Activation of the I-394 laboratory for ITS operational testing (Phase II)

The key element in improving traffic operations and performing real-time management is the ability ot assess the effectiveness of various alternatives prior to implementation. Likewise, the crucial feature for providing this capability is a Traffic Data Management System (TDMS), which gathers data and makes it available for various traffic analysis applications. The purposes of this research is to develop TDMS as part of a Laboratory Environment for TRaffic ANalysis (LETRAN). Such a laboratory environment would provide easy and efficient access to various kinds of traffic data for use in simulation, control, incident detection, and other types of traffic analysis applications to be deployed in a next-generation traffic management center. In addition, a Machine-Vision Laboratory (MVL) will be designed and implemented as part of teh Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory (ITS Lab). This MVL will use live video feeds from both freeways and arterial streets and provide machine-vision technology for conducting traffic detection, data collection, and group training exercises. Such capabilities will allow for the collection of detailed, accurate, and continuous data for successful model development, calibration, testing and evaluation.