of the road network
where safety concerns become more important. Road tunnels
hold unique characteristics and deserve special attention, even
if accidents do not occur more often in tunnels than in other
points of the road network. However, any serious incident
involving them causes great social alarm, given 1) the actual
difficulties posed to rescue or evacuation interventions, 2) the
drama caused to drivers due to the closed configuration of a
tunnel and 3) the serious disruption which may involve the
temporary closure of a road, mainly when there are difficult or
non-existent alternatives to detour traffic.
Some recent fires in European tunnels have stressed the need
to adopt efficient measures in order to minimize risks for both
people and the infrastructure itself, as shown in table 1.
In this context, materials and computer simulation become
essential tools to develop innovative safety solutions to improve
safety conditions in road tunnels.
PAVEMENT BEHAVIOUR IN CASE OF FIRE
Due to the high risk of fire, it is mandatory to ensure that
all materials used during the construction stage of a tunnel
provide the highest safety level. In this sense, the pavement
of the carriageway represents an important part of the cross
section in a road tunnel. The presence of combustible mate-
rials in the pavement can result into significant distress in
case of fire, as they would contribute to increasing the fire
load, emitting toxic fumes and destroying the structural
properties of the referred element, therefore making evacua-
tion operations more difficult.
Nonetheless, the main risk involved in the presence of a
combustible material in pavements is the change induced in
fire dynamics.
It must be noted that, when a temperature of 485C is
reached, asphalt burns. Despite the fact that asphalt combus-
tion generates a low amount of heat, the truth is that such
heat is produced in the lower part of the vehicle, changing fire
dynamics and speeding it up. This heat generation in the lower
part of the tunnel makes the fire widespread and causes a sud-
den and dramatic increase of power see figure 1. Speeding up
the fire brings then a significant increase of smoke, in addition
to the fumes generated by the combustion of the pavement. As
a result of this, once the pavement starts burning, conditions
around the fire will worsen quickly, preventing firemen from
working under safety conditions.
In case the power exceeds 50 MW, fire could also spread to
other vehicles. This effect may trap firemen between two fires,
since intervention teams have to be as close as 20 meters from
the original fire, so as to put it out and new fires can be set
behind them. Avoiding this sudden increase of power caused
by the combustion of asphalt pavements is essential to guaran-
tee the safety of fire fighters.
Last but not least, this combustion in the lower part of the
Hard facts
Csar Bartolom discusses the role of the concrete
pavement in improving fire safety in road tunnels
Table 1: Summary of recent fires in European road tunnels
54-55_TH_0214_NA_IR2B.indd 54 29/06/2014 21:54
Tunnel safety
the 8% of total energy fire and it should not significantly worsen
working conditions. However, the fact is that fire dynamics are
often changing and emission rates drastically increase after the
asphalt starts burning.
Figure 3 shows the difference between both types of com-
bustion processes, depending on the type of pavement.
Concrete pavements (non-flammable), thanks to their inert
behaviour, have the advantage of acting as heat accumulators,
and their stability under high temperatures allow intervention
teams to access the tunnel.
CONCLUSIONS
This author believes that the rules regulating in some
European countries the use of concrete pavements in tun-
nels whose length is over 500m (Austria) or 1000m (Spain)
are therefore well-founded. The amount of fumes and heat
released by burning asphalt surfaces is comparable to that
produced by the combustion of a truck. The heat energy that
asphalt surfaces may release, generated in the low part of the
tunnel, can change the dynamics of the fire, leading to an
increase of its intensity. Consequently, the fire could easily
spread to other vehicles through the pavement. Additionally,
the increase in firepower could mean that the design load
of ventilation systems was exceeded, making the fire harder
to fight and resulting in a higher risk for people and for the
structure.
This unfortunate effect took place in some fires that occurred
inside tunnels at the end of the 1990s in Austria, France and
Italy, and they all resulted into tragedies. When fume extractors
are insufficient to eliminate fire gases, heat accumulates inside
the tunnel causing other vehicles to catch fire and larger asphalt
surfaces to burn. The authors proposal is that any element that
contributes to make the situation worse should be eliminated
or minimised.
In some extreme cases, the use of concrete pavements may
be the key factor that allows keeping the amount of heat and
gases below the standard design limits, so that the extraction
system keeps working until the situation is under control.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Csar Bartolom is Director for Innovation
at the Spanish Institute for Cement and
its Applications, IECA and Chairman of the
Smart & Green Road Construction and
Operation Programme at the International
Road Research Board, IR2B
www.ir2b.org
This article is a summary of a wider study, elaborated
by Spanish Technical Association of Firemen, which
will be presented next September in the forthcoming
12th Symposium on Concrete Roads in Prague
(2326 September 2014)
Figure 1: Sudden increase of power due to a change in the fire
dynamics
Figure 2: Fire power in different scenarios
Figure 3: Differences in fire progress
tunnel may cause the explosion of the wheels of heavy vehi-
cles, an additional risk to firemen who are next to the fire.
Besides, since asphalt is a thermoplastic material whose viscos-
ity decreases with temperature, it becomes significantly softer
at temperatures ranging between 150C and 180C, which are
reached approximately 5 minutes after the beginning of the fire
and at a distance of 45 meters from the origin of the fire. This
distance is longer than the working distance of firemen and it
makes their mobility inside the tunnel more complicated.
If asphalt contribution to fire were limited to the energy gen-
erated by burning pavement, the power increment would be 4
MW, since the burning surface considered is 100 m
2
and the
unit power emission is 40 kW/m. This power would represent
54-55_TH_0214_NA_IR2B.indd 55 29/06/2014 21:54
Vol 9 No 2 North America thinkinghighways.com 56
THE VIEW Vision and Focus
The world of transportation is changing beyond recognition
and we cant keep looking to the past for inspiration
Shelley Row
M
y home state of Texas is in a
record-breaking, fve-year
drought. Aquifers drain,
farm land cracks open, and cattle thirst.
As a child we water-skied on Lake Travis.
We knew to avoid the shallow area in the
middle of the lake where Sometimes
Island periodically appeared in a dry
spell. Today, water levels are so low that
Sometimes Island is a peninsula with
trees. Boat ramps dangle in the dirt far
from the waters edge and with each
dire weather forecast, my 83-year-old
mother says, Itll rain. It always has.
A nice thought, but the wisdom of the
past is unlikely to hold true in this period
of climate changea fundamental
remaking of the Texas climate. Likewise,
we are in a period of fundamental
remaking of transportation. As in
Texas, the wisdom of our past is
unlikely to hold true in the future.
We are all of us experts in some
area of transportation. Perhaps it is
trafc signal system design, vehicle
telematics, transportation planning or
management. Whatever our expertise,
we developed it through education and
experience. Tats a good thing. Isnt it?
Te answer is: sometimes but not all
the time. To know the diference, lets
frst look at how expertise develops.
Tanks to the recent advances in
neuroscience, we know more than
ever about how the brain works.
Expertise is a habit that develops over
time with repetition. Expertise creates
pathways in your brain like the paths
cattle create in the pastures as they
walk each day to water or shade. Over
time, with repetition, the cattle wear
a trail into the earth. Your brain is
the same. Over time, with repetition,
you create expertise pathways in your
brain. Te specifc neurons fre
together forging the pathway. Te
scientists say that the neurons that fre
together wire together. Your expertise
is literally wired into your brain.
When you encounter a familiar
situation, your brain defaults to the
easiest route through all those neurons
the pathway you created for your
expertise. Decisions using your well-
developed pathways are easy, simple and
quick. Tey are fast, efcient and made
with confdence. You hear phrases like:
Tis is a no-brainer.
Been there and done that.
Ive got this.
Ive seen it all before.
Tis is the way weve always done it.
Good right? Wellmaybe.
Its good if the situations in the past (that
originally wired the neural pathways) are
the same as the situations in the future.
However, if the future diverts from the
past, those well-developed pathways and
easy responses are no longer reliable. In
times of rapid and disruptive change,
past is not prologue and hindsight
does not provide foresight. Te quick,
easy, expertise-driven responses may
no longer give the right answer.
I contend that we are living in a
time of rapid and disruptive change
in transportation. Te very nature
of transportation is shifing. Past is
defnitely not prologue. Within the
last few months Google released its
prototype self-driving vehicle, vehicle
connectivity is multiplying, the USB
port is the frst thing I look for in
If the future
diverts from
the past,
those well-
developed
pathways
and easy
responses
are no
longer
reliable
the rental car and travelers use of

transportation shifs (only 54 per cent
of millennials are licensed before their
18th birthday). Change is all around us.
Tis is not the time to rely on the
neural pathways that served us in the
past. Now is the time to question those
habits and to coax the brain to develop
new pathways. Transportation leaders,
managers and planners must be on
their guard for habitual thinking. It
is easy to fall into habit thinking, but
this is not the time for ease. Tis is the
time for watchfulness, questioning and
probing. Tis is the time to slow down
long-term processes and challenge
conventional thinking. Tis is the time
to watch trends, read widely and pay
attention to that nagging voice inside
that goads you to take a deeper look. Do
the decision-making processes of the
past transportation plans, modeling
processes, designs make sense for the
future? How do time frames for plans
and projects sync with the time frame
of change? Challenge your brain to
connect new neurons and create new
pathways. New brain connections take
more mental energy and are slower
than a habitual response, but the old
brain pathways dont serve you in this
fundamentally changing world. Give
yourself the gif of thinking diferently.
Its tempting to do what weve always
done and hope it will work out. Afer
all, it always has. But fundamental
change is afoot. Past is no longer
prologue. Its time for new thinking.
As I write, there is a bit of rain in
Texas, but the boat ramps still end in dirt
and Sometimes Island still looks rather
permanent. Te cattle drink today but
next month requires new solutions. Te
world my mother knew no longer exists.
And in transportation, neither does ours.
Shelley Row is the former Director of the US DOTs Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint
Program Office and is now building a new career as a motivational speaker and business coach.
shelley@shelleyrow.com; www.shelleyrow.com; @shelleyrow
56-63_TH_0214_NA_Columns.indd 56 29/06/2014 21:58
THE VIEW Legal Brief
In-vehicle navigation: NHTSA seeks to have a say
Bob Kelly & Mark Johnson
T
he US Department of
Transportation (DOT) and its
National Highway Trafc Safety
Administration (NHTSA) are seeking
Congressional authority to regulate in-
vehicle navigation systems, including
built-in systems as well as navigation
apps on smartphones. MAP-21,
the current surface transportation
funding law, is scheduled to expire
by the end of August 2014. In April
2014, the Obama Administration
transmitted to the US Congress
its proposed replacement bill, the
GROW AMERICA ACT (available
at http://www.dot.gov/grow-america).
Section 4105 of the Administrations
reauthorization proposal would extend
NHTSAs authority over safety-related
electronics or sofware used in motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.
If this provision is enacted into law,
NHTSA would be authorized to
prescribe requirements or guidelines
for the design, functional safety
process, verifcation and validation,
and development of such electronic
devices and sofware for use in vehicles.
Te proposed Section 4105
appears to have resulted from DOTs
long-standing program examining
distracted driving issues. In addition
to DOT conducting a public relations
campaign against distracted driving,
NHTSA has undertaken a multi-step
examination of the technical and
human factor implications of drivers
use of electronic devices in vehicles
in three phases. In Phase 1 NHTSA
examined original equipment, in-
vehicle electronic devices used by
drivers to perform secondary tasks
(communications, entertainment,
information gathering, navigation,
etc.). In April 2013, NHTSA released
voluntary guidelines for these types of
electronic devices. NHTSA is currently
working on Phase 2 of its investigation
examining portable, hand-held devices
(ie smartphones) brought into the
vehicle and their impact on driver
distraction. Phase 3 will review voice-
based user interfaces. Tis efort also
involves input from vehicle OEMs
as well as the technology industry.
AUTHORITY
Former NHTSA Administrator David
Strickland has testifed before Congress
that the agency has authority over
navigation systems and devices as they
could be classifed as motor vehicle
equipment in the Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the
federal regulations that governs vehicle
safety. However, explicit statutory
authority would strengthen NHTSAs
hand to require, for example, specifc
use restrictions and/or design changes if
the agency fnds there is a safety impact,
and not just issue voluntary guidelines.
Te proposed statutory language
is not specifc to navigation systems
and devices, although that appears to
be NHTSAs primary concern. Te
text is sufciently broad to be read
to encompass the wider universe of
vehicle applications that drivers
and passengers might bring into
vehicles, whether for navigation,
communications, information,
entertainment or something else. For
example, Toyota and IBM recently
announced a partnership on a platform
Explicit
statutory
authority
would
strengthen
NHTSAs
hand to
require, for
example,
specific use
restrictions
and/or
design
changes if
the agency
finds there
is a safety
impact
to create on-board systems as well as

third-party apps under the Toyota
Open Vehicle Architecture.
Tere are also other companies
and interests that could be implicated
by the Administrations proposal,
including technology companies,
OEMS, and others. For example, the
Open Automobile Alliance, backed by
Google and many of the leading vehicle
OEMs and technology companies,
seeks to bring the Android platform
to vehicles. Te Intelligent Car
Coalition, is a DC-based organisation
created to shape federal public policy
for intelligent vehicles. AT&T,
also a member of the Intelligent Car
Coalition, has established its Drive
Studio in Atlanta, Georgia to spur
the development of vehicle apps that
will utilize its wireless network and
cloud services. GM, Audi and other
vehicle OEMs, as well as Qualcomm
are already participating. Tere are
also start-ups, unafliated with any
wireless carrier or automaker, for
example, that are also developing
vehicle apps. OpenCar, from Seattle, is
seeking to develop a next-generation
platform to bridge the automotive
and mobile App ecosystems. Cisco
has developed systems to bring
Wi-Fi connectivity to vehicles.
Tese eforts envision the vehicle as
another device within the burgeoning
Internet of Tings ecosystem.
GeoToll, a member of the
Intelligent Car Coalition, published
an opinion piece on 7 May 2014 in
the Capitol Hill newspaper, Te Hill,
questioning the Administrations
proposal. According to GeoToll,
a frst concern is that technology
constantly evolving and do not have
the long development lead-times
Robert Kelly is a partner and Mark Johnson is an attorney at law at the Washington, DC-based law firm
Squire Patton Boggs, LLP. robert.kelly@squirepb.com; mark.johnson@squirepb.com. www.squirepb.com
For more information on this and other legal issues, please follow us on Twitter at @globalcomlaw
GeoToll
argues
potential
NHTSA
regulatory
action
creates
uncertainty,
which would
stymie
innovation,
investment
and risk-
taking
like there is for vehicles and motor

vehicle equipment. Te company
contends that it is not practical for
NHTSA to review vehicle apps and
require changes prior to market
introduction. GeoToll also notes
that since users typically download
multiple apps on a single device it
would not be possible for NHTSA to
identify a static list of characteristics
or features that would make the
vehicle environment unsafe. Tird,
GeoToll argues potential NHTSA
regulatory action creates uncertainty,
which would stymie innovation,
investment and risk-taking.
Proposed Section 4105 does not
mandate specifc regulatory actions
for NHTSA. Te agency has explained
that it does not anticipate conducting
pre-market review of proposed
vehicle apps. Rather, consistent with
its regulatory practice with vehicles,
NHTSA indicates it would act to change
an app if it is found to be dangerous.
Presumably, therefore, NHTSA would
order a recall of an app in the face
of some evidence that vehicle safety
is impaired and require that the
developer take remedial measures
to alleviate the concern. However, as
pointed out by the criticisms from
technology interests, the proposed
statute speaks in terms of NHTSA
being able to prescribe the design
and development of vehicle apps,
which suggests that NHTSA could take
pre-emptively measures to alter vehicle
apps prior to their market introduction.
Notably, consistent with its authority
under the FMVSS, NHTSA does
not typically impose specifc design
criteria for vehicle equipment or
systems, but establishes performance
standards that manufacturers are then
free to create their own designs to
Whats going on in your industry in
the rest of the world?
Find out in our unique, dedicated regional
edition for EUROPE/REST OF THE WORLD at
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ASSET TRACKING GOOGLE CARS GAMIFICATION TOLLING INNOVATION EC PROJECTS IR2B
A SHIFT IN EMPHASIS
Six experts discuss the
changing role of the traffic
control centre
Finnish on a high
Small nation,
big ideas
The approach that makes the
ITS Europe Congress host
country so unique
Maltas impressive ITS
implementation plans
EUROPE AND REST
OF THE WORLD
EDITION
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS AND ADVANCED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
available NOW!
PLUS: Listen to our ASECAP 2014 podcasts
category/podcasts/
TECHNOLOGY
The importance of the
perfectly executed Russian
toll road, p18
INNOVATION
Geoff Collins goes hehind the
scenes of a particularly English
traffic project, p14
SPECIFICATIONS
Open source and open data for
the Norwegian Public Roads
Administration, p22
SMART MOBILITY
FITSRUS: the Helsinki to
St Petersburg Smart Transport
Corridor, p26
0_TH214_EU_COVER.indd 1
04/06/2014 14:55
.com
.com
meet those performance standards.
A fnal question is whether the
provision will be enacted into law. Te
Administrations proposed surface
transportation reauthorization bill
was presented to Congress in February
2014. Congress is currently debating
larger issues for reauthorization,
particularly how to sufciently fund
the Highway Trust Fund. In the short
term, it does not appear that Congress
will be taking up the Administrations
bill but appears more likely to enacting
a temporary, several months extension
of the current MAP-21 statute.
NHTSAs current Phase 2 study
efort bears monitoring, the results of
which could create added impetuous
for new statutory authority for the
agency to regulate vehicle apps. Te
vehicle environment is fundamentally
changing. Whether and how regulatory
intervention is needed is open to debate.
THE VIEW Legal Brief
THE VIEW AS I SEE IT...
Some issues are as relevant in ITS as in any other sector...
in this case aviation, as our new columnist explains
Jason Barnes
M
y interest in military
aviation goes back to sitting
next to an British Royal
Air Force pilots son whilst at school
in Germany. Te frst fascinations
of a small boy turned into a fairly
encyclopaedic knowledge by my teens.
It grew to include not just knowledge
of the aircraf themselves, but the
pilots who tested them men such
as Eric Winkle Brown and Roland
Beaumont, a print signed by whom sits
above me as I write. It also included
the great designers on both sides of
the Second World War. On the Axis
side, men such as Willy Messerschmitt,
Kurt Tank and the Horten brothers,
and on the Allied side visionaries
such as Geofrey de Havilland,
Barnes Wallis and RJ Mitchell.
It makes for fascinating reading.
Post-War, there was a mad scramble
between the Western powers and
the Soviets to take advantage of the
cutting-edge research that Nazism had
fostered. It was spy fction made real,
and it was only at his funeral some
years ago that I learned how involved
a former colleague had been involved
in it all. Nevertheless, familiar names
endured. Barnes Wallis, for instance,
was studying advanced supersonics
at the time he died. London to Sydney
could have been a rather shorter trip if
what he had planned had ever occurred.
I reserve a special fondness for
Sidney Camms creations. Chief
Designer at Hawker, he was behind
machines with such evocative names
as Hurricane, Tempest and Sea Fury.
Later, he was instrumental in the
development of the Hunter, that most
graceful of the pre-supersonic jets, and
the iconic Harrier, still the only truly
efective vertical/short take-of jet to
enter signifcant military service.
But its not all about success. Military
aviation is a great place to look for
might-have-beens so-called paper
planes which never made it of the
drawing board or those which drowned
in intrigue and incompetence. In the
1950s and 60s, Britains aerospace
industry underwent great changes,
emerging as a shadow of its former self
through a combination of political and
commercial hubris and bungling.
Perhaps the most iconic failure, one
in which Camm had a hand, was the
TSR-2, a deep-strike bomber capable of
carrying both conventional and nuclear
weapons and intended to penetrate the
most contested of airspace and survive.
Britains answer to the F-111, it was so
advanced that capabilities embodied
within it have only recently reached
squadron service with the very latest
versions of the multinational Panavia
Tornado. Some remain unsurpassed
and yet, amidst much acrimony and
in circumstances that many have
called industrial suicide, TSR-2 was
cancelled before entering production.
Airframes, construction jigs and test
data were all destroyed in a concerted
act even as the announcement was
being made in Parliament, a move
designed to make sure that the
project could never be resurrected.
A plane half a century ahead of
its time, TSR-2 continues to excite
controversy amongst aviation
enthusiasts. Of the whole episode,
Camm said this: All modern
Theres a
particular
engineering
mindset that
unconsciously
assumes that
knowledge is
shared almost
by osmosis,
which is
ridiculous
aircraf have four dimensions: span,

length, height and politics. TSR-2
simply got the frst three right.
I mention all this because I wanted
to show how, if unheeded, history
does indeed repeat itself. Camms
words underline that getting the
product right is ofen easier than
getting the message right.
SPREAD THE WORD
An issue in engineering is that those
involved in systems development exist
cheek by jowl with their creations
over extended periods. Tey become
convinced of their products superiority
over competitors because they are
so immersed in them but they then
fail to give adequate consideration to
how best to convey that to others.
Weve seen some very interesting
and successful eforts to add value
to products in the ITS space in
recent years recession, like war, is
a great fosterer of innovation Im
not so convinced, however, that
weve seen as much innovation in
getting the messages across.
Its an issue that ranges up and
down the scale, from the gadgetry to
the strategy and back again. Teres a
particular engineering mindset that
unconsciously assumes that knowledge
is shared almost by osmosis which,
if viewed logically, is ridiculous. Were
blessed now with a very feature-rich
technology set for transport management
but right across the industry we have
to get better at talking about it. Getting
smarter about talking is the best way
we have to prevent some very worthy
projects from having their wings clipped.
Jason Barnes is associate editor of Thinking Highways and editor of THx, H3B Medias new
multi-platform, interactive ITS title
jason@h3bm.com; www.thinkinghighways.com
THE VIEW Automated Vehicles
Not for the first time Google has us all agog
Richard Bishop
L
ast month, Google once again
put the media and pundits into
something of a frenzy. Yes,
Google is really building their own
cars, and they will drive themselves.
Google, now engaged in a wide
variety of projects, actually started
with the self-driving car project. From
the beginning, they focused on a
transformational approach developing
vehicles that can do ALL the driving,
with no need for human input other
than where to go. Googles approach is
captured by this (paraphrased) quote
from Chris Urmson, leader of the self-
driving car team: You can get a lot more
fred up in the morning when youre
thinking about changing the world
rather than making an incremental
improvement on something.
Now theyve unveiled their change-
the-world starting point low speed
automated taxis to serve, initially, their
employees moving between buildings in
their spread-out complex in Mountain
View, California. Vehicles would be
summoned with a smartphone to pick up
and drop of passengers at the doorstep.
Service would be opened up to the public
from there. Ultimately the plan is to
serve disabled and elderly people who
cannot drive but want full mobility.
Googles feet of 100 vehicles which
theyve designed are not an adaptation
of the common car, even though theyre
being built in Detroit. Teir footprint
is somewhat like the Fiat 500 or the
Smart city cars currently on the roads,
but thats where the similarities end.
Tey have no steering wheel, brakes,
or accelerator pedal just a start/stop
button. Teir speed is capped at 25 mph;
a speed range in which safety regulations
for crashworthiness are typically not
as stringent, an important factor for
building vehicles from the ground up.
Tis summer Google will begin
testing these vehicles with their own
drivers. Afer that, they aim to run
a small pilot program in California
in the next couple of years (within
the bounds of Californias recently
published autonomous vehicle
testing regulations). Based on the
results, they say theyll work with
partners to bring it to market.
Teir concept is quite similar to the
work done in Europe in the CyberCar
and CityMobil projects over the last
decade or so. In the current CityMobil2
project, small urban automated vehicles
are being deployed in six-month
demonstrations in fve cities. Plus, in
2017 Volvo Cars is ofering automated
production vehicles to members of the
public for their DriveMe trial across 50
km of roads in and around Gothenburg.
Yes, the media will continue to froth
over Google, but clearly a wide range of
key players are active as well.
Google says the auto industrys
incremental approach asking humans
to monitor automation and be ready to
step back into the control loop, whether
immediately or with a time bufer is
fawed because humans are, well,
human. As we gain confdence in our
self-driving vehicles (and this happens
very quickly based on my experience
and afrmed by Google founder Sergey
Brin in interviews), we are going to get
engrossed in something other than
the road scene, or take a nap. We may
not be there when our car needs us.
You can get

a lot more
fired up in
the morning
when youre
thinking
about
changing
the world
rather than
making an
incremental
improvement
on something
Dont assume, however, that the

incremental approach is impossible
for the car industry. Tis goes back
to personal responsibility. It goes
to well-informed users and well-
designed human interfaces. It goes
to fail-operational systems when the
human does not step in. All of which
is well within the capability of the
auto industry. Some will do it better
than others, and there will be the
inevitable viral videos and debates.
But it will nevertheless happen.
Googles move has huge signifcance.
Afer stimulating the entire automotive
industry and fascinating the public with
the initial unveiling of their self-driving
car in 2010, speculation about where
theyre going to take it has been endless.
Now we see they have crystalized
their focus on urban mobility. Tis
is a good ft with the mobility as a
service concept. A future ofering
would involve a service provider who
owns the vehicles, maintains and tests
them to high standards, and limits
geographic range to stay within pre-
mapped areas approved for automated
operation. Cars sold to private owners
are obviously much more difcult to
monitor and limiting their geographic
usage is not a great sales proposition.
And, by ofering vehicles without
traditional controls, Google is
creating even more distance from
the car companies, staking out their
domain even more defnitively.
In the ideal case, Googles automated
taxi performs superbly and the concept
takes of, ploughing the ground
for the larger market served by the
automakers to build widespread trust
in automated driving technology.
Lets watch what happens we in
the ITS world have ringside seats.
Richard Bishop is principal of Bishop Consulting and Associate Editor of Thinking Highways North America
richard.bishop@mindspring.com; www.auvsi.org; www.vehicleautomation.org
Follow Richard at #ThinkingCarsH3B
THE VIEW IBEC: ITS and Evaluation
Evaluating incremental and radical innovations
Dr Alan Stevens
B
eneft-cost assessment
(BCA) methodologies have
a long history and despite
many acknowledged faws and
subtle arguments are well embedded
in many business processes. In
mainstream implementation, the
essential process is to monetise and
then add all the expected costs and
all the expected benefts into the
future and then discount back to
present day. Such a process works
well for projects that involve building
a new facility or developing a new
service such as Automatic Crash
Notifcation (eCall in Europe). Before
the project, the facility or service isnt
there and we envisage the process
and the future costs and benefts.
Te situation becomes more
interesting in the real world where
innovation is ofen incremental and
takes place against a backdrop of
existing products and processes, some of
which are disturbed by the innovation.
Tis seems particularly to be the case
in the developing area of cooperative
systems (connected vehicles) and the
rapid but incremental progress being
made towards more automated systems.
Figure 1 illustrates how both
the road infrastructure and the
vehicles that use the infrastructure
are increasingly becoming smarter.
Every step brings benefts by building
on previous developments. In one
view, automated vehicles are a radical
innovation but they can also be seen
as the result of many incremental
developments of the past 20 years.
As noted, innovation whether radical
or incremental, can disturb the status
In one view,
automated
vehicles are
a radical
innovation
but they can
also be seen
as the result
of many
incremental
developments
of the past
20 years
BCA of the individual steps. Of course,

in looking forward it may not be clear
where we are going and there is a
greater innovation risk the more radical
the change. It seems that ofen we are
implicitly prepared to accept lower BCA
because of the lower innovation risk.
Tis argument is not just academic as
step-skipping is a particularly relevant
issue for emerging economies that can
take advantage of the experience from
other regions. Even for those economies
further along the ITS development
path the question of how we value
radical and incremental innovations
is still very much an open issue.
IBEC is organising a number of
sessions and events in association
with the ITS World congress in
Detroit this year relevant to this topic.
Tese include: IBEC4 Evaluation of
highly automated driving and truck
platooning; IBEC5 Evaluating benefts
and business cases for cooperative
ITS (connected vehicles); and the
IBEC Workshop Evaluation of
connected (vehicle and infrastructure)
and autonomous vehicles.
Alan Stevens is Research Director, Transportation at
TRL and IBEC Management Committee Member
astevens@trl.co.uk
Figure 1:
Progress towards
cooperative
and automated
systems
quo and may marginalise or render
redundant previous facilities or services.
For example, road loops can be largely
replaced by above ground sensors or
by connected vehicles communicating
with the infrastructure; similarly, the
need for Variable Message Signs will
likely be reduced (or, at least, the signs
simplifed) with the advent of in-vehicle
messaging via smartphone Apps.
How these efects are taken into
account by BCA is an area that probably
needs more attention. Previous
generations of technology are be treated
as a sunk cost in BCA and, in a way
the risk of redundancy can be included
by estimating the number of years that
future benefts will be counted. But
should this risk be made more explicit?
Another issue is how efcient the
incremental progress is in the sense that
each step requires investment that will
become, at least partially, redundant
by the next step which also requires
investment. If we had the foresight
and it were possible to skip some steps,
then the BCA should be improved
compared with the actual (delivered)
THE VIEW Thinking the Highway of the Future
Intelligent road mobility: now or never
Jos F Pap
I
ntelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
have revolutionized the way business
and private mobility is understood
in a safer, greener and smarter transport
system. Despite the progress made,
I am of the opinion that the actual
deployment of ITS solutions is not
yet sufcient: ITS systems must make
further progress to achieve full potential
and provide true quality and real-time
information to road users. Afer having
mapped out more than 500 R&D and
innovation projects worldwide, the
IR2Bs Strategic Road Research Agenda
has identifed 32 research priorities to
bring the Smart Roads concept to reality
by 2025 in the feld of intelligent road
mobility. Let me briefy review them:
Efective implementation of
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
Enhanced synergies derived from data
already supplied by ITS equipment
installed in road infrastructures
(Priorities 72-75 of the IR2Bs Strategic Road
Research Agenda, period 2013-2015)
Te time has come to go beyond the
elaboration of new ITS studies,
analysis and strategies. Te binomial
enforcement agents cameras and
radars needs to be overcome, upgrading
the value of existing information and
data with more advanced ITS systems.
Users must obtain more detailed journey
times through smarter processing of
data already available from a variety
of sources (sensors, Bluetooth, ALPR,
satellite, etc). I trust only then will ITS
become an unsegmented market in
which solutions with mass appeal will
beneft billions of customers worldwide.
Optimizing the utilization of existing
road infrastructures
(Priorities 76-82, period 2013-2015)

Attaining Te Highway of the Future
also demands a greater optimization
of existing infrastructure capacity.
Te trafc management systems of
tomorrow should therefore address
this challenge and run tools allowing
an efcient and dynamic operation of
roads, according to the trafc conditions
at a given moment.
Provision of quality and real-time
information to users on the travel
options available in the road network,
both in public transport and in other
transport modes
Whether we like or not, we have come
to a point in which the transport
mode approach is becoming old-
fashioned: today we must refer to a
transport system I would even call
it ecosystem ITS systems can and
must have a crucial role in this context,
by developing technologies that facilitate
freight and passenger transfer between
the diferent transport modes, which can
be coordinated more efciently in order
to cut travel times and costs.
A more sustainable and
environmentally-friendly road mobility
Defnition of mobility models adapted
to a new generation of vehicles
At the IR2B we also believe that
infrastructure-based ITS systems
must promote more efcient mobility
scenarios that beneft from car industry
development and respond to the
Whether
we like or
not, we have
come to
a point in
which the
transport
mode
approach is
becoming
old-
fashioned
requirements and opportunities brought

by electric, hybrid, plug-in, hydrogen-
powered vehicles, etc.
Development and deployment of I2V,
V2I, V2V and I2I cooperative systems
in urban and interurban areas
Integrating data generated by both
vehicles (V) and the infrastructure
itself (I) is a prerequisite if ITS systems
are to provide high-quality services
to road users. Yet these cooperative
systems must operate within a common
framework and an integral architecture,
with a clear defnition of the roles
assigned to the V and the IStill
much work to do, isnt there?
eROAD: Te electronic road 2.0
Dynamic infrastructure charging systems
In the long run ITS will defnitively build
the mobility scenarios of tomorrow,
paving the way for groundbreaking
solutions such as automated mobility,
prediction of driver behaviour, dynamic
charging of vehicle use through a reliable
and precise positioning system, etc.
I deem the future eROAD will be a
collaborative electronic road 2.0, where
users will exchange data in order to
disseminate information and contribute
to a sustainable road operation and
maintenance.In short, most of the
challenges posed by the intelligent road
mobility of the future are still ahead of
us and represent a fantastic business
opportunity for the trafc management
industry. I therefore invite you to
review the roadmap proposed by the
IR2B to address them (downloadable
for free from http://www.ir2b.
org/#!publications/cmx9).
What are we waiting for?
Jos F Pap is Chairman of the International Road Research Board, IR2B
info@ir2b.org; www.ir2b.org @The_IR2B (LinkedIn) http://goo.gl/zTiMj7
THE VIEW Positive Thinking
Getting real about Big Data: a delicate balance of the
whoops and the wow...
Bob McQueen
I
ve written about Big Data in
transportation before (and indeed
covered it in my last column) and
interest in the subject seems to be
growing in leaps and bounds. It is clear
that there is huge potential to apply
data analytics to Big Data sets and
gain new insights into the demand for
transportation and the operational
efectiveness of transportation delivery.
I think we all understand this on an
intuitive level. However, like so many
things in life, Big Data really doesnt
come alive and become relevant until
you start to focus on what youre going
to do with it once you get it. In this
column I explore a few Use Cases for
Big Data in transportation. Tese could
otherwise be known as things to do
with it once youve got it. My hope
here is that discussing some real-life
possibilities for the application of Big
Data to transportation, will inspire
even more awareness, interest, desire
and action within the transportation
profession. My belief is that Big Data
techniques will fuel a revolution in
how we understand transportation.
Consider the frst example, a
forensic investigation into the cause
of pedestrian fatalities. Statistics show
that there are a relatively high number
of pedestrian fatalities in metropolitan
regions. While the statistics give us total
numbers, it would be wonderful to have
the ability to conduct forensic analysis
to determine the causes of the fatalities.
We would really like to explore the
relationship between the location
of each fatality, the availability of a
sidewalk, the presence of street lighting,
weather conditions and time of day.
Tese factors are all suspected to
play a role in the cause of the fatality.
Metropolitan planners could access
data analytics on the above factors
to develop an understanding of the
cause of pedestrian fatalities in the
region. Are fatalities occurring at
nighttime and being caused by little
or no street lighting? Are fatalities a
direct result of having no sidewalk
and does weather play a role?
Being able to investigate and
explore connections between these
factors would help us to develop an
understanding that could then be
used as the basis for the development
of strategies leading to a reduction in
pedestrian fatalities in the region.
Te second example relates to
developing a detailed understanding
regarding the impacts of prior
investments in ITS. Such an
understanding would support
the development of results-
driven investment programs.
Te use of data analytics on Big
Data sets would enable us to ask
questions like for every dollar spent
on incident management, is they are
a corresponding improvement in
incident management performance?
From a transit perspective we
could ask questions like for every
dollar spent on electronic ticketing,
how many people switched from
private vehicles to transit?
Te third example involves gaining
insight into travel time variability
across a metropolitan region. Using Big
Data techniques and transportation
data analytics we should be able to
determine the variability of travel time
by diferent modes of travel over time
and space within a metropolitan area.
Tis should yield a good understanding
of the reliability of transportation
service delivery. With the addition of
data regarding the cost of travel we
could also make an assessment of the
value proposition ofered to the traveler.
How many dollars does reliability cost
for example? If we add weather data
then we should be able to see the efect
of weather on travel time variability.
Tere are many other Use Cases
that could be used and I chose these
merely because Im interested in them.
Tey represent a very small sample of
the possible and hopefully they will
stimulate your won your own questions.
Of course, it may also make you think
about data collection and acquisition
strategy if you dont currently have
the data to answer your questions.
Looking to the future my prediction
is that we will see a few Wow! and
Whoops! moments as we apply data
analytics to transportation. With regard
to the Wow! moment, I would expect
that we will gain some amazing insights
into how transportation systems really
work. With regard to the Whoops!
moment it might also be revealed that
transportation operations and planning
are not as good as we thought they were.
In my humble opinion we have
always been aware of the potential
value of data in transportation but may
not have been as hungry for data as we
could be. Big Data and transportation
data analytics are going to expand our
appetite for data both directly related to
transportation and from other data sets.
We have seen the menu, perhaps
nibbled on a few appetizers and are
now about to experience the main
course. Stay hungry my friends!
Bob McQueen is CEO of the 0Cash Company and Content
Director at H3B Media Broadcast Services.
bob@0cash.com; www.0cash.com
Are
fatalities
occurring
at nighttime
and being
caused by
little or
no street
lighting? Are
fatalities a
direct result
of having
no sidewalk
and does
weather
play a role?

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t

our pairing at Janes last for another

the rental car and travelers use of

to create on-board systems as well as

like there is for vehicles and motor

aircraf have four dimensions: span,

You can get

Dont assume, however, that the

BCA of the individual steps. Of course,

requirements and opportunities brought

56-63_TH_0214_NA_Columns.indd 63 29/06/2014 21:58

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