INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

U.S. Department of TransportationRoom 3422, HVH-1400 7th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20590Phone: (202) 366-0722

Facsimile: (202) 366-3302Or visit our web site at www.its.dot.gov

MICHIGAN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATIONSYSTEMS CONTROL CENTER

“Our Traffic Incident Management Enhance-ment (TIME) Program began as a consensus-building effort to better understand inter-agency communication needs and to en-hance the level of coordination betweenhighway operations and emergency serviceentities clearing incidents from the freeways.”— John Corbin, Freeway OperationsEngineer, Wisconsin DOT

Coordinated efforts yield many benefits:• Introduce new levels of government

efficiency by sharing ideas and tasks• Develop a consistent structure for

statewide incident management• Reduce response time to, and traffic

delays associated with, vehicle incidentsacross geographical areas

Governments Gain Efficiency withIncident Management SystemsIncident management systems help stateand local governments:• Save taxpayer dollars by stretching

existing resources• Reduce their working citizens’ commute

times• Boost economic development• Cut operating costs of responding

agencies• Reduce fuel consumption and emissions• Make communities more mobile,

prosperous, and livable

“An economic side effect of a workingincident management program is that itkeeps traffic moving. In our case, traffic ismostly trucks which carry produce and trade,so it is in the economy’s best interests to keepthem moving.”—William Stoeckert, Director of HighwayOperations, Connecticut DOT

Communities with incident managementprograms typically attract profitablebusiness.

“Our success depends on our productreaching our plant in a narrow window oftime… delays of only 20 minutes can createquantifiable losses in production. We look tothe Birmingham Regional Incident Manage-ment Program as a means of ensuring thecontinued economic vitality of our first U.S.production facility.”

—Emmett Meyer, Vice President,Mercedes Benz US International

FHWA-JPO-99-006

Tackling the Challenges of Congestionwith Cost-Effective Technologies andInteragency Cooperation

“Incident management is the most effectiveand beneficial means of attacking incident-related congestion.”—J.R. Robinson, Director of ITS Programs,Virginia DOT

State and Local GovernmentsNationwide Suffer from the Costs ofCongestion

“The Seattle metropolitan area has anaverage daily traffic count of over 230,000vehicles a day on the interstate system. Anyincident causes a major congestionproblem.”—Jerry Althauser, Incident ResponseTeam Supervisor, Washington DOT

Traffic incidents on our nation’s roadwaysquickly deteriorate traffic conditions. Theincreased congestion costs are:• Delayed response to emergencies• Police, fire, and ambulances are unable

to reach the scene in time for effectiveresponse, affecting recovery and rescue,and the resultant adverse effect on thecitizens’ quality of life

• Weakened regional economy• Commuters and industry decide to

relocate to a different area, eroding thetax base

• Lost tourism revenue• Vacationers rethink their travel plans,

damaging the livelihood of localbusinesses

Yet building more roads, because of the lackof available land, expense involved, andenvironmental concerns, is no longer aviable solution to congestion.

Incident Management Systems KeepTraffic Moving with InnovativeTechniques and High-Tech Devices

Incident management systems reducecongestion and make the roads safer.

“One of our priorities on the I-70 Corridor isto get enough traveler information out toreduce the traveler and incident responderproblems. With good information about anincident, travelers can either delay their tripsor take an alternative route, and the incidentresponders have less congestion to manage.”—John Muscatell, Manager, Staff Trafficand Safety Branch, Colorado DOT

• Embedded sensors in roads• Closed circuit television cameras

mounted along the highway• Variable message signs

These technologies, in turn, help trafficcontrol centers to:• Detect slowdowns caused by accidents

and initiate response within seconds ofan incident occurring

• Verify incident sites and determine theappropriate emergency resourcesrequired

• Respond by dispatching resources• Provide information to motorists

These systems allow state and localgovernments to detect, verify, respond to,and clear incidents faster, reducecongestion, and maximize resources.

“We remotely assess incident scenes by videoto identify what resources are needed torespond to the incident. This leads toreduced incident clearance times, minimizedtraffic impacts, and more efficient use of ourresources.”—Sean Nozzari, Chief of Caltrans Trans-portation Management Center, SanFrancisco Bay Area

Governments Build CompleteTransportation Solutions withInteragency Cooperation

Effective incident management systems arenot based solely on proven technologies,they also require cooperation andcommunication among diverseorganizations.

Integrating both technology and the needsof various institutions is critical for eachincident management system.

“The North Carolina incident managementprogram does a very effective job of respond-ing to incidents on our highways… it greatlyreduces the negative impact of incidents onthe free flow of traffic.”—Frank Emory Jr., Member of the NorthCarolina Board of Transportation

Less costly than building new roads, thesystems leverage existing technology such as:

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

U.S. Department of TransportationRoom 3401, HOIT-1400 7th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20590Phone: (202) 366-0722

Facsimile: (202) 366-3302Or visit our web site at www.its.dot.gov

MICHIGAN INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATIONSYSTEMS CONTROL CENTER

“Our Traffic Incident Management Enhance-ment (TIME) Program began as a consensus-building effort to better understand inter-agency communication needs and to en-hance the level of coordination betweenhighway operations and emergency serviceentities clearing incidents from the freeways.”— John Corbin, Freeway OperationsEngineer, Wisconsin DOT

Coordinated efforts yield many benefits:• Introduce new levels of government

efficiency by sharing ideas and tasks• Develop a consistent structure for

statewide incident management• Reduce response time to, and traffic

delays associated with, vehicle incidentsacross geographical areas

Governments Gain Efficiency withIncident Management SystemsIncident management systems help stateand local governments:• Save taxpayer dollars by stretching

existing resources• Reduce their working citizens’ commute

times• Boost economic development• Cut operating costs of responding

agencies• Reduce fuel consumption and emissions• Make communities more mobile,

prosperous, and livable

“An economic side effect of a workingincident management program is that itkeeps traffic moving. In our case, traffic ismostly trucks which carry produce and trade,so it is in the economy’s best interests to keepthem moving.”—William Stoeckert, Director of HighwayOperations, Connecticut DOT

Communities with incident managementprograms typically attract profitablebusiness.

“Our success depends on our productreaching our plant in a narrow window oftime… delays of only 20 minutes can createquantifiable losses in production. We look tothe Birmingham Regional Incident Manage-ment Program as a means of ensuring thecontinued economic vitality of our first U.S.production facility.”

—Emmett Meyer, Vice President,Mercedes Benz US International

FHWA-JPO-99-006