National Academies Press: OpenBook

Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation (2021)

Chapter: Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases

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Page 93
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
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Page 93
Page 94
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
×
Page 94
Page 95
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
×
Page 95
Page 96
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
×
Page 96
Page 97
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
×
Page 97
Page 98
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C - Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26094.
×
Page 98

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93 A P P E N D I X C Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases During phone interviews, several agencies noted that they were not yet utilizing newly acquired trips and LBS data to the fullest extent possible and offered up the following scenarios for which Origin- Destination (O-D), LBS, and related trips data would be of value. 1. Our governor pledges to “do something about” the perennial traffic jam at a particular location. The DOT commissions a study, and a contractor is hired to build a model to try out various scenarios (no build vs. build option 1...2...3…). When we ultimately hold our stakeholder and public meetings, the models that we used to develop the scenarios and options need to be credible and defensible. Our agency can use trips data—real data—to provide credibility to our models. 2. Our MPO wants to validate (cross-check) the calibration of its regional traffic demand model (TDM) for air quality monitoring and general planning support against an independent dataset. The model can output O-D tables that it synthesizes from its home/workplace data. We want to compare the outputs of our models with real O-D data sourced from third party providers to help validate them. 3. We have had the regional transit union threaten a strike against our rail or bus systems at different times. Contingency planners from the transit agency envision using this data to plan where to provide additional buses (if rail strike), or add train capacity (if bus strike). 4. A crack is discovered on a mainline interstate bridge between two states, which will take months to resolve. We want to know to which routes have drivers shifted. Are the detours negatively impacting local communities and neighborhoods? The probe data could help us analyze this and further guide where we should pre-position tow trucks, or retime the signals, or close shoulders to allow extra travel lanes during the repairs. 5. A fire damaged a bridge on a major interstate in a major urban area. We can potentially use trajectory data to understand how drivers changed their habits in weeks following. For example, what alternate routes are they taking based on their origin and destinations? 6. A contractor in a large city is studying potential infrastructure and ITS investments along the ring of interstates that circle the CBD, and needs to build a model first. The trajectory data can inform the model with real people movement data instead of estimations based on extremely small surveys or guesstimates. 7. For a Managed Use Lanes study (MULS), an agency wants to reverse one lane in the off-peak direction (making it contraflow), but needs to convince elected officials that the off-peak direction can handle the loss of capacity. Consultant asked to build a model and analyze scenarios. O-D data and other probe-based trajectories can give validity to the model.

94 Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation to expect. Trajectory data that includes routing can help us confirm whether this is truly a problem (pass-through truck trips), and also help us understand the impacts on various tolling strategies. 9. Our port authority wants to expand the capacity of its marine terminals, but has been sued by public interest groups concerned that more ships mean more trucks cutting through their local neighborhoods—and more pollution. The authority believes that trip data can be used to understand the true impacts (current and expected) of any such changes to capacity. 10. Our state wants to evaluate compliance with truck routes through urban areas. The public sees large trucks on local streets and assumes they are simply cutting through. Trajectory data that includes routing data for trucks can help to confirm or refute perceptions that truck routes are being ignored. 11. A critical 4-lane viaduct/bridge in must be rehabilitated over a period of four years (two years for each direction). One consultant is suggesting the following: close all lanes in one direction for all four years—thereby requiring drivers to adjust their patterns once instead of twice during that period. Public officials, however, are worried about potential public relations issues as this is a critical bridge used to get people to popular vacation destinations. Any unnecessary traffic will look particularly bad. Our executives want the idea thoroughly studied before approving the plan, including studying how much traffic can be induced onto alternative routes. If the plan is implemented, we’ll need to closely monitor alternative routes and deviations onto local roads. The trips data will help in many aspects of this study. 12. There is a perception that trucks are exiting to bypass a weigh station on an interstate, via a parallel arterial. To what degree is this really happening? Trips data should be able to tell us this. 13. We are using trips and trajectory data to study issues with access management. For example, we’re seeing an awful lot of trip origins and destinations in areas where there should not be a driveway or exit in very rural areas. We believe the oil and gas industry is illegally creating driveways, and this data is shedding light onto where these problems are occurring. 14. A major retailer wants to build a massive warehouse next to an environmentally-sensitive river, and then build a bridge across the river to get direct access to an interstate interchange. The alternative is to route trucks through already-congested streets—or deny the application. The public has objected. Our agency needs to understand existing truck patterns and then project various scenarios using trajectories. 15. A toll road authority is contemplating extending the existing HOT-lanes facility another six miles to the north. It needs to understand how many of the users of the current facility are exiting at the two intervening interchanges. 8. Several engineers in our state believe that heavy trucks are wearing out our bridges and roads, even though they have no stops inside the state. We need to validate an idea to build a tolling system for trucks that would either discourage this behavior, or produce revenue commensurate with the damage. We are hiring a consultant to analyze statewide truck traffic and too evaluate the impacts of various tolling strategies—estimating both the deterrence value of the tolls and what toll revenue 16. A state DOT is concerned that an interstate is being congested because too much local traffic is jumping on and off to avoid parallel signalized streets. Building new ramps and closing others is one way to address this. Another potential solution is ramp metering. Before conducting a full study, DOT staff want a quick indication of whether this behavior is really as bad as they hear it is.

Anticipated and Theoretical Use Cases 95 “before” conditions. Before-and-after O-D and routing tables will show us whether the project influenced driver route choices, and by how much. 18. Congestion pricing has been imposed on a popular interstate route. Tolls as high as $45 per trip have been assessed. Part of the public is thrilled with the benefit they are paying for, while others denounce the program. It is a daily news item. Agency staff needs to understand how driver route choice decisions have been changed by this new operation. We are planning to use trips data to understand if local roads are taking on commuters unwilling to pay for the large tolls, or if they are taking longer routes on other major interstates. 19. A suburban community in our district believes it is suffering from increased cut-through traffic generated by drivers trying to avoid severely congested interstates. A professional sports team is also petitioning to build a new stadium along the interstate in the next town over. The public is concerned over even more cut-through traffic whenever an event is held at the stadium. Quantifying congestion and documenting existing cut -through behavior becomes a priority in these sort of charged political climates. We anticipate leveraging the trips data to understand and quantify the current situation. And if the stadium is built, we’ll be able to use additional data later on to understand if our analysis was correct. 20. A utility company is planning a multi-year program to replace aging power transmission infrastructure running beneath a busy 5-lane arterial corridor. The state will not approve the permit until a traffic study with Origins and Destinations has been completed and a satisfactory traffic management plan has been approved. The trajectory data will not only tell us where traffic comes from now, but help us understand where it is likely to move if the road closes temporarily. 21. An interchange is missing a movement and there is pressure to build it. There is concern that this disruptive and expensive project is not justified. Engineers need to identify the likely users by studying the Origins and Destinations in the vicinity of the project. 22. Agencies in major cities are planning for emergencies, disasters, and terrorist attacks, and need to prepare contingency plans for incapacitation of any facility. We plan on using trips data to evaluate past hurricane evacuations—looking at when people departed the region when we gave a mandatory evacuation order, and understanding which routes they took to get to different destinations. We think we can leverage the experiences of prior evacuations to better inform future ones. 23. We are planning various detour routes for our construction and freeway incident management plans. We want to know if certain alternatives will be more appealing to most drivers for any number of reasons. For example, if the detour is not convenient for the majority of drivers, they will ignore the detoured route and push onto other roads. 24. For an Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) deployment, a model has been built for real-time use for when major crashes occur. The likely impacts of major new disruptions are predicted by the model shortly after occurrence. Based on historical traffic patterns, and routing from trajectory data, the tool advises TOC operators which ITS devices should be used (or signals retimed) to redirect traffic. Later, during after-action reviews, the actual impact on route choices can be evaluated using an independent O-D / routing database. 17. A significant road construction project has just completed. Our agency wants to evaluate whether the objectives of the project were met, comparing “after” conditions with the pre-construction

Abbreviations and acronyms used without definitions in TRB publications: A4A Airlines for America AAAE American Association of Airport Executives AASHO American Association of State Highway Officials AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ACI–NA Airports Council International–North America ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program ADA Americans with Disabilities Act APTA American Public Transportation Association ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials ATA American Trucking Associations CTAA Community Transportation Association of America CTBSSP Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program DHS Department of Homeland Security DOE Department of Energy EPA Environmental Protection Agency FAA Federal Aviation Administration FAST Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (2015) FHWA Federal Highway Administration FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FRA Federal Railroad Administration FTA Federal Transit Administration HMCRP Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers MAP-21 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (2012) NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASAO National Association of State Aviation Officials NCFRP National Cooperative Freight Research Program NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NTSB National Transportation Safety Board PHMSA Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration RITA Research and Innovative Technology Administration SAE Society of Automotive Engineers SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (2005) TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program TDC Transit Development Corporation TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (1998) TRB Transportation Research Board TSA Transportation Security Administration U.S. DOT United States Department of Transportation

U se of Vehicle Probe and Cellular G PS D ata by State D epartm ents of Transportation N CH RP Synthesis 561 TRB TRA N SPO RTATIO N RESEA RCH BO A RD 500 Fifth Street, N W W ashington, D C 20001 A D D RESS SERV ICE REQ U ESTED N O N -PR O FIT O R G . U .S. PO STA G E PA ID C O LU M B IA , M D PER M IT N O . 88 ISBN 978-0-309-67382-2 9 7 8 0 3 0 9 6 7 3 8 2 2 9 0 0 0 0

Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation Get This Book
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Over the last decade, state departments of transportation (DOTs) have begun to use vehicle probe and cellular GPS data for a variety of purposes, including real-time traffic and incident monitoring, highway condition, and travel demand management. DOTs are also using vehicle probe and cellular GPS data to inform system planning and investment decisions.

The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Synthesis 561: Use of Vehicle Probe and Cellular GPS Data by State Departments of Transportation documents how DOTs are applying vehicle probe and cellular GPS data for planning and real-time traffic and incident monitoring and communication.

In December 2021, an erratum was issued.

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