An Intelligent Transportation System Evaluation Tool in the FSUTMS Regional Demand Modeling Environment

By

Mohammed Hadi, Florida International UniversityandVidya Mysore, FL. Department of Transportation

12th Conference on Transportation Planning Applications

May 17-21, 2009Houston, Texas

Value and Impacts of ITS Important element of the

decision making process ITS planning and

programming Choice between ITS and

other alternatives Understanding the

impacts/quantifying the benefits

Optimizing existing system operation and design

Evaluation Tool Purpose

Provides assessment of the benefits and costs associated with implementing ITS in a region

Allows the users to assess deployment options within the framework of the MPO adopted FSUTMS models

Accumulates the benefits and costs over the life-cycle duration of each of the improvement types selected by the user

Allows ranking of alternative improvements

Evaluation Approaches “Goal‑based” approach

• Does not compare expected benefit to the expected cost dollar values

“Economic approach” • Does not account for non-quantifiable

measures

Combination of approaches

IDAS

Powerful tool and used as a basis and a starting point for this development

Evaluate a large number of ITS deployments Limitations

Not consistent with the Florida calibrated models Requires manipulation of FSUTMS output files for use as

inputs to the tool Software design and GUI needs improvements Methods and some parameters need to be updated Not flexible to allow evaluating new ITS elements and

components, performance measures, etc.

FDOT Project Develop a tool and methods to perform ITS

sketch planning evaluations as part of the FSUTMS/Cube environment No need for file conversion Use calibrated regional models Flexible and extendable evaluation environment Up to date methods and parameters Powerful data handling and modeling capabilities.

State-of-the-art user interface A joint FDOT System Planning Office and FDOT

ITS Section effort.

Evaluated ITS Deployment Ramp Metering Incident Management Systems Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) and Dynamic Message Signs

(DMS) Advanced Travel Information Systems HOT Lanes Signal Control Transit Vehicle Signal Priority Emergency Vehicle Signal Priority Monitoring and Management of Fixed Route Transit Transit Information Systems Transit Security systems Transit electronic payment systems Smart work zones Road Weather Information Systems

Evaluation Tool

EvaluateITS

Benefits and Costs

ITS B

enefit Database

User

model data

benefit - d

ata

cost - dataevaluation - results

evaluation - parameters

ITS Cost database

FSUTMS Modules

adjusted parameters

Benefit Dollar Values

Performance Measures

Vehicle miles of travel (VMT); Vehicle hours of travel (VHT); Average speed; Number of accidents

Fatality Injury Property damage only

Fuel Consumption (gallons) Monetary benefits to users and/or

agency, as appropriate Emission (gm)

Hydrocarbon Carbon monoxide Oxides of Nitrogen

Assessment Elements

Performance modules (emission, fuel consumption, safety, TT)

ITS impacts ITS costs Dollar values of benefits

ITS Benefit Evaluation A method developed for each component

Review and assessment of methods used in evaluation tools

Review of literature Default ITS impact parameters derived based on

a review of previous evaluation studies, USDOT benefit database and the values used in existing ITS sketch planning tools.

The user is able to change the default ITS impact parameters and perform sensitivity analysis.

ITS Cost Evaluation The cost information includes the number and types of

equipment required for each type of evaluated ITS deployment

The cost information includes initial costs, operation and maintenance costs, estimated interest rate, and life time of each equipment

Based on information from ITS agencies collected in a previous FDOT effort and information collected in this study

User can change the defaults and is encouraged to do this based on projects at hand

Example Combined Incident Management and

DMS/HAR Evaluation

IM Evaluation Queuing analysis is used to calculate incident delays;

taking incident frequency, duration, lane blockage, and traffic demand variations into consideration

Queuing theory equations implemented for different periods of the day

Shift of fatalities to injuries as well as secondary incident savings

Evaluation of emission and fuel consumption benefits based on saving in vehicle-miles traveled in queues rather than on default reduction factors

DMS/HAR Evaluation

The evaluation of DMS and HAR is combined with incident management instead of evaluating them separately

The activation of DMS and HAR causes route diversions, which reduces the traffic volume on mainline

The increase in travel time for diverted vehicles is determined by the difference in average travel time along the mainline and that on alternative route(s) taking into consideration the average v/c ratio on alternative route and type of alternative route

4-16

Diversion Rate

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Div

ersi

on

Rat

e

Delay Savings (Minutes)

Stated preference up to 60 percent of the freeway traffic to exit the freeway ahead of the bottleneck

Lower values for revealed preference

Function of a number of factors

“Boundedly Rational” switching behavior

Relationship used by Huchingson and Dudek

Diversion Rate Studies Diversion Rate Used in Evaluation

Evaluation Methodology Road Ranger Service Patrol

The savings are total annual costs of the services

provided by road ranger service patrol

Index Service COST per ActivityActivity Number

per Vehicle Mile per Year

1 Abandoned $98.43 1.23

2 Assist FHP $854.12 0.06

3 Debris $35.00 0.56

4 Diesel $38.00 0.01

5 Directions $0.00 0.02

6 Dispatch Not Found $0.00 0.66

7 Flat Tire $35.00 2.79

8 Gas $38.00 1.07

9 Jump $35.00 0.27

10 Lock Out $35.00 0.002

11 Minor Repair $35.00 0.27

… … … …

4-18

Tool Input Form

Case Study

Case Study Results

Next Steps

The tool and methods developed in this study will be implemented in MPO approved regional demand models

Outreach activities continue to provide information about project deliverables to the planning and ITS communities Presentations has been made at the statewide,

regional, and local FSUTMS model user groups in addition to ITS working group

Further enhancements being planned