Transportation Committee
RECORD OF
MEETING
WORKING
GROUP B
DATE/TIME/PLACE:
ATTENDANCE:
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
· Kristina Younger provided a
PowerPoint presentation that described CDTA’s current
and planned ITS activities. CDTA
recently invested $1/2 million for a computer package that performs on-demand
route scheduling. Basically, the
customer will be able to get on-line, identify two points and receive a list of
bus routes (and times) that serve those two points.
All of CDTA’s fareboxes were replaced in January 2004. These are smart card capable and interface
with AVL to provide stop by stop statistics. CDTA has installed a myriad of additional
ITS technology:
On the buses:
AVL
Radio
APC
Announcements (Audio & Visual)
Silent Alarm
Mechanical Alerts
In Dispatch:
Workstations replace consoles
Monitoring
Recording
On the Street:
Scheduled Arrival Time (Actual Arrival Time/2005) at
major stops
On the Web (www.cdta.org):
Rider Alerts
Trip Planning (Coming in 2005)
Contract Notices
In addition, CDTA and CDTC staffs are working on Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) in the Route 5 corridor from
· It was suggested that the working
group should capture “lessons learned” from NYSDOT, NYSTA and CDTA regarding
deployment and maintenance of ITS technologies.
· It was also suggested that all
three entities produce a spreadsheet similar to the one that CDTA produced and
shared with the group. Several columns
should be added to the spreadsheet, adding detail on existing technologies and expected
expansion.
· CDTC staff efforts on data
mining the MIST data were discussed.
Sree Nampootheri presented an analysis of
speed and delay data using MIST for twelve locations on the Northway. It was
noted that there is a problem with the accuracy of the data for Exit 8A and the
Thruway ramps. Several suggestions were
made with regard to additional analysis:
¨ Extrapolate where there are
holes in the data
¨ Look at March data in more detail
¨ Change the threshold for
excess VHD from exit 8A south, where the speed limit is 55mph.
¨ Present the data in a visual
(graphic) format
¨ Add a narrative that
explains what the data means (from a planning perspective)
¨ Correlate the data with incidents
· Bob Hansen distributed
information regarding pavement and bridge needs in the Capital District for a
thirty year horizon (2005-2035). He noted that his analysis considered traffic
volumes and truck traffic damage, but that capacity improvements/expansions
were not included in the figures shown.
Bob also noted that Thruway costs are not included. The bottom line showed a conservative
estimate that pavement needs will cost $1.1 billion and bridge needs will cost
over $330 million. These costs are not
inflated and do not include ramp work.
· It was suggested that the
Thruway Authority perform a needs analysis similar to the one presented by
NYSDOT, using the same unit costs and assumptions.
ACTION ITEMS:
·
· Jill Ross Schmelz will complete the ITS infrastructure matrix and
will prepare a pavement and bridge needs analysis similar to the one provided
by NYSDOT (using the same cost assumptions).
· Kristina Younger will
complete the ITS infrastructure matrix .
· Brian Menyuk
will
complete the ITS infrastructure matrix .
· Bob Hansen will detail the “ifs” that
were assumed in NYSDOT’s bridge needs assessment and
identify cost estimates for various “what if” scenarios.
·
NEXT MEETING: Thursday,