 July 2006 - ODOT ITS NEWSLETTER - VOL. 4, NO. 3
We hope you enjoy the 2006 Summer edition of ITS News, a quarterly publication produced by the Oregon Department of Transportation Traffic Engineering and Operations Section, ITS Unit. Previous editions can be viewed at the ODOT ITS News and Events Web site. Please feel free to contact the newsletter editor, Jon Lazarus, ITS Project Manager, at (503) 986-6586, with any questions or comments.
Jon Makler, AICP
Transportation Operations Program Manager, Metro
Regional Concepts of Transportation Operations - What is it and where are we going?
Through grant funding from the Federal Highway Administration, Jon was hired in December 2005 to work for PDOT (City of Portland DOT) in a position that is being housed at Metro. In addition to grant-related work (described below), Jon coordinates Metro's federally-mandated Congestion Management Process and provides staff support for TransPort, the regional ITS coordinating committee in Portland. He is a member of the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations' Management & Operations working group and regularly attends ITS Oregon meetings.
ITS News: Jon, Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. There has been a lot of talk within the ITS community about Regional Concept of Transportation Operations (RCTO). Could you give a brief background on what this involves and why Portland’s selection was so important?
Jon Makler - Transportation Operations Program Manager, Metro
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JM: Thanks for the opportunity to talk about this project – we’re here talking about this today because a lot of people in Portland and throughout Oregon have been working hard for years to get us to this point so it’s good to highlight their accomplishments.
“Regional Concept of Transportation Operations” or RCTO is a term developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations. The phrase I like to use to explain RCTO is plan regionally for operations. Each of the three main words in that phrase is important to understanding the effort that is underway. Put briefly, transportation operations refers to the wide variety of efforts made by agencies to optimize the performance of existing infrastructure; to get the most out of the current investment. Planning for operations is taking it one step further: by looking beyond the day-to-day framework, transportation agencies are better able to figure out what human and capital investments are needed to get the system to work the way they want it to in the future.
So far, the logic is as follows: operate systems to get the most out of existing infrastructure and plan so that the benefits of operational strategies are maximized. Finally, because operations should be as seamless as the system (i.e. the driver doesn’t care if the road belongs to the city, county or state), agencies should plan regionally for operations. For example, if one jurisdiction is going to coordinate its traffic signals to improve flow and reduce congestion, should that program stop at a political boundary?
A Regional Concept of Transportation Operations captures this: for an operational area such as incident management, an RCTO is made up of a strategic regional vision and an implementation plan to achieve that vision. The importance, stated explicitly in the new federal transportation legislation (SAFETEA-LU), in the forthcoming Oregon Transportation Plan, and in many other transportation plans, is that for reasons such as fiscal constraint, political preference and congestion management, we are all looking for cost-effective ways to manage the existing transportation infrastructure.
Portland was lucky to be one of three cities in the United States to be selected as part of an FHWA demonstration project to see if the RCTO idea would be as good in practice as it is on paper. One of the major reasons that Portland was selected is that it has a strong track record on all the major pieces of the RCTO puzzle. First, ODOT, PDOT (City of Portland DOT), TriMet and other local agencies make extensive use of operational strategies to manage the roads, highways, and transit routes. Second, through a regional committee known as TransPort, transportation stakeholders from throughout Portland and Vancouver meet monthly to share information as well as coordinate and collaborate on ITS projects.
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The grant is co-sponsored by ODOT, PDOT, TriMet and Metro. The two-year grant will last through the end of 2007 and has been used to create a staff position that is being shared by PDOT and Metro. I have the privilege of occupying that position and I can tell you it is fun, though sometimes dizzying, to be a planner in an engineering division of PDOT (Signals and Street Lighting) and an engineer in a planning division at Metro (Regional Transportation Planning). Fortunately, I’ve been straddling that fence my whole career.
ITS News: What local agencies are involved with this initiative? It seems there are big partnerships and/or relationships to be built for the long-term success of RCTO. Could you share your thoughts on some of the current partner relationships that will need to be in place for the long-term success of RCTO?
JM: Well, as I mentioned, the main grant partners are ODOT, PDOT, Metro and TriMet. If that’s the “inner circle,” I think the next circle outside of it is the TransPort committee, which includes representatives of most counties and cities around Portland as well as transit agencies, and a few consultants. Because TransPort is a sub-committee of Metro’s Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee, I also view the members of that group as important stakeholders, so with a hop, skip and jump, you really have a big slice of the transportation community. Individual projects also give me opportunities to work with specific communities, a great example of which would be freight and the several formal committees and groups that exist around freight planning in the metropolitan area.
ITS News: What have been some of your accomplishments/milestones to date?
JM: Obviously, performing the RCTO experiment is the focal point and in that regard the most important accomplishment to date is the completion of the regional vision of traveler information, the first RCTO topic that was selected by TransPort. We’ve had workshops and outreach meetings; about 150 people have contributed to a vision that identifies what impact real-time traveler information systems can have. We’ve talked a lot about where ODOT’s TripCheck and TriMet’s Transit Tracker are going. There’s a lot of talk about helping travelers avoid delay from incidents, construction zones, and other causes, of course but there is also talk about public-private collaboration and linking congestion management with public safety and emergency management. Now it’s time to figure out how, as a region, we can accomplish that vision. In the next few months I think there are going to be some very exciting meetings and workshops.
In tandem with the grant work, we’ve been working a lot on education and capacity building. Metro and ODOT have each hosted several training sessions this spring. In late June, Metro’s sibling agency in Vancouver hosted a two-day course on a software package that can help evaluate ITS projects, including benefit-cost calculations.
I think most of your readers can relate to the challenge of talking to policy makers and elected officials about transportation operations and intelligent transportation systems. I’ve been preparing a monthly mini-newsletter for the members of TPAC, the Metro committee I mentioned earlier. It’s a baby-step approach but I think by putting a little information or fact in front of the “influencers” on a regular basis, we can make headway on raising awareness and understanding.
One of the non-baby-step approaches we’re working on in Portland is a “State of ITS in the Region” report. This is being undertaken with guidance from TransPort’s Planning Committee and with help from PDOT staff. This report, which should be completed in September, will use existing ITS deployments in and around Portland to demonstrate how technology can increase mobility, safety and cost-effectiveness. The report will also identify future opportunities for regional ITS initiatives.
ITS News: What would you say are the overall goals to be accomplished by 2007?
JM:I am focused on developing and starting to implement the traveler information RCTO within the two years (06-07) of the FHWA grant. In addition to traveler information, the RCTO team is also trying to address the question of how to integrate operations into Metro’s long-range Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) through the RCTO approach. What does it look like to have operations integrated into the RTP? What stakeholder engagement is needed? What are the resources and relationships that are necessary to achieve success? Because Metro is in the process of developing the 2035 RTP in the same two-year period, we have a very exciting opportunity to develop the vision and to implement it. In this way, I think that the RCTO grant from FHWA is enabling Portland to be on the cutting edge of metropolitan planning organizations in the country.
Finally, I expect that we’ll have time during 2007 to identify and develop several additional RCTO’s. As part of the RTP involvement process, I hope to solicit broad input on what operations programs would benefit from the RCTO approach. Some of the ideas that have been brought up so far are incident management, snow/ice event management, parking management, and emergency management. I would certainly like to hear from your readers about other topics that they think would benefit from this kind of attention.
ITS News:Where are the other metro-areas that received funding from FHWA? Has there been collaboration between the other funded agencies and if so, are there any common issues/challenges you are discovering?
JM: The other two cities that were selected as RCTO demonstration sites are Tucson, Arizona and Detroit, Michigan. There is periodic communication between the sites; FHWA’s primary mechanism for synthesizing the lessons learned is through a contractor that is managing the project.
I think one of the common challenges is related to the engagement of stakeholders. FHWA envisioned the RCTO as a management tool, with senior-level personnel participating in most of the related activities. In Portland as well as in other cities, there is a predictable challenge associated with engaging elected officials and senior managers in multiple, lengthy workshops and meetings, such as are necessary for the development of an RCTO.
So far, I’m finding that we have succeeded at engaging personnel up and down the organizational ladder. I believe the RCTO work has helped stimulate some agencies to focus their approach to ITS and system management. One of the things I appreciate in many of the people who have participated in the effort is that they seem to do a very good job of reporting back to their organizations and, specifically, to their managers. Being a liaison is a two-way street and the folks involved in this project seem to really get that.
Congestion Report for May 16, 2006 -The graphic above, sometimes called a brainscan diagram, shows traffic speeds for US 26 eastbound outside Portland, with mileposts on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal. The red/yellow V-shape indicates the morning congestion where speeds decrease. Graphics like these are produced by the ITS Lab at PSU based on data provided by ODOT.
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ITS News: Some of our readers are interested in the data gathering aspects about Portland’s traffic and would like to do some of their own research. Where would you direct them to?
JM: As a result of the cooperatively-owned ITS Network in the Portland area, the data that is generated by ITS devices is shared by something known as the Tripcheck Traveler Information Portal, or TTIP (click here for more information). More information, including the process for gaining access to the raw data, can be found at the following web address: http://wiki.its.pdx.edu/wiki/transport/moin.cgi/TTIP
Another asset is through the ITS Lab at Portland State University’s Center for Transportation Studies. The Portland Oregon Regional Transportation Archive Listing (PORTAL) is an archived data user service (identified in Portland’s Regional ITS Architecture). PORTAL provides raw traffic data as well as some analytical tools and research products.
ITS News: Could you give us an idea of where Portland is in the country with regard to RCTO? Are we ahead of the curve or behind it?
JM: Given that RCTO is only in the demonstration stage, it’s a little bit hard to answer that. There are certainly other metropolitan areas that have done work that involves planning for operations. I think where Portland stands out is, first and foremost, the collaborative approach that it has taken to this issue. Second, I think the work on integrating operations into the RTP is pretty much on the leading edge of the curve. I have the opportunity to sit on a management & operations working group with my counterparts at other MPOs around the country so I am very aware that a lot of tremendous work is being done. Portland, however, is very lucky to have received the RCTO grant, which gives us the opportunity to focus our attention on this critical issue.
ITS News: What are some of the initial changes being considered that you think will be the most difficult to implement and why?
JM: Well, at this particular moment, I’m a bit fixated on the issue of how the public and private sector are going to collaborate. In the moment, this is related to the near future of traveler information services but I think it’s also a bigger question. We can go through a planning exercise and identify what the “usual suspects,” such as ODOT, PDOT and TriMet ought to do, but if it comes to figuring out what role the media can play or how to engage entrepreneurs, I really don’t know how that is going to work. Right now I feel optimistic that this is going to be an opportunity for those of us in the public sector to do something really good for economic development because if we can encourage an emerging market niche, Portland and Oregon will be in the position to export yet another area of expertise.
ITS News: Finally, How does this funding and advanced planning help the average commuter in the long-run?
JM: Think about the status quo. In terms of traveler information, several agencies and companies are working – generally on their own – to provide real-time traveler information. Without the RCTO project, I suspect each would continue to develop increasingly sophisticated, valuable services. With the RCTO work, however, I hope to see greater integration and an overall better product. For the commuter, this means higher quality real-time information products and services, which in turn means an enhanced ability to avoid traffic jams and reach their destinations more easily.
ITS News: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions.
JM: Well, it’s a real privilege to talk with you and to share this information with your readers. I certainly welcome feedback and questions: maklerj@metro.dst.or.us.
For additional information on these programs visit the Oregon Department of Transportation's ITS unit's web site: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ITS/
Following is an update on select Transportation Application Development (TAD) and ITS Unit projects currently underway. For more information on a specific project, see the ITS Internet projects page at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ITS/projects.shtml.
New Features for 511 -
The statewide 511 traveler information phone system has seen two new features added in July. With summer comes the increased risk of fire and the need to notify citizens, particularly in central Oregon, in the event of fire related evacuations. There are several information channels for this type of notification, with the media providing the most significant delivery system. However, the ODOT staff in central Oregon, and their partner agencies, saw the opportunity to provide transportation specific information about evacuations via the agency's 511 system. In the event of an evacuation a notice would be posted to the 511 phone system. Callers would hear all high-impact notifications (ODOT Alerts) among those would be any evacuation notifications. For expediency, these messages would precede all other menu options and play without further prompting. Callers could skip these announcements by pressing zero on their phone's keypad. This new feature is intended to create a priority path for the most important information. The key objective is to reduce the time it takes for callers to get this critical and time sensitive information.
 Because so many users are accessing the 511 system from noisy environments or from areas of the state with sketchy wireless reception their experience with the voice recognition features of 511 can be compromised. The 511 voice recognition system is 'listening' for voice commands that can be interrupted by other conversation or ambient noises. If the signal from your calling location is degraded due to topography or signal strength, this too can impact the system’s ability to understand your voice commands. If you have heard the dreaded phrase "I’m sorry, that is not recognized as a valid choice. Please try again", you are experiencing the limitations of the present technology. ODOT has revised the system's response to these instances of unrecognized voice commands. In the past, after repeated attempts to solicit a response, the system would politely explain that it couldn't understand your requests and end the call. With the system upgrade, rather than end the call 511 will advise you that you are being sent to a touch-tone only part of the system. Callers will receive the same menu prompts, but the voice recognition feature will not be active. The likelihood of successful results should be much improved.
 TripCheck 2.0 Update -
We've added a statistics section to our ODOT web site for frequently asked questions about our statistics. Click here to see the latest and greatest stats or type this into your browser address line: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ITS/its_stats.shtml
Check it out at http://www.tripcheck.com and find useful road and weather conditions at ODOT's TripCheck.com web site.
You've provided us with feedback and we've responded. Here are some of the excellent suggestions and changes we've made because of the feedback we've received:
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Updated new Highway ORE238 in Medford. This required re-work of the graphic and icon placements on TripCheck. The camera at ORE62 Crater Lake Highway was moved to its permanent position on the viaduct since some of the construction was completed.
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Updated file name of camera images with random letters after name. For example, Enchanted Way camera in Salem used to be this: http://www.tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/EnchantedWay_pid598.jpg. Now it looks like this: http://www.tripcheck.com/RoadCams/cams/EnchantedWay_pid598.jpg?0.298382 Why? Well, we had requests from some members of the public that the camera images were not updating on their browser. This was due to their specific browser settings and not anything TripCheck was doing.Our 'crack' IS team came up with a solution to add these random letters and numbers after the URL, so it forces the browser to look at the latest image! Since this change does not affect any of our current users, except those that can not see immediate updates, we implemented this change.
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Updated icon placements on maps for more efficiency - We found a couple misplaced icons that were covering city names with your feedback. We moved the icons to more accurately show their locations and re-arranged some of the city names based on your feedback. You may notice these changes on all the TripCheck pages, especially in the Portland Metro map, where the icons get cluttered the most.
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Oregon
I-5 at Arndt Road with VMS, raw camera image soon to be on TripCheck
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Travel Information Council (OTIC) - More businesses are signing up to be featured on TripCheck and they have requested a slightly different color to distinguish themselves from the site a bit more. The partnership with the Oregon Travel Information Council (OTIC) is showing increased traffic on our site as users look for hotel, restaurant, fuel, and attraction information.
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If you have any suggestions or feedback for us you can email us at TripCheck.Support.ODOT@odot.state.or.us
What to look for:
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CalTrans District 1 (Coastline) Camera images - We are currently discussing a partnership with CalTrans district 1 to add 3 new cameras, 2 on US101 and 1 on US199.
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ODOT region 2 installed a new camera with the variable messaging sign (VMS) at Arndt Road on I-5 south of Portland. Watch out for the camera image from this popular location to be on TripCheck soon!
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The Winter Maintenance page will be updated with some newer information for this upcoming winter driving season.
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We are in the process of developing a statewide map of ITS devices for your reference. Look for this over the next couple of months.
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If you have any suggestions or feedback for us you can email us at TripCheck.Support.ODOT@odot.state.or.us
For more information related to TripCheck, please contact Glen Hammer, Glen.A.HAMMER@odot.state.or.us, at (503) 986-3977.
For more information related to the Oregon Travel Information Council, please contact Craig Tutor, craig@oregontic.com, at (800) 574-9397.
Regional Trip Planner -
This project is developing a system that will collect and deliver comprehensive public transportation information (bus, train, shuttles and taxi's) to the public in Oregon. The information will be delivered to the users via a Web site. ODOT has contracted with Pacific Intermedia Inc., from Portland Oregon, to develop and implement the data system. This work will include development of public and provider data administration interfaces. The project is currently in the development phase and programming will continue into Fall 2006. ODOT expects to conclude testing and training by January 2007 with a system launch shortly thereafter.
For more information on the Regional Trip Planner project, please visit
 Transport Advanced Traveler Information Implementation (TTIP) -
The old TATII project, now called the TripCheck Traveler Information Portal (TTIP), was completed around the end of March 2006. The portal is providing production feeds as the final supporting web infrastructure was completed. The TTIP deliverables include a map of the Portland regional area for use by partner agencies. TTIP also includes public and agency data sharing feeds. The public data feed can be used by Internet Service Providers to publish to public web sites for a wide dissemination of Oregon and Portland regional traveler information. The agency feed will be used by other public agencies to enhance their internal traffic management. We currently have 22 companies and 3 agencies registered as TTIP users. The total number of individual users is 64.
If you would like to subscribe and receive XML feeds of our TripCheck data, click on this link and follow the instructions:
http://highway.odot.state.or.us/cf/ttip/
It is expected that additional data sources and enhancements will continue to be added over the next few months and years as the traveling public demands more up-to-date views of our highway infrastructure.
Transportation Operations Center System: Event Management -
Region 1 TOC - Transportation Operations Center
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Oregon has four Transportation Operations Centers (TOCs) with the goal to provide and track transportation information for dissemination to ODOT operations, law enforcement, other State and public transportation systems, and the general public through a series of mission critical services. The purpose of the TOCS project is two-fold.
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Enable all of Oregon’s TOCs to work in a coordinated and more tightly integrated manner by consolidating stand-alone systems, devices and processes into one.
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Provide enhanced communication, more complete information and immediate dissemination to ODOT customers and partners, both public and private.
ODOT is in the process of completing the system level design and individual components will be built in parallel by assigned development groups. These components will be those that support the activity of event management. Other vendors are being hired as needed to provide specific expertise. Development and testing will occur through summer of 2007 and it is anticipated that the TOCS will go live in the fall of that year.
Contact Lorena Lambert, Lorena.LAMBERT@odot.state.or.us, at (503) 986-4017 for more information.
Multnomah Falls call box at the rest area
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Rest Area Call Box at Multnomah Falls -
ODOT installed the first rest area call box at the Suncrest rest area close to the Oregon-California border, 7 miles south of Medford, milepost 22 (http://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/RAentry.asp ). It reports road and weather conditions for the travelers before they reach the Siskiyou's. With the success of the first callbox at the Suncrest rest area, the ODOT ITS unit decided to try another installation.
The Multnomah Falls road and weather report call box is a joint effort between the Oregon Travel Information Council (TIC) and ODOT. Located within the Multnomah Falls parking area welcome center (information kiosk), (http://sales.oregontic.com/rest-map.php#10 ) the call box provides three possible reports for the Columbia Gorge:
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Oregon Travel Information (511) along I-84 between Portland and The Dalles,
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Weather reports at two reporting stations, and
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the NOAA weather report for the Western Columbia River Gorge.
Multnomah Falls call box at the rest area
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The Multomah call box was installed in April 2006. The call box is a simple one button operation and has a speaker to monitor the information. This is the second call box to be installed within the state. It uses the information already in the TripCheck system and converts text to speech, similar to the 511 phone system, except this is specifically for the Multnomah Falls area.
We will evaluate the use and feedback of the newly installed Mutlnomah Falls call box to determine if other sites would be good candidates for this type of technology.
Call box interface at the Suncrest rest area, I-5 mile point 22
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Suncrest Call Box Update -
The first call box installed was at the Suncrest rest area on I-5 just north of the Oregon-California border. This call box was an experiment to see if ODOT could get the road and weather conditions for the Siskiyou mountains into the hands of travelers via another medium, so they could make a decision on whether to travel over the pass or not.
This was installed in November 2004, before the Thanksgiving weekend. Including 2004, and all of 2005, ODOT has had 6,316 'pushes' of this call button and people heard road and weather information for the Siskiyou mountain pass.
2006 numbers look just as promising as people are starting to realize (and remember) this service is available. 2006 number of requests on the Suncrest and Multnomah call boxs total 3,477 calls up to the end of June 2006.
These systems are always on and can be used by any one that pushes the button and wants to hear the road and weather conditions.
Call box interface at the Suncrest rest area, I-5 mile point 22
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Contact Adam Bradford, Adam.P.BRADFORD@odot.state.or.us, at (503) 986-3475 for more information.
ITS HARE project (High Availability, Relocation & Enhancement) -
The HARE project has evolved out of a number of business needs in the ITS organization. The business needs for an exception from merging the unique ITS operations with the State Data Center, coupled with aging systems and desire to move to state-of-the-art backend and development infrastructures, have merged into a single project to move an enhanced ITS infrastructure to a new home. This project touches all aspects of the ITS organization, as well as many parts of the ODOT whole. Most important of all is the public presence these systems represent. Millions of web 'hits' each year make this critical infrastructure project for ODOT.
July 13, 2006 UPDATE -
HARE project diagram
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All of the hardware and software moves have been completed and background materials for management to develop support plans will be completed by the end of this month when the project completes. The servers have been very stable with the new monitoring plan in place to ensure the uptime needed for this public face of ODOT. Some work still remains to move applications from SQL Server 2000 to the new clustered SQL Server 2005 environment but that will be completed as normal application maintenance is performed over the next few months.
Can you hear me now? ? ?
The Highway Advisory Telephone (HAT) System allows callers to get current road conditions by dialing 511. This system receives thousands of calls each day, and is a vital component in the traffic operations environment. The key to handling this call volume is a group of T-1 circuits, provisioned to provide the incoming lines. The new set of T1’s were installed in the NWTOC (Traffic Operations Center for ODOT's Region 2), and have been tested. These new T1’s have replaced the existing infrastructure in theRevenue Building.
Your Put Your Right Foot In . . .
Moving a production environment to a new location requires a lot of careful time and advance coordination. At a conceptual level, the HARE project planned to be installing the backup systems at the NWTOC, moving production over to the backup system, then turning off the production application at the Revenue Building. Once all applications from a given server are moved, the server will be retired or reused, depending on its role. Alot of shuffling happend as the various production, standby, backup, and test systems were fully deployed. These changes were completed with minimum impact to the ITS operation and the travelling public.
The HARE project is mostly completed with a few remaining project items. We'd like to thank everyone who worked on this project and their excellent job for completing a difficult project with little or no disruption to service. Thanks again!!!
Contact Douglas Hall, Douglas.D.HALL@odot.state.or.us, at (503) 986-3215 for more information.
US197 at I-84 - The Dalles Camera Screenshot
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ITS CONSTRUCTION - List of current ITS construction projects Following is a list of projects that are currently under construction:
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Special note: ODOT finalized our statewide price agreement contract with Ledstar, Inc. of Canada for the fabrication of variable message signs. This contract is annually renewable up to five years.
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Doak Mountain RWIS (Hwy 140 at MP 53.70). Project is currently under construction.
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I-5 North Santiam Highway to Kuebler Boulevard. This project includes two cameras to be operated by the NWTOC. The project is currently under construction.
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Lake Creek VMS and CCTV (I-5 at MP 214.53 NB). Construction is complete. The VMS sign is operational.
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I-5 South Medford Interchange (I-5 at MP 27.3), Camera and fiber optic installation. Bids were opened March 16, 2006.
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Modoc Point RWIS (US 97 north of Klamath Falls). Project is under construction.
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Portland Area VMS (I-205 at MP 11.66, SB; I-205 at MP 24.5, SB; and OR 99W at MP 7.87, NB). Project re-advertized with a second bid opening held on May 18th, 2006. Contract has not been awarded.
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Region 1 Rural VMS (US 26 at MP 61.82, WB). Bids were opened February 16, 2006. Project is currently under construction.
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Region 2 Miscellaneous Operations Project: This project consists of 3 Highway Advisory Radios (HARs), with warning signals in the Eugene-Springfield area and an upgrade to the Cushman Flood Warning System near Florence on US 101. This system will report status into HTCRS, 511, and TripCheck systems. A camera will also be added for verification purposes. This project is currently under construction.
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US 101 at Newport, Yaquina Bay Jetty Camera Screenshot
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US97 South Madras VMS (MP 214.11 NB) and ORE138 Junction VMS (MP 97.13 NB). The project is currently under construction.
Select projects in design include the following:
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I-5 North Albany VMS and Camera (I-5 at MP 236.8 NB). This project is currently under design. Anticipate a December 2006 bid opening.
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Region 2 VMS and Traffic Cameras (I-5 at MP 186.9, NB; I-5 at MP 190.99, SB; OR 69 at MP 7.84, EB; US 20 at MP 31.25, EB; OR 22 at MP 48.77, EB; and OR 126 at MP 48.6, EB. This project includes six VMSs and traffic cameras located in and around Eugene and Springfield. The project is currently under design. Anticipate a November 2006 bid opening.
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I-84 NE 105th to Troutdale (ATMS, CCTV & communications) project. This project consists of extending fiber optic network east along I-84 and installing nine new traffic monitoring cameras. Project will also place two existing variable message signs, a ramp meter and a RWIS on the the network. The design is complete. Anticipate an August 2006 bid opening.
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Region 5, 2007 ITS project. This project consists of 1 Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) transmitter with three warning signs and traffic gates at three on-ramps to I-84. These three gates will prevent traffic from entering I-84 during emergencies such as snow storms. The project is currently under design. Anticipate a November 2006 bid opening.
ITS METRICS - Get the Latest ITS Statistics
 TripCheck usage data -
A quarterly summary of the TripCheck and ODOT travel information phone system usage numbers follow. The ITS unit homepage added a statistics section to our ODOT web site for frequently asked questions about our statistics. Click here to see the latest and greatest stats or type this into your browser address line: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ITS/its_stats.shtml
This page includes graphs of the current month's usage data for TripCheck visits, pages views, hits, and calls to the ODOT phone system.
The approximate TripCheck averages for the second quarter of 2006 (April, May, and June) are:
889,765 visits per month
7,807,025 million page views per month
31,901,800 million hits per month.
This time last year (June 2005)TripCheck.com had 884,831 visits per month,
4,074,063 million page views per month, and 18,842,237 million hits per month.
The phone system (including 511 calls) for this quarter-period is:
71,799 calls in April
27,869 calls in May
29,509 calls in June
The average for this period is 43,059 calls per month. The average for this quarter last year was 36,598 calls.
Green Light Metrics -
The Green Light weigh station preclearance program is now serving 4,056 trucking companies with 39,394 trucks equipped with transponders. The program will pass another major milestone in mid-July when it preclears the 7-millionth truck in its 9-year history.
Fiber Optic digger from Motor Carrier project
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In June, technicians completed the installation of fiber optic cable and restored the Green Light system at the Woodburn Port of Entry. The cable is a permanent fix for a serious transponder signal problem that crippled the weigh station preclearance system at this busy site on Interstate 5 south of Portland. The system was completely down in the first weeks of June and it was plagued by problems for several months this year. Some unidentified wireless device in the area north of the Port of Entry was interfering and blocking the Green Light system's wireless connection from the location of the transponder readers to the weigh station computer. In mid-June a contractor brought in trenching equipment to lay fiber optic cable and establish an unbroken connection between systems.
This was one of three Green Light sites that used radio frequency signals to make the connection between the transponder readers and the weigh station. A wireless connection was used when Green Light was installed at the southbound Woodburn Port of Entry, the northbound Woodburn weigh station, and the Cascade Locks Port of Entry because it was a less expensive way to bridge the distance between the transponder readers and the weigh station.
The northbound Woodburn weigh station experienced similar problems with radio frequency interference earlier this year until technicians switched that Green Light system to another frequency. Now with the proliferation of wireless devices, particularly in the Woodburn area, technicians are hiring a contractor to also lay a fiber optic cable for the northbound system.
Green Light Web site -- http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/MCT/GREEN.shtml
 Trucking Online Metrics -
More than 9,600 companies are signed up for Trucking Online, including 2,600 based in Oregon. There are about 24,000 companies with trucks registered in Oregon so now the ones doing business online include 47% of those based in another state or Canada and 29% of those based in Oregon. From January 2003 through June 2006, these companies used a home or office computer for over 625,000 transactions or record inquiries that formerly required a phone call, fax, mail delivery or field office visit.
New features are constantly being added to the Trucking Online menu, with several of the newest designed to benefit Oregon customers. There are more than 9,000 Oregon-based companies and this year it became possible for those with Commercial-plated trucks to transact all of their business online. More than 5,000 of the companies participate in the International Registration Plan (IRP) and Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) so they can operate in other states and Canada. Last year, it became possible for them to transact IRP business online and later this year they'll be able to conduct their IFTA business online.
Trucking Online is also branching out into over-dimension permit features, now including the ability to report and pay road use assessment fees. These fees are paid by trucks with non-divisible loads in excess of 98,000 pounds combined weight. The online application allows users to enter and pay all outstanding single-trip permits that have unreported mileage. Earlier this year, the first over-dimension permit-related feature was introduced to let companies look up a list of permits issued in the past two years. They can call up a list of single trip permits, continuous operation permits, or both kinds and the list can be accessed by permit number or date range. This helps companies check what permits they currently have and when a specific permit expires. They can determine if a truck has the right permit for a specific load and look up permit details that may help them reapply for another like it.
Online business transaction payments set a new record on May 31 when they totaled $137,372 for the day. The record is likely to be broken soon, however, as an increasing number of companies are using the online service at the end of every month to make last-minute transactions. This is particularly true for weight-mile tax reports. A total of 3,571 reports and payments were made online in the 2nd quarter 2006, up 17% compared with the 1st quarter.
A total of 204 companies used a credit card to pay for online transactions on the last day in May. It turns out that weight-mile tax payments make up the lion's share of the payments. In fact, one company paid $22,100, another paid $12,600, and 13 other companies together paid $49,500 in taxes. Those 15 companies alone went online to charge more than $84,200 in weight-mile taxes, which represents over 61% of the total paid that day. Many other smaller weight-mile tax payments were intermixed among 189 other transactions.
Visit the Trucking Online Web site for more information – http://OregonTruckingOnline.com
ITS MAINTENANCE - System Maintenance Updates
 ITS System Maintenance Report -
This section update shows some of the requests for work completed by our staff and gives a break-down of high-lights and areas where maintenance and enhancement work was done. TripCheck.com, 511 phone line, Herbicide line, and HTCRS are examples of the systems supported.
April 1-June 30, 2006
83 new Requests for Work were received. 48 were completed; 29 for repairing system failures, 18 for creating new capabilities, making system enhancements, or generating special reports. Here is a sampling of significant ITS system maintenance work completed in the last 3 months:
Overall System Reliability: A number of changes have been made to improve the reliability of the software used for the ITS system, and to more quickly detect and respond to failure when they do occur.
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Installed 14 new servers for central ITS systems, and moved all remaining central ITS servers to the NWTOC building in Salem. The new servers are intended to reduce single points of failure for the ITS system.
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Deployed a new system component that schedules individual applications to run on schedule, designed to handle error conditions better than the current scheduler with fewer system lockups.
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Adding more automatic software monitoring tools to detect when parts of the ITS system fails.
Cable TV:
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Set up software to monitor and notify this new system if software failures occur.
HAT/511:
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Configure test phone lines for production use when not testing.
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Set up 511 call box for the rest area at Multnomah Falls.
HTCRS:
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Modify for markers to be located to 10ths of miles.
MicroMain:
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Add customize features to track information used by ITS Support Coordinators
RWIS:
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Improved system reliability by changing how Region 1 RWIS devices are connected to over the network.
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Add an automated paging function for the Butte Creek Ice Warning sign.
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Set up a manual override function to Butte Creek Ice Warning sign in the Scanweb application.
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Worked on improving the network connection to the Enchanted Way RWIS, to make it more reliable.
TripCheck:
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Made changes to better support the Firefox web browser.
TTIP:
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Add reports to track the usage of the new TTIP system.
VMS:
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Created and deployed a new Skyline “launcher” that allows Skyline to detect and use different central servers as needed. This allows us to do system maintenance/repairs on the primary server without forcing end users to run their standalone version, improving reliability.
For questions contact Jim Weisgram at (503) 986-3211 or James.D.WEISGRAM@odot.state.or.us
ITS update on New Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS also known as Micromain) –
The Micromain project has been working well to launch trouble tickets for assests and quickly identify the priority list for technicians in the field, who do the needed repairs. One of the benefits of the Micromain software is that it allows a database of all ITS assets (like cameras, weather stations, ice detectors, etc) to be kept and cateloged with a unique identification number. Among other information kept about each asset, the highway and milepoint is also logged.
This has lead the ITS unit to start to work with the GIS mapping section of ODOT to produce a map of all ITS assets. This way ODOT has the ability to produce a map with all the cameras on it, for example. There is a two step process currently in place to accomplish this:
Firstly, take a snapshot of the database and all of the assets with only the 6 crutical fields needed to import them into the GIS mapping database. This will allow the ITS unit and GIS mapping section to understand the data, what assets should be shown, and how to proceed to the next stage. The second stage for this will be to link both databases and 'pull' data from the Micromain database into the GIS database on a regular basis. This allows almost instantaneous changes to be populated to the GIS database, so when someone requests a map of ITS assets, they get the most up-to-date placement and inventory.
Some basic maps will be available on-line to the public from this project. Watch this space for more to come...
For ODOT employees: click here to access Micromain.
For questions contact Jason Shaddix (503) 378-2645 or jason.p.shaddix@odot.state.or.us
ITS in the News
Rain washes out city's July 12 weather record
The Statesman Journal, Salem, OR July 13, 2006
Link to article:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS/607130354&SearchID=73250654209930
*June Issue of IEEE ITSS (Intelligent Transportation Systems Society) Newsletter Online
[transport-communications] Thursday, July 13, 2006
Link to newsletter:
http://www.its.washington.edu/itsc/v8n2.pdf
*AOL Taps Traffic.com for Content
[transport-communications] Thursday, July 13, 2006
Link to article:
http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/07/10/daily33.html
*Canadian Insurance Firms Turn to Telematics for Discount Program
[transport-communications] Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Link to story on itbusiness.ca:
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=39959&cid=9
*Smile! You’re on a Redflex Camera
[transport-communications] Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Company that makes equipment to catch traffic violators sees growth despite concerns.
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-04-redflex-usat_x.htm
*ITS Benefit of the Month: Automated Work Zone Information System Updates Travelers with Real-Time Information on I-15
[transport-communications] Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Link to further information from US DOT:
http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/ByLink/BOTM-July2006
*Lost on the Metro? Whip Out Your IPod
[transport-communications] Monday, July 3, 2006
Downloadable July 4th map previews things to come, transit official says.
Link to story in The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063001524.html (free registration required)
Link to map: http://www.wmata.com/ipodmap
*Wi-Fi Meters
[transport-communications] Thursday, June 15, 2006
Cities prepare to connect new generation of parking meters to municipal wireless networks.
Link to article in Mobile Government:
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/sup_story.php?id=99663&magid=17&issue=6:2006
*Energy, Transportation Talk of Tech Conference
[transport-communications] Friday, June 2, 2006
Link to story in The Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003034056_transportation02.html
*ITS Benefit of the Month: Conditional Transit Signal Priority Helps Buses Arrive on Time and Minimizes Impact on Other Traffic
[transport-communications] Thursday, June 1, 2006
Link to further information from US Department of Transportation:
http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/ByLink/BOTM-June2006
PRIVATE-SECTOR DEPLOYMENT OF INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS: CURRENT STATUS AND TRENDS
U.S. Department of Transportation's ITS Joint Program Office
May 25, 2006
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office has released a report that examines the current state of deployment of ITS and related technologies by the private sector in the United States. The report focuses primarily on in-vehicle entertainment, information and communications services, and safety systems, and explores relevant trends and recent developments in the marketplace.
Link to article: http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=6197
Traffic signals go out, creating rush-hour chaos
The Statesman Journal, Salem, OR May 16, 2006
Link to article:
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060516/NEWS/605160336
*Cams Can Help You Plan Your Commute
[transport-communications] Monday, May 15, 2006
Washington State traffic cameras prove popular to drivers and also help DOT and State Patrol operations.
Link to story in the King County Journal:
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/257581
Link to WSDOT traffic cameras: http://wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/
*Articles from March/April Issue of Public Roads
[transport-communications] Monday, May 15, 2006
- Mileage-Based Road User Charges
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06mar/02.htm
- Multipedestrian Tracking - A new detection system using computerized stereovision promises greater pedestrian safety in the years ahead.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06mar/08.htm
*What Will It Be Like to Drive When Your Vehicle and the Infrastructure Cooperate? Presentation at ITS America Annual Meeting
[transport-communications] Thursday, May 4, 2006
Link to further information:
http://webboard.trb.org/~AHB30/upload/TRB%20anounce%20ITS%20America%20session.doc
*ITS Lesson of the Month
[transport-communications] Monday, April 24, 2006
Nine important lessons from the experience of setting up a regional fare card program in the Central Puget Sound region of Washington.
http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/DisplayXOTM?OpenForm&LOTM%5eLOTM
*Caltrans Considers Improving Its Traffic Information Hotline
[transport-communications] Friday, April 21, 2006
Link to column in the San Jose Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14395272.htm
*Bellevue, Washington Launches Real-Time Traffic Map
[transport-communications] Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Link to story in the King County Journal:
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060418/NEWS/604180325
Link to site: http://trafficmap.cityofbellevue.net
*Fake Speed Camera Signs Spark Row
[transport-communications] Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Link to BBC News story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1490318.stm
*These stories provided by Bernie Wagenblast and The Daily ITS news, in the Transportation Communications Newsletter. For a free subscription send an e-mail to transport-communications-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or contact the editor, Bernie Wagenblast, at i95berniew@aol.com.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Stay informed about ODOT ITS activities across the state.
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 ITS OREGON Meeting
The next ITS Oregon Meeting, July 27th, 2006, 9:00 am, location:
ODOT Region 1 Headquarters, Room 344
123 NW Flanders Street
Portland, OR 97209
Guest speakers are Gail Curtis of ODOT Transportation Commission and Chirs Monsere of PSU. If you are interested in attending, can you please RSVP to Orlena Chiu.
Visit the ITS site for more information about upcoming events. Link to site: http://www.itsoregon.org
____________________________________________________________________
511 National Conference, July 17 - 19 San Diego, CA
You can still register onsite for the 511 Deployment Coalition’s 511…Where Travel Starts Conference
Link to site:
http://www.deploy511.org/events.htm
____________________________________________________________________
2006 National Rural ITS Conference, August 13-16, Big Sky, Montana
Questions? - Conference Coordinators:
Meetings Northwest, LLC
PO Box2083
Missoula, MT 59806
TEL: (406) 273-7224
FAX: (406) 273-2494
Link to site:
http://www.2006nrits.org
____________________________________________________________________
Portland State University
Center for Transportation Studies
TRANSPORTATION COURSES
Urban Rail Transit Series
http://www.cts.pdx.edu/professionalcourses.htm
Non-degree students may take classes via Quick Entry:
http://www.pdx.edu/admissions/ugrad_qkentry.html
Tuition and fee information: http://www.pdx.edu/registration/tuition.html
Winter Class Schedule: http://www.pdx.edu/registration/class_schedule.html
____________________________________________________________________
Spokane, WA ITS Training Update
There has been an additional class added to the Spokane training site,
you now have 4 days of training to choose from. We now have available to us the IEEE 1512 Family of Standards. This is the incident Management set of standards dealing with communication between TMC's and Emergency Management.
Please register by July 13th for this course if you are interested. We need a minimum of 15 registered attendees to host this course. If we fall below this number of people by July 13th, the course will be cancelled.
Link to site:
http://www.ite.org/otr/item.asp?ITEM_ID=233&DEPARTMENT_ID=100
_____________________________________________________________________
AASHTO Annual Meeting October 26 - 30 Portland, OR
This will be held at the Oregon Convention Center, in downtown Portland.
Link to site:
http://www.aashto2006.com/
____________________________________________________________________
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