Randy McCourt from DKS Associates gave an interesting talk about Active Traffic Management Systems (Jargon Alert: ATMS) at the 2015 ITE Western District annual meeting. Basically, ATMS is using technology to provide information and better meter traffic along congested corridors to eek out better traffic operations. You can read Randy’s paper here.
Key statistics related to ATMS based on the four federally funded pilot projects (including one along I-35W in Minneapolis, MN):
- Costs range between $250,000 and $600,000 per lane mile
- Decreased rear-end crashes 5-10%
- Improved speed, travel times, and volumes carried by 7-12%
- Improved corridor reliability by more than 13%
Traffic engineers are taught the basic relationship between flow and speed that’s shown on the right. There’s a tipping point around 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane when speed greatly decreases and throughput greatly diminishes. This is when we see stop and go traffic on freeways. Applying ATMS strategies tries to get traffic moving at a speed/flow closer to the tipping point without going over the tipping point.
ATMS Operational Strategies:
- Adaptive Ramp Metering
- Adaptive Traffic Signal Control
- Advanced Traveler Information
- Dynamic Advisory Speed
- Dynamic Junction Control
- Dynamic Contraflow
- Dynamic Lane Use Control
- Dynamic Merge Control
- Dynamic Shoulder Use
- End of Queue Warning
- Transit Signal Priority
Learn more at FHWA’s Site about Active Traffic Management.
Photo Sources: Washington State DOT and Randy McCourt’s paper
