5.0 Proposed Rule for Real-Time Information Program
On May 4, 2006, the FHWA published a notice in the Federal Register (71 FR 26399) outlining some proposed preliminary program parameters and seeking public comments on the proposed description of the Real-time System Management Information Program, including its outcome goals, definitions for various program parameters, and the current status of related activities in the States. Presented in this chapter is some of the material contained in the notice along with a summary of the responses received and the current direction the FHWA is heading with regards to implementing the requirements established in Section 1201 of the SAFETEA-LU.
5.1 May 2006 Request for Comments
The material presented in this section provides the major points that were contained in the May 2006 Request for Comments and the FHWA’s proposed approach for implementing the requirements for the Real-time System Management Information Program.
5.1.1 Program Purpose
The purpose of the Real-time System Management Information Program is to provide the capability to monitor, in real-time, the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that information to improve surface transportation system security, address congestion, improve response to weather events and surface transportation incidents, and to facilitate national and regional highway traveler information.
5.1.2 Program Funding
A State may use its National Highway System, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program, and Surface Transportation Federal-aid program apportionments for activities related to the planning and deployment of real-time monitoring elements that advance the goals of the Real-time System Management Information Program. The FHWA has issued policy guidance, available at https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/travelinfo/resources/ops_memo.htm, indicating that transportation system operations activities, such as real-time monitoring, are eligible under the major Federal-aid programs noted previously, within the requirements of the specific programs. State planning and research funds may also be used for activities relating to the planning of real-time monitoring elements.
5.1.3 Program Goals
By September 30, 2009, the Real-Time System Management Information Program shall:
(1) Establish, in all States, a system of basic real-time information for managing and operating the surface transportation system;
(2) Identify longer range real-time highway and transit monitoring needs and develop plans and strategies for meeting those needs; and
(3) Provide the capability and means to share the data with State and local governments and the traveling public.
Section 1201 does not specify a time frame for implementing the Real-time System Management Information Program. The FHWA proposed the implementation date of September 30, 2009, since it coincides with the expiration of the SAFETEA–LU authorization.
5.1.4 Program Outcomes
The Real-Time System Management Information Program shall result in:
(1) Publicly available traveler information Web site(s) providing access to information that is derived from the real-time information collected by the system established under the program;
(2) 511 Travel Information telephone service(s) providing to callers information that is derived from the real-time information collected by the system established under the program;
(3) Regional Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Architectures updated to reflect the systems established under the program; and
(4) Access to the data collected by the system established under the program in an established data exchange format through standard Internet protocol (IP) communications links.
Outcomes (1) and (2) relate to commonly available methods used by public sector agencies to disseminate traffic and traveler information. Outcome (3) relates directly to a requirement in section 1201(c)(1) regarding regional ITS architectures. Outcome (4) relates to the use of common data exchange formats required by section 1201(c)(2).
5.1.5 Program Parameters
As part of describing the Real-time System Management Information Program, it is necessary to establish definitions for various parameters under the program. These parameters will define the content and context for systems developed and implemented under the program. As noted above under the program purpose, traffic and travel conditions of major highways are to be monitored in real-time. This notice proposed definitions for three principal terms used in describing the program’s purpose—major highways, traffic and travel conditions, and real-time.
Major Highways
The FHWA proposed that, as a minimum, major highways to be monitored by the systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program include all National Highway System (NHS) routes and other limited access roadways. In metropolitan areas, major arterials with congested travel should be included in the coverage areas of systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program.
The NHS includes the Interstate Highway System as well as other roads important to the nation’s economy, defense, and mobility. The NHS was developed by the DOT in cooperation with the States, local officials, and metropolitan planning organizations. More detailed information about the NHS is available from the FHWA at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10/nhs/. Because of the criteria under which the NHS was developed, it provides a sound foundation for the highways to be monitored under the program. Adding major arterials in metropolitan areas helps the program address congestion as noted in the purpose of the program.
Traffic and Travel Conditions
The FHWA proposed that the basic traffic and travel conditions to be monitored by systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program include:
- Road or lane closures because of construction, traffic incidents, or roadway weather conditions;
- Roadway weather or other environmental conditions restricting or adversely affecting travel;
- Extent and degree of congested conditions, i.e., length of roadway experiencing stop-and-go or very slow (e.g., prevailing speed of traffic less than half of speed limit) traffic;
- In metropolitan areas that experience recurring traffic congestion, travel times or speeds on limited access roadways; and
- In metropolitan areas that experience recurring traffic congestion, disruptions to public transportation services and facilities.
These basic traffic and travel conditions are based on work conducted by the National 511 Deployment Coalition (Coalition) in developing its guidelines for implementing 511 travel information telephone services. The Coalition guidelines are available from the 511 Deployment Coalition at http://www.deploy511.org. In general, the minimum conditions are intended to capture events and occurrences that reduce the capacity of highways (lane closures and adverse weather conditions) or present unsafe travel conditions (congestion). In congested metropolitan areas, the minimum conditions are enhanced through the addition of travel times and transit service disruptions as a way of capturing system performance.
Real-Time
Systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program will monitor and reflect current traffic and travel conditions according to the following minimum criteria:
- Construction activities affecting travel conditions, such as implementing or removing lane closures, will be available as program information within 30 minutes of the change, with changes to be available within 15 minutes in metropolitan areas with frequent or recurring traffic congestion;
- Roadway or lane blocking traffic incident information will be available as program information within 15 minutes of the incident being detected or reported and verified;
- Roadway weather conditions are updated as program information no less frequently than 30 minutes;
- Traffic congestion information will be updated as program information no less frequently than 15 minutes; and
- Travel time information, when reported and available as program information, will reflect travel conditions occurring no older than 10 minutes.
- Public transportation service disruptions, when reported, will be updated as program information no less frequently than 30 minutes.
Since the Real-time System Management Information Program applies to all States, these minimum criteria reflect systems that employ manual entry of information. Systems that use more automated or integrated information entry processes may be able to reflect changes in conditions virtually immediately. These criteria are intended to present aggressive but realistic time frames for reporting and entering information including manual entry, remotely polled sensor stations, or calculation of values. The proposed criteria also consider the usefulness of the information to travelers, hence the decreased amount of time for recording construction activities in congested metropolitan areas.
5.1.6 Information Quality
The quality of the real-time system management information depends on the techniques and technologies used to record the information. The Real-time System Management Information Program will not specify technologies or methods to be used to collect information; however, levels of quality for general attributes may be provided.
The following proposed levels of quality for two attributes are based on the report ‘‘Closing the Data Gap: Guidelines for Quality Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) Data’’ that is available from the DOT at http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/rept_mis/13580.html (Intelligent Transportation Society of America, ATIS Committee; September 2000).
Accuracy
Accuracy indicates how closely the recorded information matches the actual conditions. All sensors and data collection systems are subject to inaccuracies from situations such as physical obstructions, weather conditions, and radio frequency interference. The more accurate the data are, the higher the quality of information recorded by the system. This attribute is typically characterized using percentages, either as a percentage of accuracy or as an error percentage. For example, a system may be characterized as being 90 percent accurate or having a 10 percent error rate. This attribute is used to describe the average performance of the sensors or data collection system. The FHWA is considering proposing that systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program are to be 85 percent accurate at a minimum, or have a maximum error rate of 15 percent.
Availability
Availability indicates how much of the data designed to be collected is made available. While sensors and data collection systems are usually designed to operate continuously, inevitably a user of the data will lose access from time to time. This attribute describes the average probability that a given data element will be available for use from a particular sensor or data collection system. For example, if a sensor records average speeds at a specific point over five minute intervals, 12 data points are generated each hour. Over the course of a year, 105,120 data points should be recorded; however, if 2,100 data points were not available for use over the course of the year, the availability would be 98 percent. This attribute essentially combines factors such as sensor or system reliability, maintenance responsiveness, and fault tolerance into a single measure related to data output. The better the traffic sensor data collection system is designed, operated and maintained, the higher the availability. The FHWA is considering proposing that systems implemented under the Real-time System Management Information Program are to have 90 percent availability at a minimum.
5.1.7 Data Exchange Formats
Section 1201(b) requires that within two years of the date of enactment of SAFETEA–LU, the Secretary of Transportation is to establish data exchange formats to ensure that the data provided by highway and transit monitoring systems, including statewide incident reporting systems, can be readily exchanged to facilitate nationwide availability of information. States shall also incorporate these data exchange formats in the systems they implement to support the Real-time System Management Information Program. If after development, the data exchange formats are officially adopted through rulemaking by the DOT, part 940 of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, requires in section 940.11(f) that all ITS projects funded with highway trust funds shall use the applicable DOT-adopted ITS standards.
On October 15, 2007, the FHWA published a notice in the Federal Register (72 FR 58347) Interim Guidance on the Information Sharing Specifications and Data Exchange Formats for the Real-Time System Management Information Program [Federal Highway Administration, Publication of Interim Guidance on the Information Sharing Specifications and Data Exchange Formats for the Real-Time System Management Information Program, in Federal Register. 2007: Washington, D.C. p. 58347 - 58379.].
5.2 Responses to the Request for Information
The comments submitted in response to the May 2006 Request for Comments presented in the previous section were used to develop a proposed rulemaking regarding the RTSMIP that is anticipated to be released sometime in 2008. The FHWA received a total of 44 comments to the docket, of which 22 of the submissions were from State Departments of Transportation (DOT’s). Responses also were received from representatives of the private sector and national associations.
Many of the State DOT’s that responded identified that they were capable of achieving many of the goals outlined in the notice by 2009, provided that there would be a phased approach for achieving key milestones. The public sector responses often cited funding limitations, budget and planning cycles, and the lack of data collection infrastructure as obstacles to fully achieving all of the program goals by a 2009 date. All of the private sector responses indicated that all of the stated objectives could be achieved by 2009 and perhaps sooner.
The private sector respondents generally felt that having the information on nearly every road, at least in urban areas, was a reasonable goal. Many State and local public sector respondents did support reporting of conditions along arterial highways, but preferred to define which ones locally. Respondents generally noted that rural and urban areas might have different needs for coverage. Several rural States noted that monitoring the National Highway System plus other limited access roadways would overwhelm their strained resources and would not necessarily improve the quality of the traffic and travel conditions reporting. One private sector respondent suggested using the same definition of “major highway” as the mapping industry.
There was general support for including travel times and speeds, as well as extent and degree of congested conditions in urban areas. Several rural States objected to the congestion requirement. Several States suggested adding expected duration for incidents, scheduled events, Homeland Security emergency notifications, maintenance work zones as well as construction work zones, hurricane evacuation, and terrorist acts. There was strong and articulate opposition from States about including information on public transportation disruptions.
There was general support for the proposed definition of “real-time” for congestion, travel time, and lane blockage information. There was no consensus among the respondents concerning the proposed thresholds for timeliness and accuracy: private sector respondents commonly suggested more stringent thresholds, some State agencies suggested weaker thresholds; some overall respondents agreed with the thresholds identified in the notice. Several respondents, including State DOTs, noted that a more stringent timeliness threshold (5 minutes or less) would be more useful to the public. A few State agencies and private sector organizations noted that they were already meeting and exceeding these proposed threshold requirements. A few States objected to the timeliness threshold requirements as inappropriate for rural areas. Several respondents noted that the timeliness threshold requirements imply either a fully automated system or a 24/7 staff, which is likely not available immediately in all areas of the country.
Overall the responses reflected reasonable support for the proposed scope of the program, with the acknowledgement that there were dissenting opinions on some details. Nearly all the respondents anticipated that the FHWA would propose a rule to establish a program to advance the level of traffic and travel conditions reporting available today. The FHWA determined to propose a rule to exercise the authority established by Congress to provide for congestion relief and to support the Department’s Congestion Relief Initiative. It is expected that this proposed rule will enable various methods for mitigating the effects of recurring and non-recurring congestion by assisting agencies in providing 511 traveler information; enhancing traffic incident management; improving work zone mobility; updating and coordinating traffic signal timing; and providing localized bottleneck relief (Additional information about FHWA’s focus on congestion is available at the following URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion/toolbox/index.htm).
The comments that were received in the docket that were of significant concern and are expected to be addressed by the proposed rule are in the areas: program phasing and content requirements. There was a clear preference for a phased approach in achieving the program implementation milestones. The FHWA is considering two distinct dates for establishing a real-time information program: one deployment for all Interstates within a specified date after the final rule is published in the Federal Register, and the other for non-Interstate highways in metropolitan areas by a later date from when the final rule is published in the Federal Register. The FHWA noted the interest of many public sector respondents about their preference to select the routes for traffic and travel conditions reporting.
There was wide variability in the content requirements for traffic and travel conditions reporting, especially in selecting a threshold for disseminating information after it has been collected. The FHWA considered the responses in parallel with the types of information that are needed to provide congestion relief. Based on the comments, the focus of the information to be reported centered on non-recurrent events like construction/maintenance; road closures and major delays; major special events; and, weather and road surface conditions (These types of content are consistent with those documented in Implementation and Operational Guidelines for 511 Services, v.3.0 2005, available at the following URL: http://www.deploy511.org/implementationguide.htm. The guidelines were prepared by the 511 Deployment Coalition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), ITS America, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and the USDOT to promote service consistency to help achieve a nationwide 511 system).
5.3 Transportation System Operations Enhancements Enabled by the Proposed Rule
A critical factor in the ability of transportation managers to respond effectively to a wide variety of events and situations is the availability of information that conveys the operating status of transportation facilities in real-time. Through the availability of information that improves upon today’s geographic coverage, data accessibility, accuracy, and availability, transportation system operators will have the tools necessary to reduce congestion, facilitate incident management, and improve management of transportation systems assets.
Real-time information programs can be established so that States easily can exchange information on the real-time operational status of the transportation network with other States and with the private sector, value-added information market (The value-added information market creates products intended for commercial use, for sale to a customer base, or for other commercial enterprise purposes. The market may rely on information gathered by State, from other sources, or from the market’s own capabilities to create the information). This cooperation and sharing of information could stimulate the dissemination of traffic and travel conditions that include Web or wireless access to route-specific travel time and toll information; route planning assistance using historical records of congestion by time of day; and communications technologies that gather traffic and incident-related data from a sample of vehicles traveling on a roadway and then publishing that information to travelers via mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), in-car units, or dynamic message signs.
The establishment of real-time information programs could enable the exchange of commonly applied information among public and private partners, which will stimulate national availability of travel conditions information. Real-time information programs could increase the available quantity of data for conditions prediction, expand commercial markets that broker information, provide validated and accurate data for performance measure development and reporting, and stimulate new information products that could not be achieved with present day methods.
The Real-Time System Management Information Program is focused upon making data available for a range of applications that benefit States and travelers. The proposed rule would provide a substantial foundation for the collection and gathering of data in a manner that would provide coherent use for other applications. The 511 Implementation and Operational Guidelines Version 3.0 (Available at the following URL: http://www.deploy511.org/implementationguide.htm) (2005) illustrate what detailed information from a real-time information program could be provided for other applications:
- Location – The location or portion of route segment where a reported item is occurring, related to mileposts, interchange(s) and/or common landmark(s).
- Direction of Travel – The direction of travel where a reported item is occurring.
- General Description and Impact – A brief account and impact of the reported item.
- Days/Hours and/or Duration – The period in which the reported item is “active” and possibly affecting travel.
- Travel Time or Delay – The duration of traveling from point A to point B, a segment or a trip expressed in time (or delay a traveler will experience).
- Detours/Restrictions/Routing Advice – As appropriate, summaries of required detours, suggested alternate routes or modes and restrictions associated with a reported item.
- Forecasted Weather and Road Surface Conditions – Near-term forecasted weather and pavement conditions along the route segment.
- Current Observed Weather and Road Surface Conditions – Conditions known to be in existence that impact travel along the route segment.
