is an early spring to be, or not to be phil did not see ...€¦ · management & operations...

Winter 2019 Quarterly Issue 117

IS AN EARLY SPRING TO BE, OR NOT TO BEPUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL DID NOT SEE HIS SHADOW, SO WE’LL SEE IF OUR MILD TEMPS CONTINUE.


NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS (TSM&O)PROGRAM MANAGER

My contribution to this quarter’s newsletterbecame much more difficult due to an event thatoccurred the afternoon of January 3rd. Up untilthen, my portion of the newsletter was ready. Iplanned to provide information on theprofessional backgrounds of Russell Allen(Clinton Smith) and Derek Vollmer’s (ChristinaShafik) replacements in Central Office. I wasthen going to discuss the future of the TSM&Oprogram as we delve further into the world ofConnected and Automated Vehicles. That wasuntil a major crash occurred on I-75, just north ofGainesville, on January 3rd that claimed thelives of seven souls, five of which were children.

The most challenging part of our program isfiguring out a way to make the roadway systemmore efficient and safe for the traveling public.In this case, there was nothing we could do toprevent such a catastrophe and this is whereConnected and Autonomous vehicles will takeus to the next level of safety. The onlyopportunity we had was to try and prevent thesecondary crashes that occur after the initialevent, because these could end up being amuch worse scenario for motorists.

So, as soon as I learned about this accident wegrouped together on the RTMC floor to see whatcould be done to try and prevent another crash.Since I-75 was closed in both directions, it wasimperative that we got the word out as fast andfar as possible. Since the District Two I-75 ITSdeployment was recently final accepted, wecould utilize the Dynamic Message Signs (DMS)for southbound traffic all the way up to theGeorgia State line and for northbound traffic, allthe way down to Micanopy. Likewise, the SR23/I-10 interchange project is nearingcompletion, so we used a majority of thewestbound DMS to alert motorists of the closureon I-75.

All that was left was to alert the I-10 eastboundmotorists, as well as I-75 northbound motoristsfurther south that were headed our way. Wereached out to our partners in District Three,Five, Seven and Turnpike Enterprise to see ifthey could assist by posting messages on asmany northbound DMS as possible. Theobjective was to “thin the herd” by providingthis advanced information, with the hope thatmany motorists in a hurry would seek analternate route. It seemed to work since therewere no secondary crashes occurring on I-75and traffic flowed much better than what theRTMC is used to for such closures.

It does not take away from the fact that sevenlives were lost due to this tragic event,however we can take solace in the fact that wemay have assisted in the prevention of theundesirable secondary crashes. My take isthat if we were currently living in theConnected and Automated vehicle world, theinitial crash may have been avoided. Likewise,if it was not a preventable event then the othercars would have been immediately warned andtaken precautionary measures to avoidadditional collisions. Vehicle-to-Vehicle andVehicle-to-Infrastructure communication wouldhave occurred within milliseconds, the carsmay have been able to initiate crash avoidancesystems and it could have ended up being aminor fender bender.

Am I just dreaming or could this be a reality?Well, a few weeks later I had the opportunity toexperience the technology of the future. I wasasked to participate in a retirement party atUSF for one of my former supervisors incollege. The day before leaving, I noticed thatmy tire was going flat as I left the office.

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NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS (TSM&O)PROGRAM MANAGER continued

Noticing the huge nail, I immediately drove it tothe nearest tire store. Unfortunately, they werebooked solid and could not take care of me thatnight. At least they were nice enough to pull outthe lift jack and put the spare on for me. Thatevening, I contacted several tire stores andlearned everyone was booked for the next twodays.

Not really having an alternative, I decided to renta car from AVIS for this trip. Since it was for ashort period of time, I decided to rent a ToyotaPrius to save on fuel. When I arrived at AVISthe next morning I was told that the Prius hadbeen rented out. The attendant was extremelyapologetic and offered to “upgrade” me at noadditional cost to a Toyota Corolla. Since I wasin a pinch I begrudgingly agreed to the change.In all the excitement he could muster, theattendant told me that it was a 2019 model withall the latest bells and whistles technology couldoffer! My reaction was “yeah, right” it’s just aCorolla. I did not notice anything out of theordinary as I put my luggage into the car andheaded towards the Interstate, but after that“The Adventure” began.

I normally use cruise control while taking longtrips on the Interstate and find myself drifting offfrom time-to-time. However, lo and behold, thiscar had automatic cruise control using radarsensors up front that would maintain a desiredspeed and distance until it approached thevehicle ahead. It would then brake slowly as itreached an unsafe distance and immediatelytake me out of “La La land” while activating itsrear end collision avoidance system. It took meabout 60 miles to get used to this cruise controlfeature. I definitely got a few wake up calls as Iadjusted to this safety feature.

Further along on my drive the traffic inOrlando had its normal bottleneck in thedowntown area. As I approached thecongestion (no cruise control now) I decidedto switch lanes, however the Corolla wouldnot let me make the maneuver. As I lookedin my side-view mirror I noticed the car thatwas racing past me in the left lane. The rearradar sensor had detected this risk and tookcontrol of the situation to avoid me from beingside-swiped or rear ended. I probably wouldhave avoided this type accident if drivingmanually but had some comfort in knowingthe car would not let me take the risk.

About three hours into the drive I wished thatI’d stopped in Winter Haven to grab a cup ofcoffee. It had been a long day so far and thecaffeine would have done me some good.About the time I reached Lakeland, the carbegan to ask if I was doing okay and neededa break. What the heck!?! It knew how I wasfeeling at that point of the drive!?! I soonfigured out that it had a similar feature to theMercedes line where there is a sensor thattracks eye movements. I was deep intothinking about a possible nap and the carsensed that it needed to grab my attention.

Once I arrived at USF I realized just howmuch it sucked to try and find parking on acollege campus. As I drove the loop multipletimes the only option I could find were someparallel parking spaces. I love a challenge!So, with all the skills learned in DefensiveDriving class, I parked the car after threetries. That’s when I noticed the Corollaasking me if I wanted to utilize the automatedparallel parking feature. What! I was so

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NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS (TSM&O)PROGRAM MANAGER continued

embarrassed as the snot-nosed college studentssmirked at my agony! The rest of the weekend Ipurposely tried to find a location where I couldtry the parallel parking feature, but just my luckthere were none to be found.

On my way back to Jacksonville I put all thesefeatures to the test and realized the benefits thattechnology could provide. I felt much safer,more in tune with the vehicle’s features andhopeful that this would be the norm for all cars inthe coming years. It made me reflect back to theITS America Conference in 2004. That’s when Ifirst spoke to auto manufacturers about this typeof technology. They said it was coming and theonly thing creating the delay was the availabilityof the sensors and unit cost. Ford’srepresentative told me that each sensor costabout two-dollars, however their desire was tohave a unit cost of about twenty-five cents persensor to make the additional feature profitable.Several years ago, the luxury class vehiclesmade it a standard. Now, it’s the priceconscious cars that are joining the mix!

My hope is that in the near future, these types offeatures are combined with connected vehicletechnology on all cars. At that point, I will bemuch more confident that crashes like the onethat occurred on January 3rd can be avoided withthe helping hand of sensors and vehiclecommunication.

Pete Vega, District 2TSM&O Manager

NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT 2 ITSOPERATIONS MANAGER

2019 is finally upon us and we have yet toreach our Utopian future where cars are flyingand robots are controlling everything but donot fret because various automakers aredeveloping or have developed flying cars.The bigger problem is how congested our airspace truly is. According to a NASA study in2012 there could be more than 5,000 planesin the sky at any given time. I believe it issafe to say that we will not be taking ourflying car to work anytime soon due to lack ofinfrastructure, rules, guidelines, maintainingagencies, law enforcement, etc. The betterbet is investing in our current robust highwaysystem. The day we can rely on vehicles tocommunicate with each other and theinfrastructure while removing human errorthrough autonomy, our traffic delays willdecrease. Vehicles will sync with trafficsignals allowing them to search for alternateroutes resulting in increased efficiency, butthis can only occur when cellular towersconvert to 5G.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept ofdevices communicating with the internet andpeople. We are all aware that mostelectronics have some sort of “smart”capability. The only problem we face islimited bandwidth. The simple cure for allthese devices to be truly unleashed is 5G!Cellular carriers are already teasing 5Gspeeds in certain markets and it will not belong before it is fully deployed. You may beasking, “What is the big deal with 5G? Mycurrent cell service is excellent.” 5G isapproximately 1,000 times faster than 4G,which equates to about 100 GB/s. The mostimportant difference between the two is

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NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT 2 ITSOPERATIONS MANAGER continued

reduced lag or latency which is the crucialpiece of connected vehicles. This capabilityallows data to be transmitted, received, andacknowledged resulting in a given action beingexecuted. 5G is the key that allows IoT tocome to fruition. Connected vehicles will beriding on those coat tails. Who knows, maybewe will have a Smart Car before we know it, orbetter yet, Smart Flying car!

Alejandro Varela, P.E.FDOT D2

ITS Operations Manager

NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT 2 ITS PROJECT MANAGER

Phase 1 of FDOT- District 2’s Express Lanesefforts starts on I-295’s west beltway. TheExpress Lanes are being implemented toassist with congestion management, improvesafety, throughput and travel time reliabilitywithin the region. Express Lanes will bephysically separated from the General-Purpose Lanes (GPL) by delineators to allowtolling via SunPass within the Express Lanes.The Express Lanes will utilize the StatewideExpress Lanes Software (SELS) that willprimarily operate in a Dynamic Pricing mode.

By adding two Express Lanes (EL) on theinside of the existing three General PurposeLanes (GPL) this project will be addingcapacity to current conditions along I-295. Alltravel lanes and the EL Shoulder are 12 feet inwidth. Delineators are utilized to separate theEL from the GPL and are installed every 5 feet.

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The Regional Transportation ManagementCenter (RTMC) will use TSM&O strategies,ITS technologies and communication links withpartnering agencies and media partnerships toidentify, verify, and track incidents andemergency events, allowing for informationexchange and coordination among emergencyresponders and law enforcement. Primaryobjectives for integrated incident managementof the Express Lanes is to prevent or minimizesecondary crashes, improve travel timereliability and maximize safety throughexpediting response, enhanced coordination,information dissemination and after-actionreviews. These efforts work towards Florida’sOpen Roads Policy and maximizing theExpress Lanes as a congestion mitigation tool.

FDOT provides funding for the Road RangerProgram statewide. Express Lanes willinclude dedicated Road Rangers and Class BWreckers that will be located in approvedstaging areas. Upon opening of Phase 1, TheExpress Lanes Road Ranger and Express

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NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT 2 ITSPROJECT MANAGER continued

Lanes Wrecker will work 24/7 for the first 90days of Express Lane Operations. The stagingarea for the northeast is just south of theBuckman Bridge in the Ingress Gore Area frommidnight until 1:00 p.m. The southeast stagingarea is still being determined, but will be utilizedfrom 1:00 p.m. until midnight. These stagingareas will allow them to reach the direction oftraffic that sees volume/demand spikes at thosetime periods. They will be dispatched to ALLevents within the Express Lanes and assist withMOT, scene safety, debris, vehicle relocation,advanced warning to motorists and sharing ofinformation.

Additionally, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)will be providing a Hire-back Trooper dedicatedto the Express Lanes, pre-staged in the samelocation. Their primary focus will be quickclearance, incident management and ExpressLane Enforcement. Their main responsibilitieswill be enforcement and lane clearance. Utilizingthe Road Ranger and Wrecker, the Trooper willquickly secure incident scenes and relocate

vehicles to the designated crashinvestigation sites, when possible. For largerevents, the Trooper also has the capability toactivate RISC for an incident within or affectingthe Express Lanes. Safety and travel timereliability will be the main driving factors.



NOTES FROM THE DISTRICT 2 ITS PROJECT MANAGER continued

There will be a sweep of the Express Lanes everyhour to identify abandoned vehicles, debris andincidents, with Road Rangers alternating everyother hour with FHP.

The Express Lanes Incident Management TaskTeam will be meeting at the end of February.Getting all parties at the table is critical to successat the onset of the Express Lanes opening.

Items covered will include:

Driving over and directing traffic overdelineators;

MOT for various scenarios; Releasing traffic; Management of different event types; Enforcement goals; Dissemination of information and

coordination.

Future meetings will include visits and dry-runsalong the Express Lanes. The Express Lanes areyet another tool for congestion management andthe RTMC is prepared.

Dee Dee CrewsProject Manager

District 2 ITS Operations

NORTH FLORIDA TPO

Mr. Jeff Sheffield never ceases to amaze me ashe gets further into the world of technology. In thepast, I have mentioned his efforts to pursue anIntegrated Data System (IDS), Smart Citiestechnology and Advanced Traffic ManagementSystems. During several of our discussions, Ialways mentioned that the biggest challenge in

achieving his goals is the limited talent poolthat could assist. I guess he put a greatamount of thought into what I said and tookaction to address the need.

Jeff’s team coordinated with some folks inOrlando to host the inaugural JAXTAB (TechAnd Beer) event at Intuition Ale Works. Thiswas the kick-off for the first of many Tech andBeer events in Jacksonville that he hopes willbecome the platform for like-minded techprofessionals, business owners, start-ups andinvestors to connect, collaborate and getinspired to drive innovation in thetransportation industry.

The concept was to enhance networkingopportunities for the start-up companiesseeking to get some “skin in the game.” Thefeatured discussion revolved around theBayJax Innovation Corridor through the SmartCities effort along Bay Street and theinnovation that would be needed to achievethe team’s goals. Jeff learned that the TABconcept began in Orlando in 2017 and hasproven to be a huge success in finding talentthat would be able to help drive the change intheir cities. This was a great idea to findingthat untapped talent we so desperately needto take Connected Vehicles and SmartRegions to the next level!

Sponsors of the event included the NFTPO,JTA, Wilson Dutra Innovative Law, LYFT,Pandera Systems, Archer First ResponseSystems and Aviation Systems EngineeringCompany (ASEC). Hopefully, you will noticethat many of these sponsors may be new toyou and not common in the transportationindustry. The reality is that thinking outsidethe box may be our best chance to findsolutions that can be placed in the box.

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NORTH FLORIDA TPO continued

At the moment, Jeff is not making anypromises or providing false hopes on the effort.The reality is that this approach will be a majordriving factor if we intend to achieve the goalsof the region. Transportation professionals aregood at addressing transportation needs. Thearea we currently fall short in is recruiting folksin the “techie” world who know how tomanipulate the data to fulfill our needs. Keepin mind that Amazon started out as an onlinebookstore, SpaceX was nothing more thanTesla on steroids and Facebook was originallycreated as an online dating app for collegestudents. None of this would have occurredwithout the help of these “techies!”

Pete Vega, District 2TSM&O Manager

ITS MAINTENANCE

This quarter has been busy for everyoneinvolved with ITS Maintenance. We have beenfaced with many challenges as well as manychanges to the system. As constructionaccepts projects and turns them over to us wefind ourselves with increasing duties without anincrease in forces. Our maintenance team hasstepped up to the challenges and is taking careof them one by one to finish them.

During the quarter we have added theresponsibility of the US90 interchange, I-75phase 2 and now 9B phase 3. Early Februarywe expect Nassau County on I-95 to comeonline, adding those devices to our system aswell. Each addition to the system adds its ownchallenges and responsibilities. This is

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constantly keeping us on our toes to makesure that we are ready to assist with theareas to keep them operational for the RTMCto monitor traffic and incidents as theyhappen.

One of the challenges we recently faced wason the I-75 project, where GainesvilleRegional Utilities had a main water line breakat I-75 and Newberry Road. This breakdamaged our brand-new fiber and the dropfiber to the pole at the intersection along witha power service run. FDOT had to workthrough the GRU third party adjuster to cometo an agreement for the payment for therepairs or more realistically, a main portion ofthe payment. We have also found somedefective parts in the project limits that theconstruction contractor is handling underwarranty as per specification for the project.

The US 90 Interchange Project wasaccepted but there are several devices stillnot functioning properly. After the warrantyperiod, we will be replacing some of thedevices.Additionally, the SR 9B Phase III Project wasaccepted, but as of yet we have not receivedcomplete as-builts which we are waiting onto take responsibility of the ITS fiber andpower locates.

FDOT ITS Maintenance also completed thefiber connection from Lake City Operations tothe Central Office satellite building in themaintenance yard there as well. We arecurrently working with Metric Engineeringstaff to get the network switch and install it inthe satellite building. This will allow us betterconnection to the bridge wind sensor andwater level data from our sensors that arereporting to NOAA.



ITS MAINTENANCE continued

Maintenance has also participated in the 90%walk through on the I-95 Nassau County ITSproject that will be bringing us devices on I-95almost to the Georgia line. These devices willassist with monitoring traffic on high travel daysinto the city. We expect these to come onlinewithin the next month unless an unforeseenhappens.

Operations and Maintenance have been workingclosely together as SOPs have been updated toensure that everyone from both groups is able towork together to keep the system up. Our abilityto work together as a team has been great andwe will continue to address concerns as a team tomake everything as smooth as possible for ourstaff. ITS Maintenance would also like tocongratulate Jason Evans on becoming the TMCManager. It was a well-deserved promotion asJason has been working with us for many yearsto keep the devices operating as smoothly aspossible.

Matt HarbertITS Maintenance Manager

ITS CONSTRUCTION

Despite a cold and wet winter, the constructioncontractors have been full steam ahead. District 2had several projects wrap up, a few new onesstart and numerous ones that still fall somewherein between. The additional resources brought into assist ITS construction have been busy andthat only ramped up to a new level with thedeparture of Kevin Jackson, the District 2 ITSConstruction Liaison. Despite the loss ofpersonnel, the Construction Projects march on.

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The I-295 west beltway Express Lanes projecthas started to pick up steam and we see thelight of Final Acceptance approaching.Friction course is wrapping up, striping hastaken place and you can now envision theexpress lanes instead of relying on a set ofplans. All forms of Dynamic Message Signs(DMS) have passed field acceptance, thoughsome mysterious color changes are still beingaddressed. As the punchlist gets worked onthe delineators should start to go in during themonth of February. Depending on mothernature and unforeseen circumstances DuvalCounty should be introduced to ExpressLanes in early spring.

The I-295 east beltway is not too far behindthe west beltway, looking at a Septembercompletion date. Most of the work is still roadbased but there has been a recent shift totackling ITS. Cabinets arrived and are startingto be installed. Conduits from Pull Boxes toITS poles are in progress. The project hasdone a great job of keeping the current ITSDevices up and running. The completion ofthis Project should bring some relief to thedaily congestion in that southeast quadrant ofI-295.

The I-95 Overland Project is coming towardsa close with their DMS completing the 30-dayburn-in process. The old Skyline DMS, that isover 10 years old and was taken downseveral years ago, was re-installed at thebottom of the I-95 SB ramp to San Marco andis now working. A field review took place thefirst week of January to help resolve somepending issues that should help meet the finalacceptance date in March.

The I-10 Operational Improvements Project isgearing up now that the Overland is wrappingup. Current work includes MSE walls and



ITS CONSTRUCTION continued

installing drainage along the I-95 Southboundoff ramp to Stockton Street. The contractorcontinues pouring columns/caps along the St.Johns River for the shared use path bridgestructure and driving piles/pouring footers forthe I-95 Northbound flyover ramp to I-10Westbound. Outside of planning and device re-location ITS work has been quiet. The Project’sestimated completion date is in Summer 2020.

I will lump the North and South Projects of SR-23 into one here. The south job is looking to betwo months away from completion while thenorth is four months out. Tolls have beentested and are communicating back to theTurnpike and are operational outside ofactually charging people. ITS held a meeting inmid-January to iron out the remaining issuesand the contractor has a clear plan to completethose pending items. ITS and the New WorldRamp are two of the bigger items remainingthere. This Static Toll Road should be openaround the time the Dynamic tolling starts onthe Express Lanes.

For the I-95 Nassau County Project thecontractor has finished most of theirStandalone Testing and things are takingshape. The 90 percent walk through wascompleted in January and their finalacceptance date should be in February,pending weather days and NOI. The main openitems on this project are the temporary fiberfrom the hit at Airport Road and the CCTV Poleat Pecan Park that requires a platform. A fieldvisit and open discussion has both of thoseitems moving in the proper direction.

I will wrap up with three projects that wrappedup since our last newsletter.

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The I-10/ US-90/ SR-23 Project wrapped upback in October and that caps off the verynorthern end of the SR-23 Projects. ITS wasincluded on Beaver St/ US-90 and on I-10but some detectors are currently workingtheir way through the warranty process. Thatwas small potatoes compared to the I-75Project that had 87 miles of ITS Devices thatwrapped up on December 13th. This Projectincludes MVDS to monitor EmergencyShoulder Use (ESU) evacuationperformance that hopefully we don’t have touse for years to come. Lastly, the 9B Projectfrom I-95 to CR-2209 completed on January7th and started off what should be a busyyear. That added one new DMS and nineCCTVs. This next quarter should see asimilar close out.

There are about 100 Projects that areongoing in District 2 with contracts totalingalmost $2 Billion dollars! About $32 Millionwas paid out last month. Motorists ofNortheast Florida should see the progress ona daily basis and reap the benefits ascontracts wrap up. With all of thatconstruction going on remember to KnowBefore You Go and Use 511.

Ryan CristAtkins Global

ROAD RANGER UPDATE

It’s official! Our District 2 Road Ranger trucksnow have an upgraded look. As you can seefrom the photo on the following page, we arenow sponsored by State Farm and our trucksare currently undergoing a transformation.We are hoping to have all 16 of the trucksupdated within the next few weeks. This willbe the beginning of an exciting partnershipbetween FDOT and State Farm.



ROAD RANGER UPDATE continued

Our Road Ranger Service Patrol fleet isperforming extremely well and has performedapproximately 23,458 services within the pastseveral months (October through January 18,2019). Some of their most important activitiesinclude providing MOT and assisting Law


Enforcement, removing debris out of theroadways for traveling motorists, assisting withbasic maintenance such as changing flat tires,providing air for tires and gas for strandedmotorists.

Since our expansion into the Gainesville area,we have had some great feedback from thepublic as well as during the Traffic IncidentManagement meetings, letting us know that thisexpansion is what the District needed. It isreassuring to know that we are assisting somany motorists in need.

By adding these routes we are able to improveoperations and assist motorists that might be inneed, whether it’s giving direct input from theincident scene, assisting with a flat tire,providing MOT or even gas, our Road Rangersplay an important role in incident management.


ROAD RANGER UPDATE continued

The following charts show all event types that the Road Rangers have responded to from October 1,2018 up through January 18, 2019. As we can see the Road Rangers primarily responded to crashes(16.7%), disabled vehicles (69.0%) and debris events (8.7%). The Rangers have assisted motoristswith close to 10,900 types of events over the course of the past several months as we can see in thechart below.

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Dee Dee CrewsDistrict 2 ITS Operations

Project Manager


RISC – RAPID INCIDENT SCENE CLEARANCE - UPDATE

The Rapid Incident Scene Clearance (RISC) program supports Florida’s Open Roads Policy byestablishing a 90-minute goal for the clearance of motor vehicle incidents on Florida’s roadways.RISC is an essential program which helps secure and restore interstates for public use and is acritical component of Florida’s Traffic Incident Management strategy.

Over the past few months, District 2 has utilized RISC four times (3 in Duval County and 1 inAlachua County). This program is extremely valuable and essential to roadway clearance timesespecially during peak travel time periods. Below you will find a list of all the RISC events we havehad here in District 2 from October 22, 2018 to January 18, 2019.

Table 1: RISC Events in District 2 from October 22nd, 2018 to January 18th, 2019

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FIRST COAST TRAFFIC INCIDENTMANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE

The First Coast Traffic Incident ManagementTeam held two meetings this past quarter onNovember 27, 2018 and January 15, 2019. atthe Regional Transportation Management Center(RTMC) – 980 N Jefferson St., Jacksonville,Florida at 10:00 A.M. During those meetingsseveral items were discussed between the TIMTeam members which included the OverlandBridge and Fuller Warren projects, severalconstruction projects, 511 and ITS updates,Road Rangers and Express Lanes.

Mr. Bill Kays stated that the Overland Bridgeproject is currently in the process of testingthe ITS, Lighting and Signalization devices tomake sure they are online. The project isexpected to be completed within the next twomonths and there have been discussionswithin FDOT to extend the Emerson Streetexit lane south of the Overland Bridge.Suggestions will be reviewed in the upcomingmonths. Fuller Warren detours were also putinto place which enabled the northboundflyover from northbound I-95 to westbound I-10 beams to be put in place.



FIRST COAST TRAFFIC INCIDENTMANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATE continued

Mr. Hampton Ray relayed some ConstructionProject Updates to the group. He stated that theFirst Coast Expressway as well as I-295 ExpressLanes is expected to be completed in Spring2019. The ITS project updates were given by Mr.Craig Carnes where he discussed the 9B PhaseIII project. All of the final deliverables have beenreceived and the 9B project is currently wrappingup. The US 90 project wrapped up in December2018. The I-95 ITS project in Nassau County iscurrently undergoing testing and once that phaseis completed ITS will be deployed to the Georgialine on I-95. The I-75 Phase II ITS project hasbeen completed which deployed ITS devicesfrom Gainesville to Georgia.The I-10 Phase II ITS device installation projectfrom SR 23 to Tallahassee is ongoing and isexpected to be completed in January.The Truck parking project (T-pass) which letstruckers know how much parking is availablealong the route at rest areas has started and willbe ongoing throughout the state.

The next First Coast Traffic IncidentManagement Team meeting is scheduled forMarch 19, 2019 at the Regional TransportationManagement Center (RTMC) – 980 N JeffersonSt., Jacksonville, Florida at 10:00 A.M. If you areunable to attend, please feel free to sendsomeone else who could represent your agency.We look forward to seeing you there!

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ALACHUA BRADFORD TRAFFICINCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAMUPDATE

The Alachua-Bradford Traffic IncidentManagement Team meeting was held onDecember 12, 2018 at the FDOT GainesvilleOperations Office – 5301 N.E. 39th Ave.,Gainesville, Florida at 10:00 A.M. and was ledby Mrs. Dee Dee Crews.

The TEAM kicked off the meeting with anupdate from the Emergency Operations Centerby Mr. Ed Ward where he stated that the areais still battling with issues from HurricaneMichael. Ms. Sherrell Lall then provided theConstruction and ITS Updates to the groupwhere she noted that the I-75 Project wasexpected to be accepted before the end ofDecember, but a few issues were still pendingwhich included the CCTV at MM 413.8 which iswaiting on parts to be replaced. The RoadWeather Information System (RWIS) device atMM 408 is waiting on a part from Germany forconfiguration to be completed, and fourMicrowave Vehicle Detection System (MVDS)units are in the return process and willeventually be replaced.

A washout occurred on SR-26 and I-75swallowing the splice vault which took out theredundant path, two Dynamic Message Signsand six Closed-circuit television cameras withinthe area. Maintenance is scheduled to fix it witha date to be determined. They still need topurchase materials. Afterwards, Mr. SteveScanlan provided the group with a briefpresentation on the Paynes Prairie CampCanal Project.

The Alachua-Bradford Traffic IncidentManagement Team meeting is scheduled forFebruary 13, 2019 at the FDOT GainesvilleOperations Office – 5301 N.E. 39th Ave.,Gainesville, Florida at 10:00 A.M. Please mark



ALACHUA BRADFORD TRAFFICINCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM UPDATEcontinued

your calendars to attend this meeting as eachagency’s participation is important for the good ofthe group. If you are unable to attend, pleasefeel free to send someone else who couldrepresent your agency. We thank you for yourparticipation.

TEAM MISSION:

The Florida Department of Transportation DistrictTwo’s Traffic Incident Management Teamsthrough partnering efforts strive to continuouslyreduce incident scene clearance times to detercongestion and improve safety. The Teams’objective is to exceed the Open Roads Policythus ensuring mobility, economic prosperity, andquality of life.

TEAM VISION:

Through cooperation, communication andtraining the Teams intend to reduce incidentscene clearance times by 10 percent each year.

NOTES:

If anyone is interested in the SHRP2 IncidentManagement Training Course, please contactDee Dee Crews [email protected] or Craig Carnesat [email protected] at 904-260-1567Craig is available to work with any agency’sschedule; including nights and weekends tomake sure the course is available for groupsof ten or more trainees.

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We are currently in the process of updating theTIM Team meeting process and stronglyencourage all TIM members to send insuggestions for agency topics to be discussedduring the meeting. All ideas are welcomedand can be sent [email protected].

Dee Dee CrewsDistrict 2 ITS Operations

Project Manager

OPERATIONS

Many of you are familiar with the TIM Teamand many are probably among the manyStakeholders. Most of us think of theManagement and Supervision of Operations atthe RTMC for those tasks of early detection ofincidents, posting DMS and information onFL511, dispatching Road Rangers, devicechecklists, and on and on. We do all of that,but we also participate in other teams, bothlocally and Statewide.

Have you heard of SSUG? That stands forStatewide SunGuide User Group. Weperiodically meet to discuss requested fixesand updates to the SunGuide Software thatall Districts utilize for management of incidentsand data collection. It is attended byrepresentatives from all districts, both FDOTand Consultants.

Then we have the WGM…ITS Working GroupMeeting. This is another Statewide meeting,again with representatives from all Districts,Central Office and Consultants. Discussions



OPERATIONS continued

are about all things ITS related. The last meetingcovered items like DIVAS (Data Integrationand Video Aggregation System) that is underdevelopment, a Statewide SOG (StandardOperating Guidelines) and FL511 Updates.

Locally, we participate in monthly Road RangerSafety Meetings, one for the Eastern part of theDistrict (Jacksonville) and one for the WesternPart, I-75. We go over any safety, MOT orprocedural issues we have concerns about fromthe prior month.

Last week, in anticipation of when the firstExpress Lanes become operational, I did FHPHire-back training for troopers who will beproviding the law enforcement aspect of theproject.

Field Trip!!! We have periodic field trips to driveand/or walk some of the current constructionprojects to see, first hand, the roadwayconfigurations and the progress that is beingmade. Last week we went out to assess theExpress Lane Staging Areas for Road Ranger,Wrecker and FHP vehicles. One of the areasmay be re-evaluated due to a Road Ranger truckgetting stuck in the dry-run.

We’ve all been busy the last couple of weeksevaluating a 111 page draft Standard OperatingGuidelines from Central Office and makingrecommendations of changes, relative to ourDistricts SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

No one can say that there is ever a dull momentin or out of the RTMC.

Jason Evans,RTMC Manager

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MARKETING

I pass by no less than six gyms on my way intothe office every morning. I leave my housearound 4:55am, following a route that takes mefrom the Beaches, along Atlantic Boulevardthrough Arlington, and finally, across theMathews Bridge into downtown. My observationsince the beginning of the year? More vehiculartraffic…at 5am! The common denominator?Every shopping center that has a gym, seemsto have more cars angling toward said parkinglot. Who knew all those New Year’s resolutionswould translate into a more aggravatingcommute for me? If you’re one of those earlyrisers, determined to muscle your way througha workout, download one of our free FL 511traffic apps available for Apple and Androidproducts. You’ll get to the gym a little faster!And I’ll make it into work on time.

My New Year’s resolution? To make sure all mytrips begin with the My Routes feature on ourFL 511 app. When it comes to planning myroutes to and from Marketing events, this apphas it all! It comes equipped with a Drive Modefeature, as well as interactive traffic maps, andallows me to program up to three door-to-doorroutes. It even sends me alerts when mypreferred route is affected. Avoiding time-consuming traffic delays means I’ll have moretime for the gym later in the day.

Speaking of marketing visits. We have aspectacular winter/spring lineup! First stop,Deutsche Bank on Jacksonville’s southside.This is one of our biggest events of the year. Inthe past, we’ve spoken to as many as 480people in a four-hour window! That’s a lot of511 tutorials. And when you consider all theone-on-one coaching we do for our appdownloads, that’s an average of two people perminute! Pretty soon I’ll have to start looking intoa second career as a speed-talking auctioneer.



MARKETING

In the first quarter of this year, we’ll also visitthe Wells Fargo Building downtown. You mayremember that both levels of its undergroundparking garage were flooded in 2017 duringHurricane Irma, forcing 50 tenants and over1,500 employees to work remotely from otherlocations! It’s not quite hurricane season yet,but we’ll still be emphasizing the importance ofutilizing FL 511 as a disaster preparednessresource. This year’s hurricane season will behere before you know it.

Since school is back in session, we have anumber of campus events penciled in on ourspring calendar as well. In March, we’ll makestops at St. Johns River State College andKeiser University. Then in April, we’ll visitFlorida State College at Jacksonville’sdowntown campus and Bishop Kenny HighSchool. Rounding out our spring schedule,we’ll stop by the Morocco Shrine Auditorium toparticipate in the Tri-Base Military Job Fair.Once prospective employees are armed withthe latest 511 traffic information, they canhead out for their next job interview withconfidence, knowing they’ll arrive on time!

Wherever you’re headed, make sure yourtravel plans include 511. You can dial 5-1-1,log onto www.FL511.com or download one ofthe free FL 511 Apps mentioned above. Youcan also follow us on Facebook, Instagramand Twitter! When it comes to up-to-the-minute traffic information, we’ve got youcovered!

511: Connect. Know. Go!

Sherri ByrdMarketing Manager

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

District 2 has always been an advocate for thedeployment of ITS throughout all the majorinterstates here in Florida. This idea is comingto fruition as we can drive down any interstatehere in District 2 and see the infrastructurechanging and developing. “Gearing up for thefuture” as one would say. District 2 is in theprocess of expanding its coverage along I-10from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and I-75 fromthe Alachua county line to the Georgia stateline to complement the current infrastructurewe currently have on I-295 and I-95. With thatbeing said, the TMC is now able to visuallycapture more incidents while they are occurringand also provide great insight to FDOT aboutthe incident.

Along with the added infrastructure, the RoadRangers are fully deployed with 16 routeswhich encompass all our major interstates andhave been assisting our motoriststremendously. We have been receiving greatfeedback and are excited for the next chapterhere in District 2. From the charts below, wecan see that the Road Rangers have beenextremely busy with an increase in disabledvehicles (31%) on our roadways.

There have been a significant amount ofcrashes (332) as well as debris events (89)which have contributed to our clearanceduration times.

The average clearance duration times for thepast 12 months have stayed well under thegoal duration times as we can see in the chartsbelow. District 2 has averaged approximately41.9 minutes for our Open Roads Durationtime, 50.1 minutes for our Roadway Clearanceduration time and 77.8 minutes for our IncidentClearance duration time over the course of thepast twelve weeks.



PERFORMANCE MEASURES continued



PERFORMANCE MEASURES continued

Sherrell LallMetric Engineering

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SPOTLIGHT ON…JASON EVANS, RTMC MANAGER

Sort of set the stage for us, where were youborn and raised? I was born in Orange Parkand grew up in Macclenny, Florida.

How many years have you been workingwith District Two’s IntelligentTransportation System (ITS)?This July will be 14 years of working at theTMC.

Describe for us your early role in TrafficManagement and how that led to where youare now as the District 2 RTMC Manager.I started out as a Part Time overnight operatormonitoring the highways with the few ITSdevices we had at the time. Eleven years later,I was promoted to RTMC Supervisor and thento RTMC Manager last October.

You’ve seen a lot of changes at the RTMCover the years. What, in your mind, hasbeen the biggest?When I first started here, long ago, we only hadcameras on I-10 between Chaffee and the I-95merger. They were dial-up and had a verypoor quality. Once the I-10 job is complete, wewill have complete coverage on the interstatesand continue to expand coverage on thearterials. Its amazing to see how far we havecome in the last decade or so.

What’s the longest shift you’ve ever workedat the RTMC? (hurricane, wildfires, etc…please elaborate if you can) I have workedseveral 24+ hour shifts during the last fewHurricanes. We were fortunate with Michaellast year (during my second week as theRTMC Manager) but Irma gave us a run for ourmoney two years ago.

Were you a coffee drinker prior to startingthis job? Or did this job fuel your caffeineaddiction?I had actually given up caffeine for the mostpart over the summer but with all of the newresponsibilities thrown at me, both with thenew job title and a new born at home, I havebecome an avid coffee drinker again with atleast two cups in the morning and theoccasional Mountain Dew in the afternoon toget me through the day.

What message do you wish you could getacross to Jacksonville drivers?

LEARN HOW TO DRIVE IN THE RAIN!!! It’s ridiculous the amount of crashes we havewhen the roads are wet and most could beavoided by slowing down and paying moreattention during that time.

Biggest traffic-related pet peeve?Rubberneckers. Not only does it worsen thecongestion from the crash, but can often leadto secondary crashes.

As long as you’ve been immersed in theworld of traffic, are there any memorablehighway incidents that stand out in yourmind? (be descriptive if possible) I havetold this story several times but it’s still thefirst that comes to mind when I’m asked thisquestion. We had an interesting event a fewyears ago where a naked homeless man wasrunning around on I-95 near Golfair. JSOshowed up on scene and blocked off most ofthe lanes for safety but this gentleman wasfairly quick and eluded them for quite sometime jumping back and forth over the centerdivider. It was funny to watch because you



SPOTLIGHT ON…JASON EVANS, RTMC MANAGER continued

could tell that none of the officers really wantedto be the one to catch him but wanted himcontained for obvious safety reasons.

In addition to your new job title at work, wealso hear you have a new job title at home.What’s it like being a new dad? (embellishhere…brag about the new baby AND therest of your family!) It has been a hugelearning experience for me. With her beingpremature, the first month or so was nerveracking but she has taken off since then andhas turned into a little butter ball. I hate havingto leave her every morning, but Kristie usuallysends me enough pictures to get me throughthe day.

What’s something your parents taught youthat you hope to pass on to your child(ren)?To always work hard for what you want in lifeand never let anything stop you from achievingyour goals.

Do you have a favorite quote? Somethingthat inspires you? Nothing particular comesto mind.

When you’re not at work, where are wemost likely to find you? Right now, with anewborn at home, we spend most of our timejust hanging out. Once she gets a little older,we will be out riding ATVs and camping in theFall/ Winter/ Spring and out on the boat or atthe beach in the Summer.

Favorite vacation spot? Myrtle Beach, SC

Above: from front, Lillie, Kristie, Will and Jason.Below: And baby makes five! Elena Mae Evans

was born on August 24th, 10 weeks early, weighing in at 3 pounds 10 ounces, 16.5 inches

long! Now, at almost six months, she’s up to 14 pounds 8 ounces!

19


PHOTO GALLERY

20

Above- left: 511 visits the Clay County Government Employee Expo; right: Hyatt Regency;

Left: Who is this 14 year old in our Rack Room?

Finally, we have two additions coming to the RTMC Staff in the not-too-far distant future. Look closely and see if you can figure out who they look like!

Winter 2019 Quarterly Issue 117Traffic Incident Management

2019 Meeting Schedule

FDOT DISTRICT 2 ITS STAFF

21

Alex VarelaITS/TMC Operations Manager

[email protected]

First Coast TIM TeamRegional Transportation Management Center

980 N. Jefferson St., Jacksonville, FL904.903.2000

10:00am-12:00pmMarch 19, 2019

May 21, 2019 July 16, 2019 September 17, 2019 November 19, 2019

Alachua/Bradford TIM TeamFDOT Gainesville Operations Office

5301 NE 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL352.381.4300

10:00am-11:30amApril 10, 2019

June 12, 2019 August 14, 2019 October 9, 2019 December 11, 2019

Matt HarbertITS Maintenance Manager

[email protected]

Dee Dee CrewsITS/TMC Project Manager

[email protected]

Eduardo GomezSMA/AMS Engineer

[email protected]

Peter Vega, District 2Transportation Systems Management

& Operations Program Manager904.360.5463

[email protected]

Glenn EnglishSMA/AMS Engineer

[email protected]

is an early spring to be, or not to be phil did not see ...€¦ · management & operations...

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