|
|
The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and its ITS partners are using a $1 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration to enhance emergency response in Utah by developing an open architecture interface (based on IEEE 1512 standards) to automatically share data between multiple organizations. The interface will connect UDOT's Traffic Operations Center (TOC) with the Utah Department of Public Safety, Valley Emergency Communications Center, Salt Lake City Police and Fire Departments, and the Utah Transit Authority. The project is slated for completion in approximately 11 months and is intended for eventual use on a national level to facilitate communication across jurisdictions.
During the study, UTA will look for specific ways to improve the current bus system that are consistent with UTA's larger, 165-route, 1,400 square-mile transportation network, as well as look for ideas on developing long-term increases in service from new sales tax funding. The study will also provide recommendations on the redeployment of existing unproductive routes.
While the world's eyes were glued to Utah's snow capped mountains and spectacular ice arenas, the Utah Traffic Lab (UTL) was busy looking at how the transportation was managed. UTL worked closely with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and ITERIS, Inc on a data collection project which included counting cars and interviewing spectators about traffic. Thirty University graduate students took part in the project. Some students sat in cars all day counting traffic volumes around the venues and the enormous park and ride lots in Ogden, Salt Lake City, Park City, and Provo. Other students browsed the Internet looking for different media articles about traffic, interviewed people on the street and on the phone, and still others monitored traffic using UDOT's cameras. The purpose of all of these activities that, in many cases lasted 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, was to monitor traffic flows for future analysis, watch for incidents, and monitor the effectiveness of transit and venue parking. Although more than 3 times the population of Salt Lake City watched the venues and explored Downtown Salt Lake City, the perception of many spectators was that traffic management was a success. "I think that the traffic is better now than before the games," exclaimed one spectator. Overall, UDOT and the Salt Lake Olympic Committee's planning has worked very well. The demand of spectators, press, athletes, and everyone else to get to and from the venues worked out very smoothly in spite of the greatly enhanced security precautions.
The Traffic Operation Center (TOC) for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) gained the ability to monitor progression on I-15 by embedding loop detectors in the road that detect speed and flow data. The TOC is able to instantly see the Level of Service (real-time LOS, or RTLOS) along the I-15 corridor so they can see how the commute is progressing. In an attempt to improve public service, UDOT seeks to extend this technology to the main arterials dispersed around the Salt Lake Valley. However, there has not been any research or development into providing RTLOS measurements for arterials streets. A requirement for this project is to determine the RTLOS of the arterials using existing equipment along the arterial. The most common equipment is the stop bar detectors embedded at the signalized intersections. The goal of this research is to find a way to measure RTLOS with Salt Lake's existing infrastructure and deliver that information to the TOC for distribute it to the public. The uniqueness of this project is also conditional to the type of data with which the LOS would be calculated. The aim of this research is unprecedented and may be the foundation to develop a unique tool for traffic operation centers across the country. 
In conjunction with the Deseret News, a demonstration of a new “beaming stations” at TRAX station kiosks allowing Palm-based personal digital assistant (PDA) users access to transit schedules, national and local news stories, weather conditions, ski reports and Olympic updates. Users simply walk up to the kiosk, point their PDA toward the infrared beam which will transfer hourly-updated data to one’s palm. The Deseret News, SLC Mobile and UTA have teamed up to bring news content from Deseret News, technology from SLC Mobile and access and location from UTA. The demonstration will run through the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
Many have seen the high-tech screens in the Meadowbrook and Rail Service Center Radio Control Rooms where real-time road and transit conditions are visible to radio controllers. These screens are part of the UDOT CommuterLink system, an intelligent transportation system designed to monitor and manage traffic flow, improving travel throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Anyone can access CommuterLink information by going to www.utahcommuterlink.com.
This new service was launched Dec. 18 at the UDOT Traffic Operations Center with the help of Lieutenant Governor Olene Walker making the first official 511 call. 511 is a number Utahns can call with a state-of-the-art voice activated system to give traffic, public transportation, road conditions, and Olympic travel information. It is truly a hands-free system. UTA is involved to give 511 callers the opportunity to gain public transit information, making it simpler for customers to remember the number to call to receive public transit information. Utah is the fourth in the nation to launch a 511 system, and with the voice activated feature, it is the most sophisticated of its kind. Find out how easy it is to use 511 system by dialing 511 and talking your way through travel conditions all over the state. |
