Archive for the ‘Traffic’ Category

We were curious about the Traffic Signal Priority system being touted as a benefit of the new RapidRideB service, so we took our questions to John Toone, the ITS program manager at King County Metro. John regularly works to expand and extend the capabilities of the ITS architecture of the transportation agency, As program manager, his duties range widely from policy and planning to installation and operation, and he was instrumental in getting the TSP system in place. Our conversation is below:

CYWB: What exactly is Traffic Signal Priority and where is it being implemented?

John: TSP is simply the idea of giving special treatment to transit vehicles at signalized intersections. Since transit vehicles can hold many people, giving priority to transit can potentially increase the person throughput of an intersection. TSP is currently active for RapidRide buses at all but three intersections on the B Line, which will come online as construction in Bellevue finishes.

CYWB: Could you describe how the technology works to a layperson, like ourselves, and explain why we should be excited about it?

John: TSP is part of our Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) architecture where the buses, roadside and central systems are all connected via a single network. The buses know their location using GPS and other technologies. When it reaches a defined point on their trip, the bus sends a wireless message with about 25 pieces of information to a device on the roadside. This device generates a request to the signal controller if the criteria set by Metro and the City are met. TSP doesn’t just make the trip faster, it’s also more reliable. So, buses come more regularly, get to their destination faster, and it costs less for Metro to provide service.

CYWB: How can you tell (as a rider) when it’s in effect?

John: TSP is a priority treatment, not a preempt, so a rider or driver won’t really notice an obvious change happening at the signal as with an emergency vehicle. The green light is held a little longer or the wait at the red light is shortened for the bus, but the lights will never change order. People get to know the patterns of familiar intersections, so if they get the feeling a light has been green for longer than expected, look around for a bus. In general, though, it’s hard to know for certain that a bus got priority at a specific light without looking into the system logs. But over a trip a rider will notice that the bus spends less time stopped at lights than a car.

CYWB: Will we see its use expanding to other routes as well?

John: TSP is a core feature of RapidRide, so the A Line and all future lines (we currently have plans for 6 total) will have this technology. Every bus in the fleet is equipped with the same on-board equipment as the RapidRide coaches so this could be expanded to other bus corridors as well, although there is no budgeted project to do so at this time.

CYWB: Can you name any “TSP success stories”?

John: On the A Line one less bus was needed than was initially scheduled to provide service due to the success of TSP and other priority treatments.

CYWB: What is the relationship (if any) between TSP and the new SCATS system being implemented in Bellevue??

John: SCATS is a very cool new generation signal control system that’s very smart and uses a lot of information inputs to adapt to traffic conditions. The first SCATS intersections with TSP are currently planned to be installed in January/February 2012 at 120th/NE 8th and 124th/NE 8th. With their integration, our system can be considered one of the inputs to their adaptation. As you probably know, modern thinking about traffic management is that the infrastructure is intended to move people and freight, not vehicles. SCATS can be much more successful about moving people by knowing which vehicles are buses full of them. We should be able to be more aggressive in how long we could hold a green light for a bus, as we have confidence SCATS can compensate quickly for those movements that were delayed a little more.

CYWB: At Metro, are you working on any technology-related projects besides traffic signaling that could potentially make bus rides go faster?

John: As I mentioned above TSP is just one part of our ITS architecture. This architecture includes the next bus arrival signs and ORCA card readers located at the RapidRide stations on what we call the “Tech Pylons”. Paying your fare while you’re waiting for the next bus is a great way to get on board and on the road faster. We designed the architecture so that new technology systems can be more easily integrated, which is one of the reasons it was nominated for this year’s ‘Best of ITS’ award that will be announced soon!

If you’ve ever missed a traffic light by mere seconds only to be held hostage for a seeming eternity, you’ll certainly appreciate the intuitive new signaling system currently being implemented throughout Bellevue. Traffic signals may not come across as the most scintillating of topics, but they can absolutely make a difference in the amount of time each day you spend waiting, having a huge affect on your quality of life.

The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, or SCATS as it’s more commonly known, continually obtains traffic data from all lanes in order to determine traffic light cycle length, eliminating inefficient cycle time and providing extra time when needed. You’ll see it in full effect in downtown Bellevue at the intersection of NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, as well as NE 8th Street and 112th Avenue NE and myriad intersections further east.

Bellevue has the distinction of being the first city in Washington to implement the system, and to impressive results: where it has been deployed locally, SCATS has shown to reduce delays by an average of 10% throughout the day, and as much as 20% during rush hour. Or, to put that in more concrete terms, it produces an average 70 second reduction in individual wait times, or saves 6,400 aggregate hours for drivers over the course of a year.

But perhaps you don’t drive? The system dazzles with benefits for pedestrians, as well. SCATS has the capability of producing a walk sign midway through the cycle at the press of a button. Since implementation at NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, there has a 8% increase in pedestrian opportunities, and this function will be extended to more intersections in the future.

SCATS can also respond to accidents and disruptions in real-time (something that was nearly impossible to do with CompuTran – the former signaling system) and comes complete with the flashing yellow arrow function, which enables it to change left turn rules based on traffic conditions.

SCATS is currently in effect at 28% of the intersections in Bellevue, and partially in effect at 51%. Implementation will continue in phased rollouts until 2015, or until a new technology comes along that knocks us off our feet again. Such is the cycle.

The Connect Downtown Partnership recently conducted a transportation survey of downtown Bellevue commuters and residents to determine the commute habits, motivations and program awareness of individuals within set boundaries of downtown. The survey was developed with the intention of determining what messaging would best target this audience, and will be used to inform future programming, branding and messaging of Choose Your Way Bellevue.

The survey was taken by 394 individuals, 61% of whom were commuters to downtown Bellevue, 37% of whom were downtown residents that commute to other locations, and 2% of whom who both lived and worked in downtown. The survey went out in postcard form to all residents of downtown Bellevue, was posted in commercial buildings and was live on the Choose Your Way Bellevue website May 1 through June 14, 2011.

The majority of survey respondents commuted to work by driving alone (44.8%). In explaining their top reasons for doing so, respondents listed that were no reasonable transit options, they require the use of a car for errands before and after work, and because it saves time.  37% of this population reported that increased bus service would motivate them to ditch their vehicles, though in an illuminating statistic, 22.7% of drivers indicated that nothing would encourage them to change their habits.

Riding the bus was the second most cited commute method, comprising 21% of the mode-share, followed by carpool at 10.4%. The top reason for using both these modes was cost savings. Respondents also cited stress reduction, time savings, convenience and an employer subsidy for doing so. 5.5% of respondents walked to work, and 2% of respondents reported cycling to work.

When respondents were asked about general motivators contributing to their choice of commute mode, the top three reasons were convenience, cost savings and time savings. The top impacts to commute mode choice were transit service levels, traffic levels, and gas prices.

Respondents were also asked the minimum monthly financial incentive that would encourage them to try a non drive-alone mode. The majority of people indicated that $50 would help them make a change, though $100 was the second most oft-cited amount.

These results are quite illuminating as Choose Your Way Bellevue moves forward in branding, messaging and programming efforts directed towards downtown residents and employees. It is clear that we are working with a primarily drive-alone population, and there are some major obstacles to overcome to change these habits.

Considering that neither Sound Transit or King County Metro are in a financial position to expand service in the near future, we will not be able to use that as a motivating factor to encourage non-drive alone habits. Furthermore, there is a segment of the population who claims they would never change their method, which is understandable given that the ample amount of free parking in Bellevue keeps the actual costs to drivers down.

But perhaps we could do a better job at quantifying the cost savings, stress reduction and health benefits of participating in alternate commute modes. Driving eats up a large portion of American’s annual budget, and is the second highest cost behind housing,  but because driving has become so normalized in our culture, these costs remain invisible to many people. Whether it’s getting people excited about what they could do with the money saved by not driving, or demonstrating how often during peak travel times, driving isn’t actually faster (which my anecdotal evidence on I-90 overwhelmingly supports), there must be a way to show it visually, either through infographics or videos.

Additionally, walkers and cyclists overwhelmingly report being happier and healthier commuters, so we ought to encourage them to be more vocal (though not evangelical!) about their commute stories. Cycling burns an average of 300 calories per hour, and walking burns 136. Compare that to the 80 or so you burn while sedentary (car commuting) and active transportation starts to look like a winning option, eliminating the need for extra time at the gym and requiring no monetary contribution beyond start up costs.

But the reality is that most people live far enough away from their jobs that walking or cycling is not a viable option—only 6% of workers in Downtown Bellevue report actually living downtown, and the average commute distance is 14 miles. There’s always the possibility of combining active transportation with public transportation, and 7% of our respondents indicated being multi-modal commuters. But commuters tend to dread transfers, which add stress and uncertainty what can often be a lengthy commute.

Stay tuned—our next post will be about programs around the country that are encouraging people to live closer to where they work, which will help to alleviate some of the necessary driving wrought by extended distances between home and work.

Photo by TransportationCamp on Flickr

We at Choose Your Way Bellevue are geeked (literally) to report back from Transportation Camp, which took place in San Francisco this past weekend. A great mix of entrepreneurs, transit nerds, policy makers, activists, and students assembled under a disco ball to tackle the question: How can we use data to improve our cities and transportation systems?

Sponsored by Open Plans and the Rockefeller Foundation, Transportation Camp is a relatively new concept referred to as an “unconference”(also popular in the tech world because they reflect the culture of the industry) with a hands-on, flexible, a little casual but very hard working and fun to the extreme approach. Instead of a set schedule and droning speakers, every attendee at Transportation Camp had the opportunity to suggest or lead a breakout session, panel discussion or Q&A, and was encouraged to be as creative as possible.  Topics up for discussion ran the gamut of “sexy transit,” “building apps for livable streets,” and “the perils of privatization,” which resulted in delightful and sometimes unexpected conversations. Questions like, what makes a liveable street? Can mobile applications be built that facilitate street life? What are the best practices being deployed by transportation demand management groups across the globe? and How can social media be leveraged to generate more on the ground involvement? were asked.

The majority of the sessions were geared towards addressing the current reality: with accelerating technology and recent census figures pouring in, many municipal governments have unprecedented access to data sets and are trying to figure out what to do with them.  Attendees had the goal of brainstorming how to package this information in a way that is transparent, accountable, and efficient.

While attendees may not have arrived at any answers, there were definitely some concrete conclusions. Consensus abounded that information should be and wants to be made public, and that in order to facilitate and maintain democracy, it should be shared in a thoughtful and meaningful way. Attendees also agreed that nonprofit groups are essential at bridging the divide between public and private entities, and are well positioned to introduce new technologies to a diverse range of constituencies. Everyone acknowledged that web developers are notorious for existing in silos, and deemed it integral that they be encouraged, maybe even incentivized, to talk with citizens about how to build apps that would actually be useful and valuable to them. Groups like Code For America, which collaborates with selected cities throughout the United States to transform data into something which encourages citizen participation and civic building, were featured. 

What are your reactions? Could access to data really improve the transportation system? Are there mobile applications that would make you more likely to use transit? Would knowing the transportation habits of your co-workers make you want to change your behavior? Do you think real-time ridesharing could work in our region? What about connecting your transit pass to a carsharing service? The possibilities are as endless as a data set:  Share your thoughts below!

Does 520 tolling have you worried about your commute? If you don’t already take transit, carpool or vanpool across the lake, now is the best time to look into other travel options. There will be 130 additional daily bus trips added to the 520 corridor and carpooling or vanpooling will be great alternatives for some commuters. Learn about Washington’s Good to Go! all-electronic tolling system and how you can be ready by spring 2011 by watching the video below:

If the idea of tolling on the SR 520 bridge isn’t your idea of “good news”, WSDOT is here to help at least make the process as convenient as possible. The agency recently unveiled five new devices for paying tolls without ever stopping, as part of the Good To Go! pass program. The new tolling passes, including smaller and movable options, will be available to drivers in early 2011, prior to the start of tolling.

According to WSDOT’s Toll Division Director Craig Stone, “Transponder technology has improved dramatically in the last few years. The new portfolio of Good To Go! passes offers a solution for nearly every vehicle and more convenience for drivers who use toll facilities throughout the state.” The new Good To Go! pass products include:

Standard Sticker Pass: A non-movable sticker about the size of a Band-Aid, this compact pass is barely noticeable when attached to a windshield near the rearview mirror. At $5, it’s expected to be the most popular new option.

Standard Movable Pass: Designed for those who want a single pass for multiple vehicles, this product is easy to move between vehicles. The $8 pass adheres to the windshield with Velcro behind the rearview mirror. It must be mounted to work correctly.

Movable Pass with On/Off Option: Ideal for those who carpool in the HOT lanes, this transponder has an on/off switch to deactivate it when driving with a passenger in the HOT lane. This $12 pass also attaches with Velcro to the windshield behind the rearview mirror.

Motorcycle Sticker Pass: This non-transferable sticker pass is transparent and adheres to a motorcycle’s headlamp. It’s virtually invisible once attached. Motorcycle passes will retail for $8.

External Mount License Plate Pass: The external pass might be a good alternative for people looking for something other than a windshield-mounted transponder. This weather-resistant transponder attaches with screws horizontally to the front license plate. While removable, this $12 pass is not intended for frequent switching between vehicles.

Tolling on the existing SR 520 bridge is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2011 and with it comes an expansion of the Good To Go! program already in place on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the SR 167 High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. Drivers with prepaid Good To Go! accounts travel at highway speeds as the system detects their pass and automatically deducts the toll amount from their accounts. Drivers can link several passes to a single account, permitting them to select the best pass option for each vehicle.

For more information about Good To Go! visit www.wsdot.gov/goodtogo.

Did you know that highways around our region are getting smarter? New digital sign boards have been installed above SR 520 and are currently undergoing testing. You may have already seen this “Smarter Highway” technology on I-5 in Seattle that debuted last August. The signs on SR 520 are planned to be put into operation this fall.

Smarter Highway signs provide drivers with real-time traffic information about what’s happening on the road ahead. The signs may display different speed limits, based on traffic conditions ahead. For more information on WSDOT’s Smarter Highways project, visit www.smarterhighways.com, or watch the YouTube video below: