Georgia s Regional Traffic Operations Program Shahram Malek, PhD, PE Vice President, ARCADIS US Inc. Regional Traffic Operations Project Manager Koushik Arunachalam, PE Associate Project Manager, ARCADIS US Inc.
Traffic Signals Poor signal timing 5 to 10 percent of all traffic delay 295 million vehicle-hours of delay on major roadways 9000 Traffic Signals Over 50% located in the Atlanta Region
Who Operates the Traffic Signals? 9000 Signals Statewide Maintaining Agencies: 7 GDOT Districts 54 Counties 36 Cities Top 5 maintaining agencies: GDOT: 2417 signals City of Atlanta: 975 signals Gwinnett County: 674 signals DeKalb County: 661 signals Cobb County: 543 signals
Atlanta Region s Signal Operators In most major metropolitan areas: State DOT manages the freeway network Local agencies manage arterials In Atlanta: 4 GDOT Districts 15 Counties 22 Cities
ITS Projects STC 6 PM STC 1 STC 2 ATC Contractor STC 3 STC 4 LED Display Upgrades GDOT Count Data Loop Contractor 1 Loop Contractor 2 STC 5 Signal Maintenance Contractor Timing Contracts Traffic Engineer Local Agencies Loop Contracts Signal Shop CID
ITS Projects PM STC 6 STC 1 STC 2 ATC Contractor STC 3 STC 4 LED Display Upgrades GDOT Count Data Loop Contractor 1 Loop Contractor 2 STC 5 Signal Maintenance Contractor Timing Contracts Traffic Engineer Local Agencies Loop Contracts Signal Shop CID
RTOP s Role Traffic Signal Maintenance and Repair Issues Regional Focus Mainline Priority Cross-Jurisdictional Actively Manage Traffic Flow Mission: To increase travel throughput by minimizing congestion and reducing delays along regional commuter corridors through improved signal operations.
RTOP Partners
Memorandum of Understanding Responsibilities GDOT GDOT Lead Local Agency Corridor Traffic Signal Timing GDOT Local Lead Local Agency Timing Adjustments * Preventative/Routine Maintenance After Hours/Emergency Response Detector, Communication, and Surveillance Repair Actively Manage and Monitor (Peak Hours) Major Repair *Subject to GDOT approval Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program 9
Regionally Significant Corridors Phase 1 June 9, 2010 Phase 2 October 27, 2010 Phase 3 January 4, 2013 Phase 4 October 15, 2013
What have we been doing? Preventative/Routine maintenance Repair of equipment Operational Improvements Communications to traffic signals Surveillance at key locations Active signal timing adjustments Technology evaluation/deployment Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program 11
Percent Operational Equipment Repair Operational Detection 100% 95% Program Goal 90% 85% 80% Vehicle Detection 75% Pedestrian Detection 70%
Equipment Repair Vehicle Detectors 2,150 Replaced 537 Repaired Pedestrian Detectors 1,394 Replaced 248 Repaired PM Program Ground Testing Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program 13
Remote Communications RTOP connected signals to the GDOT TMC Full intersection control Accessible to GDOT (610) Accessible to Locals (56) No remote communications (84)
Communications Plan
Communications Plan
Remote Communications Status Monitoring Detector Diagnostics
Traffic Responsive Operation
When Signal Timing Just Isn t Enough Applications of Synchro and VISSIM to evaluate alternatives Operational Improvements Turn lane additions Phasing changes Lane Diets Indirect Lefts Tool selection based on needs Complex intersections require VISSIM (weaves, closely spaced signals) Corridor level changes can be done in Synchro (turn lane addition, lane diets)
Surveillance Currently have 113 CCTV monitoring about 1/2 of the assigned corridors Planned expansion covers all routes and increases the CCTV count to 275 Additionally we are now adding new hardware to bring back all IVDS back to TMC/TCCs 21
Active Management (before remote communication) Limited to: Major Events Planned Events Incidents lasting longer than one peak period
Active Management Control from a single location AM Peak 6 AM to 10 AM PM Peak 3 PM to 7 PM Response to any event C2C signal system Video sharing
Firsts Shared Communication Network RNET Program Based Technology Evaluation Cloud Based Traffic Signal System Citrix Successful TR operation in GA Across Jurisdiction Boundaries Video Sharing Architecture Ethernet over Copper Wireless Ethernet IP-based CCTV Retroreflective Backplates Deployments of Flashing Yellow Arrow
Program Benefits Spring 2013 comparison to baseline Reduced number of stops by 4% Reduced stopped time delay by.1% Traffic volumes increased by 10.8%
Other Traffic Operational Programs GDOT has provided seed money Community Improvement Districts to Implement Three Programs Perimeter CIDs Midtown Alliance Downtown
Lessons Learned Understanding RTOP s Role and achieving understanding with our stakeholders Understanding of stakeholders needs, resources, and objective Improved maintenance Better timings Balanced operation / significant generators Budget constraints (manpower, equipment, technology) Grasping the state of the infrastructure Detection (vehicular and pedestrian) Communications Displays Safety concerns Meeting the standards Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program
Lessons Learned Evolution of roles and responsibilities Firefighter, designer, constructor, integrator, maintainer, and operator Defining the needs and priorities Each agency is unique Each corridor has special requirements Improving the operations within constraints Coordination with other program/projects Local agency, other key stakeholders (CID), DOT (LARP, District, GO), Operational Improvements IT/Systems challenges Equipment purchases, network connection, system configuration, system interfaces Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program
RTOP Funding Late start the first year funding cut Success in 2011 and 2012 lead to increased funding Program is now in expansion phase Anticipated Growth in 2016 to $23.5 Million $3M $8M $10M $12.75M $16.25M $16.25M $16.25M Georgia s Regional Signal Operations Program 29