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Michigan's Traffic SystemsDuring the mid-1980s, population and employment centers burgeoned in Oakland County (Michigan), and the once rural region was quickly transformed into a commuter's nightmare of congested and deteriorating arterial roads. The Road Commission for Oakland County, responsible for maintaining 2,500 miles of roads, faced a billion dollar price tag to resolve the crisis, which, at existing funding levels, would have taken about 100 years of road improvements. Searching for less expensive, faster-to-deploy answers led to FAST-TRAC (Faster and Safer Travel Through Traffic Routing and Advanced Controls). The project is implementing a combined advanced traffic management system and advanced traveler information system to alleviate congestion on Oakland County's arterial roads. During Phase II, a GIS-based transportation information management system was developed to integrate field legacy systems for arterial management, traffic control, and video detection. "The components of the system and real-time information from the field are continuously updated and displayed on maps in the Traffic Control Center using ArcView GIS," explains Donna Snover, project manager at Odetics ITS Division (formerly Rockwell). Since the system is accessed by external agencies for real-time incident and congestion reporting, it's an excellent planning tool for incident management and traffic control throughout the area. In Phase III, the FAST-TRAC GIS will be integrated with the MapObjects-based freeway management system used by Michigan DOT to maintain information on the State's southeastern highways. "Since the two systems have the same map base, the congestion and incident/traffic event location information can be shared without translation and integrated much more easily," Snover explains. Total integration is expected by the end of 1997. For more information contact |
