Appendix A: Collaboration Profiles

• Improved efficiency of the MPO's CMAQ project solicitation process by substantially reducing the annual number of CMAQ project submittals while at the same time improving the quality of CMAQ project applications. Project submittals became more regional in nature and thus more beneficial to air quality and congestion relief.
• Coordinated road/bridge/tunnel closures and maintenance work across jurisdictional boundaries to reduce congestion impacts of closures and construction/maintenance on major facilities.
• Facilitated regional traffic signal coordination to meet air quality attainment goals.
• Police and fire became aware of the importance of clearing an incident quickly to avoid congestion.
• Joint purchasing arrangements that save money.
• Coordinated security and safety planning for mass evacuation during a hurricane event and access to major naval port facilities.

• Each State is better able to divert travelers from closed or impaired roads with the assistance of its neighboring States that provide information to drivers in time to take an appropriate detour.
• Three States are able to share the cost for developing an information system that none of them would be able to afford alone.
• States gain information from partners on where to place traveler information signs and are generally able to gain permission from partners to place signs in partners' states.
• States are able to make progress towards agency goals of improving highway safety by diverting more travelers from dangerous roads.

Merced County Transit is a bus system that was established in July 1996 through the consolidation of the fixed route and/or dial-a-ride services of City of Merced, Merced County, City of Los Banos, and City of Atwater. Merced County and the cities of Merced, Los Banos, Atwater, Dos Palos, Gustine, and Livingston adopted a joint powers agreement (JPA) forming Merced County Transit (MCT). MCT is governed by a JPA policy board that is the same board as the Merced County Association of Governments, the MPO for the region. The Merced County Department of Public Works manages and administers the program along with maintaining the buses. In the JPA, each jurisdiction agreed to a minimum level of service and a cost-sharing arrangement such that each jurisdiction contributes its State Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds based on the number of service hours in its area.

The idea to consolidate transit services originated in the 1990s during the annual city/county dinner for elected leaders. Area agencies needed to cut costs in order to address a funding shortage and there was interest in providing a better level of transit service throughout the county.

Merced County Transit operates fixed-route service within the city of Merced, intercity fixed routes, dial-a-ride in outlying communities, and services that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Merced County Transit's annual ridership is approximately 904,000 on fixed routes and 150,000 on demand responsive services.[8]

• Cost savings to participating agencies. Immediately after consolidation, Merced County saved around $150,000 in transit expenses. Administrative costs decreased.
• Increased levels of service. MCT has been growing ever since consolidation. Without consolidation, it is estimated that agencies would have had to significantly cut services. Smaller communities receive more frequent service each day.
• Increased accountability and attention to unmet transit needs.
• MCT has been able to attract almost all of the region's CMAQ funding over the past 8 years.
• Reduced service duplication.

• Partner agencies "bundle" together their respective project needs into a joint funding application developed by RTC to obtain CMAQ funding and save time preparing their applications.
• VAST agencies provide better information to travelers in a seamless manner through a joint Web site hosted by Washington DOT.
• VAST has enabled the City of Vancouver to save staff time when adjusting signal timing remotely through the communications network and central signal system. The city is now retiming corridors every 3 years.
• Clark County, the City of Vancouver, and Washington State DOT currently share fiber, reducing costs for the agencies and increasing communications capabilities.

The Denver Region Traffic Signal System Improvement Program (TSSIP) is a collaborative effort among Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and approximately 30 local signal operating agencies for the primary purpose of implementing cost-effective traffic signal timing and coordination improvements within the Denver region. The program generally includes only signals on principal arterials that are in the long-range transportation plan and signals in the Denver central business district. Through the TSSIP, traffic signal system improvements are pursued through a combination of capital improvements to signal systems, systems studies and design, and timing and coordination. The program has expanded in the past 3 years to include transit signal priority, traffic responsive control, and incident management signal control.

The TSSIP is updated every 3 to 4 years through a collaborative planning process involving representatives from the region's operating agencies. DRCOG serves as the facilitator and its board of directors approves the program. The program is funded through the TIP with CMAQ funding at approximately $3.9 million per year.

DRCOG is responsible for coordinating the program. Regular program updates are made through a collaborative dialogue led by DRCOG and operating agencies work with each other to implement the projects defined in the program. In addition to coordinating the TSSIP, DRCOG typically works with operating agencies on each project in the TSSIP setting objectives, fine-tuning the timing plans, and computing the benefits. In turn, the operating agencies are responsible for maintaining and operating their signals, maintaining the timing, and reviewing and approving plans.

• TSSIP helps the operating agencies to more effectively and efficiently time their signals and improve their signal system infrastructure.
• TSSIP helps partner operating agencies to work towards agency missions and their goals of improving mobility and reducing air pollution. From 2003 through 2006, TSSIP reduced delays by nearly 36,000 vehicle hours per day, reduced fuel consumption by more than 15,000 gallons per day, and reduced air pollution emission by more than 45,000 pounds per day.[9]
• Signal operating agencies receive funding and technical assistance in re-timing traffic signals and capital improvements. Without this service, most agencies would fall behind on signal operations.

• The TOC saves agencies such as the New York State DOT staff time and facilities by operating ITS equipment, providing them regional traveler information, and offering travelers important information.
• Police and fire/rescue agencies also save staff time by having a single point of contact for incident management assistance.
• By pooling their transportation information with the help of NITTEC staff, the agencies create a source of information that allows them to provide the traveler with a comprehensive view of the region and a greater level of customer service than any one agency could alone.
• Information provided through NITTEC allows partners to perform their operations more efficiently. The road weather information is used by maintenance crews to determine when and where to treat road surfaces.

AZTech is a partnership of Federal, State, local, and private entities led by the Maricopa County Department of Transportation and Arizona DOT to address a variety of regional operations issues in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The group is closely connected to regional transportation planning and includes many of the same agencies represented in the Maricopa Association of Governments ITS Committee. Joint initiatives that the region is pursuing include center-to-center communications, traffic signal optimization, arterial incident management, joint ITS procurements, and improving traveler information and system performance measurement.

AZTech began in 1996 when partners in the Phoenix region were awarded the ITS Metropolitan Model Deployment Initiative (MMDI) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Guiding the direction of AZTech and the implementation of its programs is the AZTech Executive Committee, which meets every other month. In addition, AZTech members participate on an operations committee, an advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) working group, and a TMC operators working group that all meet on a regular basis to share information and carry out joint initiatives.

Below are a select few collaborative efforts that are part of the AZTech partnership.

• Saves agencies both time and money through statewide ITS procurement contracts established by Arizona DOT.
• Provides transportation operations personnel access to regional fire and EMS dispatch data through center-to-center data integration.
• Through the common usage of the same camera technology, agencies in the region are able to improve their operations by accessing cameras in other jurisdictions. This enabled the exchange of control over CCTV cameras per agreed-upon regional guidelines.
• First responding agencies save staff time from REACT by freeing their personnel from directing traffic during major arterial incidents.
• The jurisdictions that hold intergovernmental agreements (IGA) with REACT benefit by using fewer resources when handling an incident and save time by decreasing the time it takes to clear an incident.
• A 2002 cost/benefit study[10] of REACT found that benefit-to-cost ratio was 6.4:1.
  
  The estimated dollar value of benefits per incident was:
  • Traffic-related (delay, fuel, and emissions) = $1,500
  • Safety-related (reduced risk for responders and secondary accidents) = $700
  • Productivity-related (savings in police labor) = $240
• Agencies responsible for traffic management during special events at PIR were able to do their jobs more effectively and more efficiently by leveraging their resources and agreeing to a common traffic management plan.
• Traffic management reduced total time to clear the parking lot after a NASCAR Winston Cup Race from 5.5 hours in 1998 to 2.5 hours in 2005 while the traffic volume over the 3-day event grew from approximately 86,000 to 264,000.[11]

The Regional Operations Coordination Committee (ROCC) began in 1996 between three transportation agencies, the Maryland State Highway Administration, the Montgomery County DOT, and the Prince George's County DOT under the direction of the State Highway Administrator and the DOT directors who wanted to take action to mitigate traffic congestion caused by incidents. Early on, they included State and county public safety agencies and have since expanded to include surrounding counties.

Agency representatives at the operations and ITS level attend monthly ROCC meetings staffed by one or two Maryland State Highway Administration employees and supported by consultants funded by Maryland SHA. During the meetings, operations personnel from member agencies review any recent responses to major incidents and identify any areas where inter-agency coordination should be improved. The partners work on moving joint projects forward and address any issues brought up by agencies that are impeding incident response or coordination.

• Partners were able to improve the assistance they could give to Spanish-speaking motorists while sharing the development effort of the Spanish aid guide.
• Partners address the common issue of motorists in minor incidents who cause traffic congestion through the "Move It" program.
• The improvements in mutual aid between State and county police departments have helped the Maryland SHA when it is responding to an incident. SHA responders can now call on more agencies for assistance than before.
• The Montgomery County DOT developed an arterial incident response program with ROCC's guidance.
• Prince George's County benefited from a joint effort to obtain funds to build a traffic operations center in its jurisdiction.

The Transportation Operations Communications Center (TOCC) located in the Town of Virginia, Minnesota, is a consolidated communications center used by the Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) and Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide joint dispatch service to patrol officers and Minnesota DOT maintenance and operations personnel. This is one of nine TOCCs covering Minnesota's rural and small urban areas that bring together resources from transportation and public safety to provide better service to the public and save money for ongoing operations.

The joint communications center in Virginia, Minnesota, was developed in 1996 as a Federal operational test called the Advanced Rural Transportation Information and Coordination (ARTIC) Operational Test. This served as the model for the TOCCs that were developed around the State. The Center is staffed 24 hours a day by a professional dispatcher supplied by MSP. In addition to coordinated dispatch, the center is also used to help manage traffic during special events and control the region's variable message signs.

• The TOCC has facilitated communications between Minnesota DOT and MSP, enabling quicker responses to requests for assistance.
• More efficient use of resources resulting in cost savings. Minnesota DOT no longer has to maintain separate dispatchers.
• MSP gained access to upgraded communications equipment and a new dispatch center.
• Minnesota DOT saves staff time by utilizing dispatch personnel to post messages on their variable message signs instead of having to go back to their shop and upload a message to the sign.