# Presentation: 688329

## Decision Support Needs

***Decision Support Needs***
***for ***
***Transportation Systems***

**December 5, 2000**

***Emil Wolanin***
***Montgomery County, Maryland***

## Effects of Weather on Transportation:

- Congestion (Roads & Intersections)
- Transit Delays
- Safety
- Conditions (fog, heavy downpours, etc.)
- Damage to traffic control equipment
- Agency Resources

**Notes:**
In essence, weather creates problems on the transportation system.  These problems translate affect lives, time, money.  

## Snow Operations - 3” Storm

- 2,485 miles of road to treat.
- 200 snow fighting personnel.
- 197 Pieces of County owned equipment.
- 900 tons of salt mix is required to treat the major and primary roads one time.
- 1,600 tons of sand mix is required to treat the neighborhood streets one time.
- It takes approximately 16 hours after the snow has stopped falling to plow and/or treat every County road one time.

## Equipment Preparation
Snow Emergency Routes
Police & Fire 
School Delays or Closings
Transit Impacts - Code White, Drivers
Parking Lots & Garage Decks
Facilities

- Snow Emergency Routes
- Police & Fire
- School Delays or Closings
- Transit Impacts - Code White, Drivers
- Parking Lots & Garage Decks
- Facilities

**Snow Operations**

**Notes:**
The accuracy of the start time is critical - so many decisions are tied to that.

These are the visible aspects of what we do, but there is a lot of behind the scenes things we do to deal with weather events.

## Managing Weather Impacts

- Scrounge around for weather info
- Plan & prepare based on available info
- Allocate resources based on location, type, severity & duration

- Tailored Response

**Notes:**
Reminder - transition to next slide may take a moment

## Sources of Information

- Faxed alerts from weather forecasting services (AccuWeather)
- Weather Monitoring Stations
- Radar Loop on Cable TV
- Weather Channel
- Look out the Window

## What Is ITS ?

- ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) is the use of advanced technology to improve the movement and safety of people and goods.
- Used to improve how the transportation system is *managed* and *operated* under **ALL** conditions
- ITS, in a broad sense, is the management of a system of systems:

- Traffic
- Signal
- System

- Transit
- Management
- System

- Freeway
- Management
- System

- Incident
- Management
- System

- Traveler
- Information
- System

**Notes:**
Notes:

analogy - ITS is a like a puzzle, with smaller pieces making up the big picture.

## What Is ATMS ?

**What Is ATMS ?**

- Advanced Transportation Management System
- State of the art technology for managing the County’s critical roadways
- Control
- Monitoring
- Information
- Montgomery County’sITS system

## Existing Decision Support Model

**Responses that are Inconsistent and Inaccurate**

*+*

*=*

**Notes:**
This is how our managers and operators currently utilize this information.

Results vary based on
-passivity or aggressiveness of the person making the decision
- Experience of the person making the decision (similar situations)

## Desired Decision Support Model

**Desired Decision Support Model**

**Responses that are Consistent and Appropriate**

**Notes:**

Click for Animation - weather symbols appearing on the computer

## Undesirable Architecture

- Signal System PC

- Sign Control PC

- Weather PC

- Dispatch PC

- Other PC

**Undesirable Architecture**

**Notes:**

Click for Animation - the NO symbol

## Desired Architecture

- Base Mapping

- Real Time Traffic Applications

- Real Time Weather Applications

**Desired Architecture**

## ATMS Physical Architecture

**Travelers**

**Centers**

- Wireline Communications

- Wide Area Wireless Communications

- Dedicated Short Range

- Communications

- Vehicle to Vehicle Communications

- Traffic Mgt.

- (ATMS/

- COMTRAC)

- Transit

- Mgt.

- (ORBCAD)

- Archive Data

- Mgt.

- (Informix)

- Roadway
- including
- Weather
- Sensors

- Transit

- Vehicle

- Personal

- Information

- Access

**Roadside**

**Vehicles**

**ATMS Physical Architecture**

- Chart II

- PIMS

**Notes:**
Note the involvement of items in the lower left

The sensors or weather monitoring stations feed into the system, as should data from weather reporting services.

Click for Animation - Weather subsystem in lower right corner

## Typical Weather Radar Display

**Typical Weather Radar Display**

**Notes:**

Click for Animation - take out Ann Arbor

## ATMS w/o Integrated Weather Data

**ATMS w/o Integrated Weather Data**

## ATMS w/ Integrated Weather Data

**ATMS w/ Integrated Weather Data**

## Improving Operations

- Better deployment of personnel:
- Scheduling and duration of event.
- To handle damaged equipment.
- Enhancements to dynamic signal operations:
- Increase clearance times due to road friction.
- Modify cycle & split timing patterns

## Architecture & Data Standards

- ITS National Architecture
- User Services & Market Packages
- ITS Standards
- communications
- message sets
- object definitions
- References
- www.its.dot.gov
- www.ntcip.org