Sydney: M4 Smart Motorway System
Aimsun Live is the traffic prediction software at the heart of the NSW Government’s $600m M4 Smart Motorway project. The project uses real-time data, communications and ITS to improve traffic flow.
Project Owner
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
Prime Contractor
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
Location
Interstate 4 (I-4) Corridor, Florida, US
Dates
March 2018 – March 2023
Central Florida Regional Integrated Corridor Management System
AIMSUN LIVE
PREDICTIVE ENGINE
DECISION SUPPORT
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has identified the need for traffic modeling software for the Central Florida Regional Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS).
Aimsun Live software will serve as the core for both the Predictive Engine (PRE) as part of the Decision Support System (DSS) and the Planning Model.
Project Location
The ICMS is initially centered on the Interstate 4 (I-4) Corridor. I-4 is a major east- west corridor, which travels cardinal northeast/southwest in the region. I-4 and its influence area contains a primary freeway, a commuter-rail line, transit bus service, park-and-ride lots, major regional arterial streets, toll roads, bike trails, and significant intelligent transportation systems (ITS) infrastructure.
This ICMS project will develop a modular approach to ICMS that is initially focused on the Orlando region, but will be scalable to the whole of FDOT District 5.
The ICMS
SwRI is under contract to design, develop, integrate, deploy and support the Central Florida Regional Integrated Corridor Management System (R-ICMS). The R-ICMS will interface to several other FDOT contracts:
- The Aimsun traffic modeling simulation software also referred to as the Predictive Engine or PRE, which will analyze and predict the effectiveness of suggested response plans
- A mesoscopic traffic model utilized by the traffic modeling simulation software
- The Intelligent Traffic Systems Integration Quality and Analysis system that performs quality checks on FDOT and 3rd party traffic status data
- The FDOT SunGuide ATMS software that polls the traffic signal systems in central Florida for active signal plans plans and activates recommended traffic signals
The Decision Support System
The Decision Support System (DSS) is the heart and soul of the ICMS: it is the set of rules by which the data from local agencies, FDOT, LYNX, FTE, SunRail, and CFX are converted into actions. The system would push out recommended plans to react to existing and/or predicted conditions.
Image credit: SwRI/Aimsun
The DSS will provide a system to review and evaluate the current and predicted conditions of the Central Florida transportation network in order to help operators make smart decisions in managing both recurring and non-recurring congestion conditions.
Components to the DSS will include an Expert Rules Engine (ERE), a Predictive Engine (PRE – this is Aimsun Live), and an Evaluation Engine (EVE); together these components will build and select response plans to be evaluated, model the predicted outcomes of the selected response plans, evaluate and score the plans, coordinate with operators and local agency maintainers through the IEN, and invoke the approved response plan actions through the SunGuide® software system.
The core responsibilities of the DSS are as follows:
- Monitor, evaluate, and respond to reoccurring congestion along the arterial network
- Evaluate and respond to non-recurring congestion on I-4 within the identified network
- Evaluate and respond to non-recurring congestion on arterial roadways within the identified network
ICMS functionalities and objectives
- Receive live and historical data from traffic and transportation-related systems and
operations in the region; - Provide the current status of devices and performance of roadway and transit network
within the region of interest; - Analyze infrastructure status data to determine the availability of infrastructure components and/or systems to use in corridor improvement strategies and response plans in the region;
- Analyze collected data to determine transportation performance, potential corridor improvement strategies, and responses to traffic events and congestion. Strategies and responses will include:
- Coordinated timing plan for central traffic signal software
- Metering state and rates for ramp meters
- Dynamic messaging for diverting traffic
- Responder dispatch and coordination
- Transit rerouting and bus bridging
- Evaluate the potential benefit of implementing corridor improvement strategies and associated response plans through simulation in real-time and offline
- Evaluate the impact of enacted corridor improvement strategies and associated response plans in real-time and offline
- Provide stakeholders with the capability to provide and receive transportation-related data
- Present stakeholders with transportation-related analysis, and corridor improvement and response plan recommendations in an interactive real-time manner
Image credit: FDOT
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