Vehicle Probe Project Committee Monthly Status Webcast February ...

Vehicle Probe Project Committee Monthly Status Webcast
February 8, 2012
Minutes
Participants – see attached
Agenda
Topic
Speaker
1 Introductions and Welcome George Schoener
2 Communications Update Joanna Reagle
3 INRIX Update Rick Schuman
4 Data Validation Effort Stan Young
5
Spotlight Presentation:
Use of VPP Data by Member Agencies
John Allen, NJDOT
Zoe Neaderland, DVRPC
Scott Cowherd, VDOT
6 VPP Suite (Performance Measures Tool) Update Michael L. Pack
7 Contract & Funding Issues George Schoener
1. Introductions and Welcome
Karen Jehanian opened the webcast at 10:30 a.m. by welcoming the new and continuing
participants. George Schoener thanked all participants for their continued dedication to the
project.
The following is a summary of the discussion. These meeting minutes, the webcast
presentation and all Vehicle Probe Project (VPP) information are available at: I95 CC
Vehicle Probe Project Documents.
2. Communications Update
Joanna Reagle reviewed the correspondence sent to the project team and the website
postings since the last webcast. She noted that there is a new “features” page for the
Vehicle Probe Project on the Coalition website and explained where the various documents
may be found. Joanna stated that the Travel Information Services Program Track
Committee (TISPTC) is holding a meeting from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm on March 1, 2012 at
DVRPC and via webcast. She also noted that DVRPC is hosting a meeting on the Regional
Use of Archived Operations Data on the same day just prior to the TISPTC meeting (from
9:30 am to noon).
February 8, 2012 1 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes

3. INRIX Update
Rick Schuman presented the project statistics about service for November (98.70%) and
December (99.36%). He also provided the data availability for all of 2011 (99.78%). Rick
noted that there was an issue with data between November 16, 2011 and December 5,
2011 where the system was periodically publishing data of 20 scores only. This was due to
a new user slowing the system (non I-95 CC project related). This issue has been resolved
and Rick thanked NJDOT for identifying the issue. Rick noted that data availability for
January 2012 was 100%.
Rick stated that Virginia recently increased their coverage of VPP data to include all
freeways and arterials within the state. He noted that Scott Cowherd will be discussing this
in more detail later it the webcast.
4. Data Validation
Stan Young reviewed the Data Validation effort to date noting that reports were recently
completed for New Jersey and Virginia and a draft report is being reviewed by
Pennsylvania.
Stan reviewed the data collected in Virginia during July 2011. He noted that data was
collected on freeways (I-66, inside the Beltway and I-95 South of ‘mixing bowl’), arterials
(US 1 and VA 234) and a special study was conducted on reversible flow lanes.
Stan discussed the freeways studied noting that the segments covered were nearly eight
miles in length with 179 hours of congestion captured in the 732 total hours of data
collected. Stan noted that this represents the sixth validation conducted in Virginia. The
cumulative data collected in 134 miles includes more than 850 hours of congestion in 294
days worth of data. The average absolute speed error for the lower two speed bins are 5.02
and 6.19, respectively.
Stan reviewed the status of the two Vehicle Probe Project special reports. First, he
discussed the Ramps & Special Use Lanes White Paper. This report focused on the VPP
data on HOV, Local/Express, HOT, Reversible lanes. It also includes a review of ramp data
quality. The final draft of this report is expected to be published in February 2012. Stan
also discussed the Travel Time on Changeable Message Signs report. He noted that this is
the last opportunity to provide comments before the updated report is published. The
update is expected by the end of February 2012.
Spotlight Presentation: Use of VPP Data by Member Agencies
The spotlight presentation for this webcast was provided by John Allen (NJDOT), Zoe
Neaderland (DVRPC) and Scott Cowherd (VDOT).
John Allen discussed the use of archived operations data by NJDOT for planning purposes.
He discussed the concept, opportunity and potential of using archived data through the VPP
Suite. He explained that due to the current fiscal environment NJDOT’s strategic focus had
shifted to away from major projects and toward targeted efforts to address system
inefficiencies and demand (such as bottleneck mitigation, improved systems operations,
TDM). In addition, NJDOT is looking for defined goals and measures that demonstrate the
effectiveness of their efforts. John noted that Archived Operations Data (AOD) and
February 8, 2012 2 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes

specifically, the VPP Suite helps them to meet these requirements by providing data, a
means to evaluate it and a method to illustrate the findings in a clear and concise manner.
John noted that the VPP Suite was being used by NJDOT in: Problem ID/ Project
Development, Project Confirmation, Before & After Studies, and System Performance
Reporting. John then reviewed several examples of how NJDOT was using AOD through
the presentation of peak period travel times and duration of congestion along with other ITS
and TDM-related output measures in the Department’s Centerline Report and their
Statewide Capital Investment Strategy. Next, John explained how the VPP Suite was being
used to confirm the need for improvement at a major bottleneck location. He also reviewed
how NJDOT used the VPP Suite to confirm a bottleneck problem at an existing project
location. He stated that “these types of analyses (and other data) can be easily archived for
future Before & After studies”. John presented an example of how the VPP Suite can be
used in problem identification and project confirmation. He noted that the VPP Suite
graphics along with a probable cause photo set can “tell the story” in a clear and simple
manner. John also reviewed some potential uses of the VPP Suite. He noted that in
moving forward, “AOD may be the most important advance in data for planning purposes.
VPP Suite continues to evolve into the definitive tool for analyzing and presenting archived
operations data.”
Note: To access this presentation and selected VPP Suite examples:
1. Go to https://sftcomm.state.nj.us
2. Login (Name: DOTSYSPLANNING; PW: planning123)
3. Click on file name, click Save
(these files will only be available until April 5, 2012)
Next, Zoe Neaderland, DVRPC, provided a brief overview of regarding the Regional Use of
Archived Operations Data. Zoe noted that a meeting had been held at the end of last year
to begin the discussion on the use of archived operations data for planning efforts. She
noted that the Vehicle Probe Project (VPP) data has become available to East Coast public
agencies over the last few years. The real-time data is being used for 511 and other travel
information efforts. The archived data may be used by planners for performance measures.
She noted that a goal of their group is to cooperatively select a few measures to
communicate widely to the public, elected officials and between agencies. Zoe reviewed the
ways that archived operations data is currently being used and briefly discussed some of the
options for the data. She reviewed several key measures that could be considered to tell
the story. Finally, Zoe noted that a follow up meeting is being held on March 1, 2012.
Scott Cowherd, VDOT, made a brief presentation on their Department’s Transportation
Video and Data (TVD) Project. He noted that the key business goals of this project include:
consolidating multiple contracts, leveraging the value of VDOT’s video and data to offset the
costs of operating and maintaining the 511 system, and getting the most advanced technical
solution available from the private sector to improve VDOT’s 511 system. He noted that the
contract was awarded last year and is anticipated to be deployed in May 2012. Scott
reviewed several of the system features including mobile/web app, restructured IVR,
redeveloped website (with 70% to 80% of the information on the main page), new features
at the welcome centers, and updated mapping colors. Several questions were asked about
the system. Scott noted that Iteris is the contractor and that RRPDC will have access to the
new data.
February 8, 2012 3 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes

5. Performance Measures Tool (VPP Suite) Update
Michael Pack presented an update on the Vehicle Probe Project Suite. He reviewed the
usage statistics noting that as of As of February 1, 2012, over 13.4-Billion records have
been downloaded. Over 512 users have access and 60 agencies have access.
Michael reviewed the new functionality for the VPP Suite including:
• Historic App
o Can select a single day and compare it to other time ranges.
o Can select specific days (or ranges) and times for the performance
summaries tables
• Sorting intersections by location on road instead of alphabetically
• County search in the Recurring Bottleneck app (instead of statewide or corridor wide)
• Bottleneck App – Time Spirals have more details – coloring represents length of the
bottleneck
• Separate Login page for the VPP Suite – less complicated
Michael noted that the screencasts have been updated and recommended that participants
view the tutorial at http://vpp.ritis.org/suite/screencast/. Michael also noted that it is now
easier to request at account – go to https://www.ritis.org/ (as long as you have a signed
DUA for the VPP).
At the conclusion of Michael’s presentation, a couple of questions were asked. Michael
noted that in the bottleneck application, the queue length is presented in miles. He also
noted that any questions, comments or requests should be sent to vpp-support@ritis.org.
6. Contract Issues and Funding Issues
Joanna Reagle briefly reviewed the status of the pooled fund study. George Schoener
reviewed the Coalition’s commitment to the Vehicle Probe Project. He noted that the
Coalition has funding set up for the VPP at the current level through June 30, 2012. George
stated that the Coalition’s proposal for the USDOT Multistate Corridor Operations and
Management (MCOMP) Program included funding for the VPP through June 30, 2013. He
noted that the outcome of the competition should be known by April 2012. It was noted that
the funding for the competition is not part of the current federal transportation funding
decisions.
7. Review of Actions Items from this Webcast
No action items were generated from the webcast.
February 8, 2012 4 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes

8. Selection of Date for Next Project Team Webcast
The date for the next meeting was proposed and agreed upon as Wednesday, April 18,
2012 at 10:30 am.
Any questions in the meantime should be directed to:
• Stan Young at 301.403.4593 or seyoung@umd.edu
• Michael Pack at 301.405.0722 or packml@umd.edu
• Rick Schuman at 407.298.4346 or rick@inrix.com
• Karen Jehanian at 610.228.0211 or kjehanian@kmjinc.com
• Contract expansion issues should be directed to Kathy Frankle at 410-414-2925 or
kfrankle@umd.edu
The webcast was adjourned at approximately 12:15 pm.
February 8, 2012 5 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes

Minutes
Vehicle Probe Project Committee
Webcast/Conference Call
February 8, 2012
PARTICIPANTS
I-95 Corridor Coalition:
George Schoener
Marygrace Parker
Vehicle Probe Project Webcast Attendees:
John Allen, Jim Hadden, Andrew Swords,
Naha Galgali, Sudhir Joshi
New Jersey DOT
Doug Tomlinson, Bob Pento, Jay Sengoz,
Dan Farley
Pennsylvania DOT
Scott Cowherd
Virginia DOT
Jennifer Portanova, Kelly Wells
North Carolina DOT
Hugh Colton
Georgia DOT
Gene Glotzbach
Florida DOT
Bob Rupert
FHWA
Mary Ameen, Keith Miller, Swena Gulati,
Uzoma Anukwe, Simon Nwachokwu
North Jersey Transportation Planning Association
Zoe Neaderland, Donald Sowers
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Andrew Meese
MWCOG/TPD
Tiffany Tran
Richmond Regional Planning District Commission
Victor Henry, Eric Stylc
Baltimore Metropolitan Planning Organization
Kevin Dunn
New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Charles Lattimer
Atkins for Orlando/Orange County Expressway
Authority
Branislav Dimitrijevic
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Rick Schuman
INRIX
Stan Young, Michael Pack
University of Maryland – CATT Lab
Todd Kell
Atkins
Consultant Support Staff:
Karen Jehanian, Joanna Reagle
KMJ Consulting, Inc.
February 8, 2012 6 Vehicle Probe Project
Committee Monthly Status Webcast Minutes