Executive Summary
An Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) is a tool used by transportation network operators to promote continuous optimal operation, to the extent that such operation is possible, on a corridor-wide basis. The focus of this document is on the arterial roadway network and the data that are required to support the management and operations of an arterial network in an ICMS.
In the development of this document, stakeholders from the ICM Pioneer Sites and other interested parties were asked to identify generic and specific arterial data needs related to arterial traffic management activities. Based on the needs that were identified, the data that are currently being used to meet those needs were also identified, as well as any existing gaps in the data that prevent all needs from being met.
This analysis examines what real-time data should be monitored in an ICMS; how the data might be monitored and reported; and how the data will be used to manage corridor-wide performance. These data requirements are compared with current capabilities to determine what additional data are needed and how the data can be obtained in the most efficient and effective manner.
Inevitably, transportation corridors exhibit significant variations in configuration, capacity, and demand between corridors, which can make corridor management solutions complex to define. There is, however, much in common between the events and scenarios that an ICMS will manage and the impacts of transportation events on the corridor, including recurring congestion, incidents, and planned and emergency events. This analysis considers a series of response strategies to these events and scenarios and considers how arterial data will be used in those responses.
The effectiveness of corridor management strategies, including those applied to the arterial network will be assessed through a variety of performance measures. Through the course of this analysis it has become clear that the data needed to manage the arterial network in a corridor-wide context or to evaluate the effectiveness of corridor management strategies may not be readily available through existing or conventional arterial infrastructure. The desired ICMS strategies may require data that existing systems were not designed to collect.
At the beginning of this Needs Analysis, it was assumed that arterial traffic signal systems might provide the majority of the arterial traffic data required for an ICMS. However, as revealed in this document, this may not prove to be the case. Traffic signal systems can be designed to function without collecting any of the data needed for an ICMS. Further, those signal systems that currently collect some of the required data elements do not necessarily collect the data with the time or spatial resolution desired for the ICMS functions, or the systems lack the communications bandwidth or data exchange interfaces required to provide the data to an ICMS in a. timely manner.
This Needs Analysis concludes that there are three potential responses to the identified gaps:
- Modify or eliminate corridor management strategies that are dependent on data that is not readily available from the arterial network
- Modify existing systems to provide the required data on arterial streets
- Augment existing systems with new sensors and/or new data acquisition systems to collect the needed data
Some of the ICM Pioneer Sites and other interested parties are investigating emerging approaches for collecting data using new techniques or technologies. There appear to be several promising potential and future approaches for collecting data, the merits of which are examined in this report. These approaches, along with the tools, techniques, and strategies outlined in the following sections provide a clear picture of how arterial network data can be gathered to support the deployment of an ICMS.
