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Strategy Planning and Travel Data Collection using Bluetooth Technology

for the Red Sox Baseball Spring Training – A Case Study

Research Teams

Florida Gulf Coast University

Sponsor

Lee County Department of Transportation

Presented at Louisiana Tech University

Ruston, LA – July 24, 2016

Background• Lee County is home to a growing number of

special events venues, as well as seasonal parades and festivals.

• Lee DOT uses new and emerging technologies to effectively and efficiently operate and manage roadways.

• In 2012, 2013, and 2014, Lee County DOT, Traffax Inc., and FGCU collaborated on a project to monitor traffic impact during the Red Sox Spring Training at Jet Blue Stadium.

Objectives• To describe the traffic management

system deployed during the last year season of the Minnesota Twins baseball spring training.

• To describe and evaluate, emerging new methods of travel data collection and their effectiveness.

• To conduct traffic analysis with Advance Traffic Management System (ATMS) data to evaluate the effectiveness of the current system.

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Approach• Collect and review pertinent

literature and other information related to the latest technology in traffic management systems.

• Develop a study plan to evaluate traffic operation for baseball spring trainings in Fort Myers.

Approach• Evaluate the benefits of the

strategic planning in this work.–Efforts were made to effectively

use data from Bluetooth and other new systems as the basis to evaluate and refine traffic control before and after games, and to document impacts of ballpark traffic on travel times.

Strategic Planning

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Schedule of Games at JetBlue ParkType of Game

Date Game Time (Eastern Standard Time)

2012 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014

Afternoon Game

Sa, 3-Mar* F, 17-Mar M, 17-Mar14:35 (2:35 pm)

13:35 (1:35 pm)

13:05 (1:05 pm)

Su, 4-Mar Su, 19-MarSu, 23-Mar 13:35 (1:35

pm)13:35 (1:35 pm)

13:05 (1:05 pm)

Tu, 6-Mar Th, 23-MarW, 26-Mar 13:35 (1:35

pm)13:35 (1:35 pm)

13:05 (1:05 pm)

M, 27-MarSa, 29-Mar 13:35 (1:35

pm)13:05 (1:05 pm)

Th, 30-Mar13:35 (1:35 pm)

Evening Game

Sa, 3-Mar* W, 15-MarSa, 15-Mar 19:05 (7:05

pm)19:05 (7:05 pm)

19:05 (7:05 pm)

M, 5-Mar Tu, 21-MarW, 19-Mar 19:05 (7:05

pm)19:05 (7:05 pm)

19:05 (7:05 pm)

F, 9-Mar Tu, 28-MarTh, 20-Mar 19:05 (7:05

pm)19:05 (7:05 pm)

19:05 (7:05 pm)

Sa, 10-MarTh, 27-Mar 19:05 (7:05

pm)19:05 (7:05 pm)

From standpoint of stakeholders

•In 2012, Daniels Parkway was expanded from 2 to 3 lanes of traffic in each direction.

•Afternoon games started at 1:35pm/2:35pm, while the evening games occurred at 7:05pm.

•In 2013 the traffic light intersection on Daniels Parkway and Treeline Boulevard was re-programed to provide additional green time to the eastbound and westbound traffic flow.

Initial traffic control plans (prior to the opening of the stadium)

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Initial traffic control plans (prior to the opening of the stadium)

From standpoint of traffic management

•Before and after each game, law enforcement stets traffic cones on the roadway to monitor and re-direct traffic flow.

•At the beginning of each game eastbound Lanes 1 and 2 were redirected as left turn movement to enter the stadium.

From standpoint of traffic management (cont.)

•When the parking lot on the first main entrance was full, eastbound traffic Lane 1 was closed for left turn movement.

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From standpoint of traffic management (cont.)

•EBT shoulder Lane was isolated, especially at the approach of the entrance of the ballpark, as “through traffic lane.”

From standpoint of traffic management (cont.)

•At the end of the each game, no traffic was allowed on Daniels Parkway westbound.•As the vehicles exited the stadium, only right turns were permitted on Daniels Parkway. •Traffic is not controlled or monitored by law enforcements at overflow parking lot.

ResultsAfternoon

Eastbound Traffic

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Percentage difference in travel time (TT) due to traffic

congestion

100*_

)__(___%

GTT

NGTTGTTTTinDiff

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2012: Segments A-B; B-C; A-C; C-D; and A-D (EBT)

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2013: Segment 1-2; 2-3; 1-3; 3-4; and 1-4 (EBT)

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Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2014: Segment I-II; II-III; I-III; III-IV; I-IV; IV-V; and I-V (EBT)

ResultsEvening

Eastbound Traffic

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Evening Game in 2012: Units A-B; B-C; A-C; C-D; and A-D (EBT)

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Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Evening Game in 2013: Units 1-2; 2-3; 1-3; 3-4; and 1-4 (EBT)

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Evening Game in 2014: Units I-II; II-III; I-III; III-IV; I-IV; IV-V; and I-V (EBT)

Travel Time and Speed Range Values in Eastbound at Critical Locations (within 3 hours buffer between the

start of the game time)Type of Gamea, b Afternoon Games Evening Games

2012C 2013d 2014e 2012C 2013d 2014f

Highest percentage difference in travel time, % 203 161 301 154 171 159

Location of occurrence Segment/link A to B 3 to 4 III to IV A to B 3 to 4 II to III

Length, ft 8130 3060 3060 8130 3060 3485

Time of the day, (EST) 12:00 12:00 13:00 18:00 19:00 19:00

Actual travel time, min:sec Game Days 7:44 1:47 2:39 6:25 1:47 1:58

Non-Game Days 2:33 0:41 0:40 2:31 0:40 0:46

Actual speed, mph Game Days 12 19 13 14 19 20

Non-Game Days 36 50 53 37 52 52

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ResultsAfternoon

Westbound Traffic

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2012: Units B-A; C-B; C-A; D-C; and D-A (WBT)

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2013: Units 2-1; 3-2; 4-3; and 4-1 (WBT)

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Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2014: Units II-I; III-II; III-I; IV-III; IV-I; V-IV; and V-I (WBT)

ResultsEvening

Eastbound Traffic

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Evening Game in 2012: Units B-A; C-B; C-A; D-C; and D-A (WBT)

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Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Evening Game in 2013: Units 2-1; 3-2; 4-3; and 4-1 (WBT)

Increase in TRAVEL TIME: Afternoon Game in 2014: Units II-I; III-II; III-I; IV-III; IV-I; V-IV; and V-I (WBT)

Travel Time and Speed Range Values in Westbound at Critical Locations (within 3 hours buffer between the

start of the game time)Type of Gamea, b Afternoon Games Evening Games

2012 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014

Highest percentage difference in travel time, % 255 446 627 162 502 473

Location of occurrence Segment/link C to B 4 to 3 IV to III C to B 4 to 3 IV to III

Length, ft 3060 3060 3060 3060 3060 3060

Time of the day, (EST) 12:00 16:00 17:00 17:00 21:00 23:00

Actual travel time, min:sec Game Days 3:42 3:42 4:53 2:37 4:05 3:59

Non-Game Days 1:02 0:41 0:40 1:00 0:41 0:42

Actual speed, mph Game Days 10 9 7 13 8 9

Non-Game Days 34 51 52 35 50 50

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Travel Time and Speed Results at Selected Locations in Eastbound Traffic

Sega.Length (ft)

Conda

Maximum Travel Time-Eastbound, (min:sec)

Maximum Travel Time-Westbound, (min:sec)

Afternoon Games Evening Games Afternoon Games Evening Games

2012c 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014

D/TtoD/C.

4270

BGS N/A 2:45 3:17 N/A 2:58 2:53 N/A 1:47 1:45 N/A 1:40 2:25

AGS N/A 1:30 1:30 N/A 1:30 1:48 N/A 3:38 3:42 N/A 2:56 2:47

No Game

N/A 1:30 1:39 N/A 1:30 1:39 N/A 1:37 1:36 N/A 1:37 1:36

D/Tto1st Ent.

8130

BGS 7:44 4:52 6:10 6:25 4:52 5:02 3:08 2:44 2:21 2:51 2:44 3:34

AGS 3:09 2:21 2:33 2:43 2:22 2:35 5:49 5:54 6:35 3:05 4:07 3:56

No Game

2:41 2:21 2:28 2:35 2:21 2:28 2:46 2:30 2:30 2:40 2:30 2:30

D/TtoEast of 2nd Ent.

11220

BGS 6:10 6:13 6:44 4:38 5:50 6:25 6:19 4:47 4:44 5:30 4:44 5:10

AGS 4:03 3:00 3:18 3:34 3:11 3:25 8:30 8:27 12:04 5:39 7:22 8:46

No Game

3:34 3:03 3:07 3:30 3:03 3:07 3:39 3:10 3:14 3:33 3:10 3:14

D/TtoEast of D/G

20090

BGS 8:13 N/A 6:51 8:06 N/A 6:59 8:39 N/A 7:46 7:39 N/A 7:49

AGS 5:57 N/A 5:29 5:39 N/A 5:21 10:4 N/A 15:09 7:34 N/A 7:58

No Game

5:36 N/A 5:17 5:27 N/A 5:27 6:48 N/A 5:20 6:34 N/A 5:20

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions and Recommendations

• At times, travel time was increased by over 600% (which correspond to about 10 minutes delay) within the vicinity of the ballpark alone during game days as compared to no game days.

• This research showed that if planned well, it appears that Bluetooth technology can even be used to provide promising results for lane congestion management.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

• It was also noticed that traffic congestion, especially in the eastbound, was reduced for three consecutive years. In the segment leading the stadium, travelers saved 2 to 4 minutes in 2014, 2013 as compared to 2012, respectively.

• Similarly, when traffic volume peaked especially at the end of the afternoon games, travelers saved nearly 4 minutes when the alternative route was selected.

Conclusions and Recommendations

• These improvements can be credited mainly due to the strategic planning put in place by LCDOT and the research team, parking strategy used by park officials, traffic management by law enforcements, and the variable message signs (VMS). Although these improvements are encouraging, more effort is recommended to improve traffic in the westbound.

Questions

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Thank You