Hosted by: Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities |
|
Sponsored by the Alaska University Transportation Center | Cambridge Systematics, Inc. | Horizon Lines of Alaska | ITS Alaska | ITS America | Lynden | McDowell Group | Open Roads Consulting | PBS&J | Quixote Transportation Technologies | Telvent | Thompson Engineering | USDOT ITS Joint Program Office | Western Transportation Institute | Wostman & Associates, Inc. |
Unless otherwise noted, all presentations have been converted to pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format. Disclaimer: Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by of the conference hosts or sponsors. Nor do the views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the conference hosts or sponsors and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. All rights reserved: It should be noted that the following presentations are the sole property of the originator (speaker/author) and should not be used, modified, etc. without the originators express permission. |
HOME2008 Conference Article 2008 Conference Attendees 2007 Proceedings 2006 Proceedings |
|
| Final Program (pdf - 404 KB). | Vendors that exhibited at the 2008 ConferenceAdaptive Micro Systems Alaska DOT & PF AldisCampbell Scientific, Inc.Boshung America, LLC Coral Sales Company Daktronics, Inc. EIS/ISS Canada Ltd. GeoDecisions High Sierra Electronics, Inc. InfotekIntelligent Devices, Inc. IRD, Inc. ITS Alaska ITS Joint Program Office Kidde Aerospace & Defense Open Roads Consulting, Inc. Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. RuggedComSES America, Inc. TelventUSDOT/FHWAVaisala, Inc. Wavetronix Western Systems Western Transportation Institute | |
Session List/Summary (listed alphabetically): Alaska CVO - North to the Future (CVO Track) Applications and Evaluation of VII in a Rural Environment Applying and Using Systems Engineering and Technology Closing Session/Rural SIG Meeting Collision Avoidance at Rural Intersections CVFM Fall Forum Meeting (CVO Track) CVO Research and Technology Spotlight (CVO Track) EMS Session I - Improving Safety and Care in Rural Areas EMS Session II - Technical Applications for Rapid and Safe EMS Experiences in Statewide Rural ITS Systems Deployments (Transit Track) Human Services Transportation Coordination Workshop (Transit Track) Impacts of Climate Change - Session I Impacts of Climate Change - Session II Intelligent Transportation Systems Tools Leadership Roundtable: Gaining Institutional Buy-in to Address Rural ITS Transportation Needs National Wildlife Collision Mitigation Study (Mini-Training) National Transit Database Rural Training Seminar Mitigating Wildlife's Impact on the Transportation System Open Source Software (Mini-Training) Poster Session (Part of ITS Information Assembly) Rural Data Collection (Mini-Training) Rural Incident Management - Tools and Applications Rural VII - An Incremental Approach to Meeting our Safety Needs RWIS Applications - Session II Seasonal Traffic and Event Congestion System Requirements for Rural Deployment (Mini-Training) The Last Frontier - Extreme CVO & ITS (CVO Track) TMC/TOC Applications and Insights Turning Data into a Better Rural Transit System (Transit Track) What Have We Learned from Using ITS in Rural Transit? (Transit Track) |
||
Conference Presentations PDF format (organized by session): |
||
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 (pre-conference events) |
||
NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE RURAL TRAINING SEMINAR (back to Session List) |
||
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 |
|
|
OPENING SESSION (back to Session List) National Anthem/Alaska Flag Song: Taylor Vidic, Juneau, Alaska Welcome Population growth is extending into what has previously been extreme rural settings. User expectations for transportation system performance are increasing. Rapid technology changes offer many opportunities. These opportunities, however, come with significant challenges and future funding availability often brings program sustainability into question. Add to this the increasing impact of climate change on all facets of society and it is rapidly evident that rural ITS has challenges similar to what other transportation programs face. Where does this lead? New opportunities for data and program sharing, especially across jurisdictions and borders; as well as an increased need to understand the transportation system changes before we can address solutions. |
||
ITS INFORMATION ASSEMBLEY (back to Session List) POSTER PRESENTATIONS: Ben Frevert, Iteris, Inc. Eric Gibbons, High Sierra Electronics, Inc. Annjanette Kremer, Michigan Department of Transportation Ming-Shiun Lee, URS Corporation Pradeep Rao, HNTB Corporation Jeff Roach, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Jim Stemitz (for David Newman), Digital Traffic Systems, Inc. Jim Stemitz (for Peter Keen), Digital Traffic Systems, Inc. David Veneziano (for Chris Strong), Western Transportation Institute Jerry Waldman, Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. |
||
Session T1: Turning Data into a Better Transit System (back to Session List) Yehuda Gross, ITS Joint Program Office, USDOT Tom Coogan, RouteMatch Software Josh Cohn, California Center for Innovative Transportation The data collected from using ITS in rural transit helps the agencies collect enormous amounts of knowledge that can be used to improve customer service and other performance measures. This session looked at ITS used in coordination as well as data collected from successful deployments of ITS. |
||
Session A1: Climate Change Overview (back to Session List) Burr Stewart, Port of Seattle Henry G. Schwartz, Berger Group Holdings Robert Hyman, Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Understanding of the physical climate system has progressed rapidly, but using this |
||
Session A2: Leadership Roundtable - Gaining Institutional Buy-In to Address Rural ITS Transportation Needs (back to Session List) Panelists: This session will be a dialogue among federal and state organizations and the audience on how to raise awareness, buy-in and acceptance within organizations on the need for rural ITS solutions. Speakers brought their institutional insight and discussed ideas for how to best communicate with leadership and what types and content of messages best resonate with leadership that will result in actions. |
||
TRANSIT TRACK Lou Friend, MASCOT David Kack, Western Transportation Institute John Giorgis, Federal Transit Administration Jennifer Beckman, Central Area Rural Transit Systems, Inc. ITS can combine the power of on-board vehicle computers with the latest location and communication technologies and other tools to improve the safety, quality, or efficiency of rural transit. From the customer’s point of view, these technologies can greatly assist in improving transportation delivery and service quality thus proving beneficial to all riders. But where do we take the lessons learned from the technology to continue offering stellar service to customers? This session looked at some of the lessons learned from using ITS in rural transit. |
||
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OPERATIONS (CVO) TRACK Jeremy Miller, Kuukpi Carlile Transportation, North Slope Operations Howard Thies and Dwight Stuller, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Al Guettinger, Alaska West Express “Good stuff – trucks bring it.” Plainly stated but no less true; however, for some commercial vehicle operators bringing the good stuff means traveling through rural areas under challenging environmental conditions. Whether through U.S. avalanche prone mountain highways or over roads made of iceberg in Canada, these operators and safety officers are working overtime to ensure safe movement of freight in extreme conditions, using real life-and-death lessons learned. This session provided highlights of commercial vehicle operations conducted in adverse conditions, an overview of operational lessons, and discussions of how intelligent transportation system technologies and applications can assist in improving the safety of these extreme operations. |
||
Session B1: Impacts of Climate Change - Session I (back to Session List) Representative Reggie Joule, State of Alaska Mike Coffey, Commissioner’s Office, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Pete Larsen, The Nature Conservancy Captain Bob Pawlowski, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation The world’s leading scientists have reached consensus that human activity in the form of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is warming the planet in ways that will have profound and unsettling impacts on natural resources, energy use, ecosystems, economic activity, and potentially quality of life. This session will examine some of these impacts as they relate to rural multi-modal transportation infrastructure and, in particular, the impacts on Native American transportation and quality of life. This session highlighted how transportation agencies can establish a decision framework to use in addressing impacts of climate change on the transportation infrastructure through ITS. |
||
Session B2: Unique ITS Deployments (back to Session List) Eliseo Barrera, Horizon Lines of Alaska, Inc. Eddy Castoria, San Diego Motorist Aid Authority Taek Kwon, University of Minnesota Troy Pinkerton, Missouri Department of Transportation What do RFID container tracking, mobile call boxes, dynamic message signs, and solar/wind hybrid energy generators have in common? They all have applications in rural ITS! Attendees at this session learned how technology has begun to help fill the gaps in power reliability, data collection and safety. |
||
TRANSIT TRACK Leslie Spencer Fowler, Kansas Department of Transportation Peter Davies, Castle Rock Associates States with large areas of sparse populations have recently begun to look at deploying statewide ITS systems to aid their rural transit systems. This session offered presentations from experts that have had experience with these types of deployments followed by a roundtable discussion with the audience. |
||
CVO TRACK Dan Murray, American Transportation Research Institute Mike Akridge, Florida Department of Transportation Julie Lane, USDOT FMCSA Roy Czinku, International Road Dynamics, Inc. With so many projects and studies underway in the U.S. for improving safety and efficiency of commercial vehicle operations using intelligent transportation technologies, this session provided a “tour” of the latest and greatest advances ongoing in the commercial vehicle industry. Spotlighting driver safety, speakers discussed human factors engineering research results, potential in-vehicle safety systems, and technology applications benefiting commercial drivers. |
||
Thursday, September 4, 2008 |
||
Session C1: Impacts of Climate Change - Session II (back to Session List) Amy Holman, NOAA Alaska Regional Collaboration Team Martha Morecock Eddy, PB Michael Lilly, Geo-Watersheds Scientific Molly McCammon, Alaska Ocean Observing System Transportation decision makers note that one of the most difficult aspects of addressing climate change is obtaining the relevant information for planning and design. Climate change is understood with greatest confidence as a global phenomenon, while transportation planners need local and regional climate projections. They also need a better understanding of how projected climate changes, such as changes in temperature and precipitation, will affect the environment (e.g., soil moisture, runoff, freeze/thaw) in which the infrastructure is situated, which will vary from region to region. This session highlighted how ITS can be applied at the local or regional level to incorporate climate change into transportation planning, design, and operation. |
||
Session C2: RWIS Applications - Session I (back to Session List) Ben McKeever, ITS Joint Program Office, USDOT Jared Ye, PhD, Western Transportation Institute Peter Davies, Castle Rock Associates Each day, traffic, incident and maintenance staff, as well as the traveling public, make decisions that directly affect roadway safety and mobility. Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) have long been among the standard ITS applications that agencies have used to assist in this decision making process. Today, early generational deployments have given way to new initiatives and technologies. This session provided background, information and analyses of the MDSS, Clarus, and Aurora initiatives as well as touching on next-generation RWIS applications. |
||
Session C3: Data - How, When and Why (back to Session List) Peter Davies, Castle Rock Associates Pete Costello , INRIX David Ludwig, Digital Traffic Systems, Inc. How do you collect data to make roadway decisions? What sensors and software programs are available to leverage wired and wireless technology? How much data do you or the traveling public need to make an accurate and timely decision? This session touched on these subjects and more - check out the presentations. |
||
Session C4: Mitigating Wildlife’s Impact on the Transportation System (back to Session List) Brian Scott, SRF Consulting Group, Inc. Marcel Huijser, Western Transportation Institute Dave Bryson, Electrobraid Fencing Panelists: This session included three presentations followed by a professional panel of speakers with very diverse backgrounds. During the presentations attendees heard about the latest research and the established technologies used to mitigate crashes. The panel was an added bonus as participants heard from all sides on strategies, solutions and what the wildlife experts are doing in regards to habitat, conservation and partnerships. Panel experts included those from research, fish and game, law enforcement, federal government and a wildlife conservation organization all dealing with this growing concern. |
||
CVO TRACK Rex Young, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Laura Edwards, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Daniel Moose, International Road Dynamics, Inc. Alaska’s beautiful scenery offers more than just breathtaking views, it also offers unique transportation challenges - the state's road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway. Not even the state capital, Juneau, is accessible by road. Arguably, Alaska is the least connected state in terms of road transportation, with most cities and villages in the state accessible only by sea or air making freight mobility a truly complex inter-modal exercise. Whether by road, sea, air, or rail, getting commercial goods safely and efficiently to Alaska’s businesses and residents typically occurs in combination with passenger transportation. This session highlighted the unique freight mobility and commercial vehicle planning and operations conducted in Alaska and provided an overview of the technical tour (followed this session) of the Glenn Highway E-Screening System. |
||
Mini-Training Sessions |
||
Option 1: Open Source Software (back to Session List) Three separate presentations were given: Demystifing ITS Open Source Software, Open Source Software for Transit Agencies, Mn/DOT IRIS Software Open Source software refers to the licensing and sharing of software source code and documentation, allowing others to use, modify, and redistribute as long as the software remains open source. Other industries widely use open source software as a mechanism for encouraging creative and low cost software development. In the ITS industry, there are a few examples of open source software sharing, however the potential benefits of open sharing of software source code for rural areas is tremendous. This training explained the background of open source, the licensing options, and what it means to develop, use, and share open source software. |
||
Option 2: System Requirements for Rural Deployment (back to Session List) Requirements are the foundation for building ITS. They determine WHAT the system must do and drive system development. Requirements determine if the project team built the system correctly. In this “mini” training course attendees learned tips on how to develop the right system requirements for their rural projects. It also included an overview of the V systems engineering process, a short requirements exercise, the importance of traceability and a discussion of the ITS project systems engineering analysis required by the FHWA Rule and FTA Policy. |
||
Option 3: Rural Data Collection (back to Session List) Road weather, traffic, and vertical temperature profiles for seasonal weight restrictions are important components of a transportation agencies regional ITS architecture. Getting current information for the rural transportation network faces unique challenges, e.g., communication, cost and power. This training session will show how a low cost, effective rural data collection program can be established in an open architecture approach environment using Campbell Scientific data loggers. Attendees learned the key components in establishing networks and left with resources to start a rural data collection program. The session was presented by Geo-Watersheds Scientific, who have extensive experience in remote data collection and the data logger technology. |
||
Option 4: National Wildlife Collision Mitigation Study (presentation not currently available - a link will be provided to the FHWA report as soon as it becomes available) Under Section 1119(n) of the Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the US Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a national Wildlife Vehicle Collision (WVC) study. This study, signed by the Secretary of Transportation and submitted to Congress in November 2007, was conducted by the Road Ecology Team at the Western Transportation Institute. This training provided an overview of the Report to Congress and the Manual which is still under development. In addition to providing an overview of wildlife-vehicle collisions, this trainng included: (1) an overview of geometric and roadside design features that can reduce WVCs, (2) methods for integration of transportation planning and wildlife management on regional or statewide levels, (3) information on the 34 different techniques aimed at reducing the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions, and (4) a list of 21 threatened or endangered animal species for which road mortality is among the major threats to the survival of the species. |
||
Session D1: EMS Session I: Improving Safety and Care in Rural Areas (back to Session List) Teri Sanddal, Critical Illness and Trauma Foundation (presented by Nicholas Ward, WTI) Nicholas Ward, Western Transportation Institute EMS providers, as well as their patients, are at an increased risk for serious injury or death when compared to their more urban counterparts. This session examined some of the causes of this disparity - in particular rural ambulance crashes - as well as ways to improve ground ambulance safety. Patient care was also examined in the context of ITS applications that improve patient record keeping and subsequent care. This session was presented in a combined lecture/roundtable format and participants were encouraged to join in the dialogue. |
||
Session D2: RWIS Applications - Session II (back to Session List) Rhonda Young, University of Wyoming Michael Wendtland, ITS Engineers Jack Stickel, Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities This session highlighted various RWIS deployments in Wyoming, Arizona and Alaska. These states have undertaken unique approaches to some of the standard RWIS conundrums. Wyoming reported on its progress in using RWIS for its high-wind warning system as well as its variable speed limit system. Presenters from Arizona highlighted the public-private partnership ADOT developed to receive weather information services from a private provider. |
||
Session D3: Seasonal Traffic and Event Congestion (back to Session List) David Veneziano, Western Transportation Institute Acey Roberts , Mississippi Department of Transportation Brian Burkhard, HNTB Corporation This session touched on strategies and models for congestion that small urban and rural communities across the country can use to reduce traffic congestion during special events or in specific corridors that receive heavy seasonal or tourist traffic. Partnership development, technology applications and cost considerations were all addressed. |
||
Session D4: GPS - System Types and Uses (back to Session List) Max Donath, ITS Institute, University of Minnesota James Arnold, Federal Highway Administration Highway winter maintenance is an often difficult endeavor due to poor visibility because of weather and roadway conditions. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are one tool available to address this problem. This session examined the multi-modal lane guidance system developed in the Intelligent Vehicles Lab at the University of Minnesota and how it used carrier phase differential GPS for vehicle position and heading determination. It also looked at the development of the High Accuracy Nationwide Differential Global Position System service (HA-NDGPS) and its impact on many safety related services including Intersection Collision Avoidance, Stop Sign Warning and Lane Departure Warning systems. This session combined lecture and roundtable formats and included ample time for speaker-audience interaction. |
||
CVO TRACK Dan Murray, American Transportation Research Institute Julie Lane, USDOT FMCSA Mike Akridge, Florida Department of Transportation Pamela McDermid, Green Light Transportation System Eliseo Barrera, Horizon Lines of Alaska, Inc. Skip Yeakel, Volvo Heather Young, ITS America Dan Murray, American Transportation Research Institute |
||
Session E1: EMS Session II - Technical Applications for Rapid and Safe EMS (back to Session List) Marie Flanigan, CUBRC Kevin Majka, CUBRC Rapid and safe emergency medical system (EMS) response to motor vehicle crashes is an everyday challenge in most rural areas. This is particularly true in Alaska, where the situation is often exacerbated by extremes of weather, mountainous terrain and the remoteness of much of the highway system. This session discussed Alaska’s Emergency Medical System Optimization Program’s utilization of emerging Automated Crash Notification (ACN) and Advanced ACN technologies in their response to serious car crashes. This session was presented in a combined lecture/roundtable format and participants were encouraged to join in the dialogue. |
||
Session E2: RWIS and Traveler Information (back to Session List) Michael Lilly, Geo-Watersheds Scientific Rick Pannell, Resource Data, Inc. Matt Radulski, Michigan Department of Transportation Alaska and Michigan are pushing the boundaries of RWIS to benefit end-users, in particular, the traveling public. This session provided insight and details of some of their more distinctive projects occurring in some of their state’s harshest climates – Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Alaska’s North Slope. Also introduced was Alaska’s 511 Data Archiver – believed to be the only system in the United States to provide such a comprehensive source of statewide 511 data to users. |
||
Session E3: Applying and Using Systems Engineering and Technology (back to Session List) Carly Keane, CITE Douglas Galarus, Western Transportation Institute Jeff Brummond, Iteris All too frequently, the steps in a rural ITS project’s systems engineering analysis are skipped, or given little attention. This session discussed the benefits, rules of thumb and examples of applying systems engineering analysis based on FHWA Rule 940.11. It also gave an example of a project where system engineering analysis has been used in a mesh network communication system. Presented in a combined lecture/roundtable format, participants were encouraged to join in the dialogue and ample time was given to speaker-audience interaction. |
||
Session E4: Collision Avoidance at Rural Intersections (back to Session List) Max Donath, ITS Institute, University of Minnesota Dennis Foderberg, SEH, Inc. Peter Davies, Castle Rock Associates In the US, over 20% of all fatal crashes are intersection related. In many rural states this number is even higher. So what can be done? This session examined some of the technologies available for developing a Collision Avoidance System as well as reporting on how some of these systems performed in the field. |
||
Friday, September 5, 2008 |
||
Session F1: TMC/TOC Applications and Insights (back to Session List) Tim Martin, Virginia Department of Transportation Matthew Schiemer, GeoDecisions James Barbaresso, HNTB Corporation This session focused on the functions, systems and processes currently used in transportation management or transportation operations centers across the United States. From South Dakota to Virginia, speakers discussed interagency cooperation, software applications, strategic deployment plans and much more. |
||
Session F2: Intelligent Transportation System Tools (back to Session List) John Hansen, 2ITS-Help Gene Martin, Virginia Department of Transportation Thomas Fowler, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Agencies need many tools to successfully deploy and integrate ITS in rural areas. This session covered three topics which are of Interest to everyone involved in the ITS field: (1) Architecture - what has been the impact of rural regional ITS architectures on the deployment of ITS? (2) Warrants - feedback on the actual use of warrants through the ENTERPRISE Pooled Fund Study. (3) 2008 MUTCD/NPA - How does the 2008 MUTCD revisions affect our ITS deployments? |
||
Session F3: Rural VII - An Incremental Approach to Meeting our Safety Needs (back to Session List) Panelists (each provided a 5 minute overview or case study from their respective agencies): Driver safety in rural America can not be addressed by a single solution. Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) provides an opportunity to address safety, dynamic road conditions and driver behavior with possible greater benefits to saving lives than with urban counterparts. This session fostered a dialogue of VII development and deployment initiatives among key rural fleet managers and stakeholders. Case studies were presented and strawman concepts discussed that address day 1 applications, emerging architectures, communication challenges, long-term market and fleet penetration realities, stakeholder needs, institutional issues, operations and maintenance, mechanisms to affect driver behavior and decision-making, benefit-cost and funding. This session was presented by a panel of experts and included discussion with the audience |
||
TRANSIT TRACK The second half of the workshop offered presentations from tribal transportation providers from various regions of the country. They shared how they use ITS to overcome barriers such as the coverage of large geographical regions. Yehuda Gross, ITS JPO, USDOT Welcome/Workshop Overview Yehuda Gross, ITS JPO, USDOT Gerry Hope, Sitka Tribe of Alaska Larry Alflen, Zuni Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Inc. Mary Leary, East Seal Project ACTION Bruno Fisher, Montachusett Regional Transit Authority Bryan Smith, Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority |
||
Session G1: Just Comm-it! (back to Session List) George Gener, Iteris, Inc. Ray Starr, Minnesota Department of Transportation Douglas Galarus, Western Transportation Institute In both rural and fast developing small city applications, “last mile” communication |
||
Session G2: Rural Incident Management - Tools and Applications (back to Session List) Fred Kitchener, McFarland Management, LLC Pete Costello, INRIX Incident response programs are typically viewed as a way to help deal with urban congestion problems. However, incident response can play an important role in rural areas with difficult travel problems. This session looked at how Washington's and Wisconsin's incident response programs perform under the difficult weather and travel conditions often found in rural areas. Highlighted Incident Management “tools” in use in these and other states included: Google-based maps, incident notifications to include trucking firms, coordination through statewide agreements, and using a multi-disciplined approach to dealing with incidents. |
||
Session G3: Applications and Evaluation of VII in a Rural Environment (back to Session List) Andy Stern, Noblis Brian Burkhard, HNTB Corporation Jeff Brummond, Iteris, Inc. Clint Gregory, California Department of Transportation Rural Vehicle Infrastructure Integration or VII can be used to improve weather and pavement information, increase safety and improve the overall driving experience. While emphasis up to now has been on primarily urban deployments, rural applications also exist. This session provided an overview of VII from USDOT’s perspective followed by examples of possible (future) and deployed (current) rural VII applications. |
||
CLOSING SESSION/RURAL SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG) (back to Session List) Steve Albert, Western Transportation Institute, Rural SIG Chair Bill Gouse, ITS America Ben McKeever , ITS JPO, USDOT Lisa Nelson, Telvent, ITS Oregon Andrew Nichols, Rahall Transportation Institute Steve Albert, Western Transportation Institute, Rural SIG Chair Eddie Castoria, San Diego Motorist Aid Authority Steve Albert, Western Transportation Institute, Rural SIG Chair |
||
Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Past Conferences | ©2007 Meetings Northwest, LLC |