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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

January-February 2009

Maximizing Performance Through Technology

Already in use in key Bay Area locations, changeable message signs will play a larger role in alerting motorists to trouble ahead. (Photo: Peter Beeler)

The plan sets aside funding to expand and operate the TransLink® electronic transit fare payment system now being phased in. (Photo: Noah Berger)

With opportunities for highway expansion limited due to environmental, financial and other factors, MTC in 2007 launched the Freeway Performance Initiative, or FPI, to squeeze more capacity out of existing roadways. The program targets predictable congestion caused by the onslaught of commuters using the freeways during rush hours as well as nonrecurrent congestion resulting from unanticipated incidents.

“The FPI takes the offensive on congestion caused by accidents, a huge part of the mobility challenge in the region and one that is not addressed by traditional highway projects,” said Albert Yee, director of Highway and Arterial Operations for MTC.

Roughly three-quarters of the 620 center-line freeway miles in the Bay Area are not equipped with FPI technology. And for those segments that do have some FPI elements, in virtually all cases existing deployments do not meet the level needed to properly manage the system. The Draft Transportation 2035 Plan rectifies that situation with a $1.6 billion investment to fully deploy the Freeway Performance Initiative over the next five to seven years.

“In essence, the FPI redefines what a freeway is,” said Yee. “Rather than asphalt lanes that are left to function on their own, a modern freeway is one in which performance is monitored continuously, operation is adjusted minute by minute, incidents are cleared quickly, and motorists are provided up-to-date information before and during their trips.”

According to Yee, the Freeway Performance Initiative is greater than the sum of its parts. “Operating the entire transportation network as a whole, rather than each system in isolation as is done now, is the next leap forward in achieving efficient use and management of our constrained infrastructure,” he said. Motorists will have access to traffic condition information before they start their trip, be presented with com- parisons of time and cost between driving and taking transit, and get updated traffic condition information en route. When a major accident happens on the freeway, information on detour routes will be provided to motorists, and signals on city streets will be adjusted in real-time. Streaming video from freeway cameras will allow emergency responders to deploy assistance to the scene more quickly.

In other technology-heavy efforts beyond the Freeway Performance Initiative, the Draft Transportation 2035 Plan calls for investing $408 million in expanding and operating TransLink®, the universal fare-payment system engineered by MTC and now being phased in among the region’s two-dozen-plus transit operators. Another $454 million is earmarked for upgrading, expanding and operating MTC’s 511 Traveler Information System, which provides information on public transit, traffic, bicycling and ridesharing 24/7.

In early 2007, ramp meters were activated on U.S. 101 in San Mateo County, south of State Route 92. Since then, peak-hour travel time has decreased by almost one-third, to 25 minutes from 35 minutes. Deployment of ramp metering in early 2008 on sections of eastbound Interstate 580 in the cities of Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore — where the afternoon commute has been ranked either the second- or third-most congested in the entire Bay Area since 2002 — has significantly reduced travel delay in this East Bay location. Previously, a typical commute across the 15-mile corridor from Foothill Road to North Flynn Road took as much as 35 minutes. After ramp metering, this time has been reduced by 37 percent, with the same trip now taking 22 minutes.

Key Elements of the Freeway Performance Initiative

Traffic Operations System (TOS)

To help detect slowdowns and incidents, MTC and Caltrans are installing closed-circuit television cameras, wireless in-pavement sensors and roadside data-relay stations along area freeways. The information gathered will be fed to the Regional Transportation Management Center in downtown Oakland, which will deploy tow trucks and other resources to quickly clear incidents and thereby reduce delays and prevent the occurrence of secondary accidents. The system will alert motorists to incidents through an expanded network of highway advisory radio channels and changeable message signs, along with MTC’s 511 Traveler Information System and in-car devices.

The Traffic Operations System data stream will be enriched with data from the FasTrak® transponders that are becoming commonplace on Bay Area windshields. The transponders do double duty, allowing for electronic payment of tolls on area bridges while also serving as mobile sensors that relay rich and very current (but anonymous) information about traffic speeds to MTC’s 511 Traveler Information System. As the Regional HOT Network is built out (see story) and as more bridge toll lanes convert to electronic-only toll collection, increasing numbers of vehicles will be equipped with FasTrak® transponders, facilitating the collection of high-quality traffic data.

Ramp Metering

The metering of freeway on-ramps is not only highly effective in reducing congestion, but these types of projects can be deployed at a fraction of the cost of traditional freeway widening projects — and in a fraction of the time.

Currently fewer than a quarter of the Bay Area freeways are metered. The Transportation 2035 investment will pay for installing metering lights at nearly 800 entrance ramps, essentially building out the system on Bay Area freeways.

Arterial Management

Maximizing efficiency of the freeway system requires coordination with and optimization of major parallel arterials. The Freeway Performance Initiative will provide funding for MTC’s ongoing programs to modernize and synchronize signals along major arterials.

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