Intelligent Traffic Flow

Use of Wireless and Other Evolving Technologies for Intelligent Parking and Traffic Flow
- Bern Grush

Traffic flow problems threaten to make our cities less accessible, less maintainable, more polluted, less appealing, and less attractive for businesses, shoppers and visitors.

We now deploy innumerable local solutions to the problems of moving and parking increasing volumes of vehicles in urban centers.  With many stakeholders and pieces that are very hard to fit together, these solutions are inelegant, non-optimizable and unable to address the flow and access problems posed by growing municipalities.

A number of jurisdictions are looking to new technologies to enable a greater degree of flow and volume control, others are espousing similar approaches to redistribute the load of usage taxes − or more correctly reforming usages taxes to influence traffic flow as well as an infrastructure funding source.

Are we asking the right questions?  Are we sufficiently global in our solutions?  Should our private vs public transportation solutions compete or compliment?  Will crude use-tax systems help or worsen the problem?  Are drivers more motivated by convenience or economics?  Can we optimize realizing that both motivators are critical?  Can we design for progressive convenience and progressive use-taxes?  Can we build systems that respond to market demands in real time?

We review the known problems, some of the solutions under consideration, our assessment of the social and technical barriers to these solutions and offer a vision to replace ad hoc local solutions with planned, highly integrated global solutions that address access, control, usage, business interests, pollution abatement, security, usability and infrastructure.

Background Sources:

Press re the first use reported [attempted] use of Satellite technology for road pricing.  Toll Collect (in Germany).
Google <"satellite technology" "toll collect" 2003>

The system FAQs: http://www.bmvbw.de/LKW-Maut-.720.13835/Facts-about-the-toll-system-for-heavy-goods-vehi...htm

The promise: http://www.daimlerchryslerservices.com/debis/content/0,1845,DE-en-6_1-1002601,00.html

Impending launch: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1446_A_935602,00.html

Launch: http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/info/publications/week/2003/030829/economy2.html

Failure: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1431_A_995469,00.html

Aftermath: http://www.ijonline.com/pdf/review2003/10.pdf

"2003 has been a frustrating year for PPPs (public-Private Partnerships) in Germany. It was hoped at the end of 2002 that the market might see some of the A-model road projects rolled out and offered to the market place. That has not been the case. The reason is the Toll Collect scheme, a project involving satellite technology to levy tolls on heavy goods vehicles. It is expected to raise 3.5B Euro a year, which would be ploughed back into road building through the A-model programme. But, through a combination of European Commission rulings and an inability to get the system operational, no money has been raised and no-one knows when the project will begin. The latest news is the government will, from December 1, penalise the contractors h250,000 a day until the system is operational. If things are still not up and running by 1 March 2004, the daily penalty will double.

More aftermath from http://www.codelli.com/eng/news.html, a Classic Car Club in Europe (page dated October 2003:

Technology Problems Force Germany to Postpone Road Charging
On 5 October, the German Transport Minister, Manfred Stolpe, announced that the German distance-based road charging system would not start on 2 November because the technology is not yet operational. A new date would only be set after more software tests starting mid-October. The firm responsible, Toll-Collect, may face compensation claims for lost revenues by the German Government amounting to 160m Euro per month.

Related news from the same http://www.codelli.com/eng/news.html

Transport Ministers Debated Harmonisation of Road Charging Systems
On 9 October, the Transport Council discussed the Commission’s proposal on a charging system for road transport infrastructure use after its presentation by the Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. By amending the so-called Euro-vignette Directive, the Commission aims to align national toll systems and road use charges. Common principles would ensure equal treatment of operators on the Trans-European Road network. Road charges for heavy goods vehicles should recover infrastructure costs related to useage. The charges may vary according to a number of factors such as distance travelled, environmental characteristics of the vehicle, time of the day etc. The proposal calls for investment of the revenues for the benefit of the transport sector. Alternatives to road transport may be targeted through cross-financing. According to Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, the issue of cross-subsidisation makes the infrastructure-charging question complex. During an exchange of views with the European Parliament’s Transport Committee, on 30 September, she doubted whether this dossier would be finalised within the life of this Commission, i.e. by autumn 2004.

Parliament Debated Interoperability of Road Charging Devices
On 30 September, the European Parliament’s Transport Committee debated a working document by Rapporteur Renate Sommer (EPP-ED, D) on the widespread introduction and interoperability of electronic road toll systems in Europe. The proposal focuses on the method of collecting fees. Until 2005, the existing systems in the Member States will be taken into account. Afterwards, a long-term solution will be sought based on satellite technology combined with mobile connections. The technology will apply to trucks, coaches and buses from 2005, while cars will be included from 2010. The MEPs support in principle the need for an interoperable system and are aware of the implications of the division of the cost and of the need for consultations with the sectors affected (industry, toll companies, transport companies). According to MEPs, also privacy issues may be at stake.

Glossy, broad-interest promotion re Satellite Navigation (note stress on GNSS and Galileo).
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/galileo/doc/business_in_satnav.pdf

EU Commission report re interoperability mandate.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/themes/network/doc/com_2003_0132_en.pdf

re Privacy and surveillance use of tolling systems:
http://www.patrickhook.com/features/feature7.html

Radio goldmine: http://www.palowireless.com

Radio Survey Paper: http://www.bakom.ch/imperia/md/content/english/funk/forschungundentwicklung/studien/srd_report.pdf

http://www.vtpi.org/
Easily one of the best collections of in-depth papers related to the economics of transportation demand management

http://www.transport.intelynx.net/index.htm
A similar collection, but less comprehensive and less balanced.

http://www.bot.com/ContentIslands/PublicPages/FloatingPages/Press_02_27_2003.asp
is a press release re Congestion in the GTA.

From http://www.bot.com/assets/StaticAssets/Documents/PDF/BoTRailwayExecSummary.pdf
"Reduced Congestion has become a major concern in the GTA. More than 70% of major highways in the GTA are now congested in peak periods. Off-peak congestion is also occurring in many parts of the region. Without alternatives to highways, congestion is forecast to increase dramatically throughout the region over the next twenty years. The cost of congestion to businesses could reach $3.0 billion annually, or 1.3 percent of regional GDP by 2021."

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/ttc/coupler/1000/cgm.htm
We in the transportation field haven’t articulated our arguments too well to the politicians. The governments of the day have to hear consistent messages from various groups, not just we operators whining for more money. The negative effects that congestion has on the economy is the key message, not just how long it takes us to get to work. Goods movement is a key theme in that message, not just people movement ...

http://www.autoshare.com/mediastories/globeandmail311299.html
http://www.autoshare.com/how/how.html
Autoshare has many of the same tracking and billing issues as does skymeter.  Coalition?

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/1999/52499spmd.htm  The US economy picked up 18.4 million new jobs from 1993 to 1999 -- 2.6 million in the transportation sector.  A whopping 14%.

Each car's mileage and routes could be recorded by an onboard computer, and the government would bill drivers accordingly. It involves high-tech tracking through use of global positioning satellite, or GPS, technology. GPS is already widely used in the US.

The states commissioned the three-year, $770,000 feasibility study earlier this year from a research team at the University of Iowa. Minnesota is leading the study with funding from Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Federal Highway Administration. [CA & OR?] The idea is to charge people based on where and how many miles they drive, explained lead researcher David Forkenbrock, director of the university's Public Policy Center. "There are some issues to resolve, such as privacy, but this is something that needs to be researched," Mr. Forkenbrock said. "The fuel tax is in trouble for a lot of reasons, and if we want to continue to maintain and improve our transportation system in the long term, we need to find a new way to pay for it."
"The drawback of the gas tax is that while it's roughly driving-related, it has nothing to do with congestion," said Dan Kirshner, the EDF analyst. "If people had to pay for their own congestion, it might influence people's driving patterns."

AUTO INSURANCE. Progressive Corp. equipped 1,000 vehicles in Houston with GPS devices that track the number of minutes customers drive as well as where and when. Their premiums are based on the actual driving time rather than the traditional flat rate.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/235
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/236
Relationships between parking ease/$ and transit usage.

ITS, Michigan  http://www.itsmi.org/links.htm 

http://www.civ.utoronto.ca/sect/traeng/its/sigci.htm An article by Peter Koutsoulias re coding Toronto's network.

http://www.civ.utoronto.ca/sect/traeng/its/atlantic/atlantic_proposal_final_jan2003_nob_0403.pdf
Canada's Proposed Participation in ATLANTIC Project.

http://www.crt.umontreal.ca/atlantic/pdf/AtlanticWG2-3DiscussionPaperDraft-October2103.pdf
Draft Position Paper. Canada. ATLANTIC Work Group 2.3 Electronic Road User Charging Systems and Integration with Smart Cards and Other Payment Systems. October 2003

http://www.itsportal.com/start   DEAD LINK?
Intelligent Transportation Systems Portal

http://www.itsportal.com/article/view/49   DEAD LINK?
GPS (Global Positioning System) based navigation systems are already commercially available. They will show a remarkable penetration in cars over the next decade. This segment will see a compound annual growth rate of over 32% through 2008.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/congestion/payment.shtml
BBC Site: The London Congestion Charge is hideously complex for its users.  What a mess!
Grassroots (putting it kindly) anti LCC site.  Another, less vitriolic.

http://repositories.cdlib.org/its/reports/UCB-ITS-RR-2001-2/
Financing Transportation in California: Strategies for Change, FINAL DRAFT

http://www.path.berkeley.edu/itsdecision/serv_and_tech/Congestion_pricing/congestion_pricing_sum_print.html  Berkey has a wealth of information.

http://www.uctc.net/papers/644.pdf  A Quiet Revolution in Transportation Finance: The Rise of Local Option Transportation Taxes.  The evidence assembled in this report is important and alarming in that the trend "violates efficient market principles" [T.Litman, private communication].  I wish that Goldman and Wachs had made a stronger point of this.  Not doing so may inadvertently lend their authority to a significant trend that is at best xxxxxxxx

http://www.farkel.net/todd/trans.html  This has a lot of references and appears to be one of the authors of the "... Quiet Revolution in Transportation Finance..."

http://www.vtpi.org/vickrey.htm  http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm35.htm
Vickrey's Principles of Congestion Pricing.

http://www.nobel.se/economics/laureates/1996/vickrey-lecture.pdf
The Lecture given on the occasion of the shared award of the 1996 Nobel prize in Economics to William Vickrey.

http://www.bts.gov/publications/journal_of_transportation_statistics/volume_02_number_02/jts_v2_n2.pdf  The Journal of Transportation Statistics.  This has an article re evaluating the costs of unexpected highway incidents.

http://www.tele.soumu.go.jp/e/system/ml/its/details/dsrcimg.htm useful site re DSRC.

http://www.cansult.com/contact/headoffice.php  Markham Transport consultant (see also BAGroup).

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