Travel Choices and Strategies to Relieve Congestion

There was a time when building new roads or widening existing ones in order to address congestion was the preferred choice. We addressed the supply-demand relationship in transportation by adding to the supply. Why not? Adding supply is certainly the most direct approach. Resources were plentiful and that’s what we did best. Plus it solved the problem. Right?

The supply-side approach of just adding more capacity isn’t working. Florida’s explosive growth in population and employment has far exceeded the ability of state and local governments to keep pace. The cost of basic materials and labor has ballooned. The revenue to build, operate, and maintain these new and wider roads falls short of that needed. The social and environmental impacts of building wider and wider roads are high, but so are the economic impacts of a weakened transportation system. With Florida expected to be the third most populous state in the nation by 2010, we will all continue to pay the price of congestion – increased fuel consumption, time lost with our families, environmental impacts, and damage to our state’s economy in lost productivity – unless we adopt a different approach.

95 Express offers that different approach – a shift from supply-only strategies, towards strategies that also resolve the demand side of the equation. Instead of widening our way out of traffic congestion, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and other transportation agencies are finding better ways to deal with the rapidly increasing growth in traffic and the need to provide reliable transportation systems to serve this growing demand. These better ways include a number of corridor-based strategies used in combination to:

• Manage travel demand,
• Increase occupancy rates,
• Inform drivers,
• Manage incidents, and
• Facilitate transit use.

95 Express combines tolling, ITS, and transit along with enforcement and rapid incident clearance in an effort to manage congestion on one of the most heavily travelled corridors in the region—I-95.

By converting the existing high occupancy vehicle lanes to express lanes and adding an additional express lane in each direction, and by improving regional transit service along the corridor, 95 Express offers motorists new travel choices.

Once completed, the express lanes will run 21 miles from I-395 in Miami-Dade County to the Broward Boulevard Park-n-Ride lot, north of I-595 in Broward County. Separated from the general purpose lanes by flexible delineators, the express lanes will be used toll-free by transit buses, South Florida commuter services vanpools, registered carpools of three of more individuals, registered hybrid vehicles, and motorcycles. Single occupant vehicles can enter the lanes by paying a toll using a SunPass® transponder or soon-to-be- released sticker tag. The toll rate will be established as a function of speed and occupancy in both the express and general purpose lanes, incorporating congestion pricing into the mix of strategies being implemented. Tolls will be highest when demand is highest and will be set to optimize traffic and maintain free flow conditions of approximately 50 miles per hour, thus managing demand and ensuring reliable travel times along the corridor.

So how will a driver know what the toll is so they can make their own value-in-use determination? Advanced dynamic message signs will display toll rates to the first and last points of egress. And once a driver enters the express lanes, their toll will not change – they’ve locked in their price for the trip based on the demand at the time they entered.

Motorists who choose to stay in the general purpose lanes and not pay a toll will also benefit. In addition to the tolling, capacity, and transit improvements being built for the corridor through 95 Express, District Six will be “flipping the switch” on its ramp metering efforts. Ramp metering, in combination with the increased presence of both Florida Highway Patrol and Road Ranger Service, will directly benefit drivers in the general purpose lanes. By offering the toll option of 95 Express to single occupant vehicles and encouraging many drivers to use transit, some congestion relief – at least in the short term – will be seen in the general purpose lanes.

Is 95 Express for everyone? Studies have shown that express lanes serve people across all demographic and socioeconomic boundaries – from the single parent trying to get to day-care before late charges apply, the traveler trying to catch a flight at the airport, the copy machine guy trying to make one more service call before the end of the day, to the student who can’t be late for class because there’s a test that day. And with the elimination of the existing bus transfer at the Miami-Dade/Broward county line and improved feeder bus service, many drivers may find transit a much more convenient and cost-effective choice for their commute trips.

95 Express is not the only answer to our region’s traffic woes – it will take many different approaches to address the transportation demand. But by operating our system to increase its efficiency, and balancing the need to provide additional supply through effective demand management strategies, we can continue to meet the ever increasing transportation challenges. 95 Express is the first critical link of an anticipated network of express lanes in South Florida. FDOT, along with other agencies, will continue to look for new ways to manage traffic and thereby improve the quality of life in South Florida.

This article was provided by Debora Rivera and Brian Rick, FDOT District Six. For information, please contact Ms. Rivera at (305) 470-5335 or email to Debora.Rivera@dot.state.fl.us. 95 Express information is also available on the project Web site at http://www.95express.com/ by dialing the 24/7 toll free number, 1-877-95X-FDOT.

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Federals Grant $2,133,494 For ITS Research in Florida

The University Consortium for Intermodal Transportation Safety and Security (UCITSS) was granted $2,133,491 in Federal Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Funds as authorized by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The UCITSS was established as a State of Florida University System Center of Excellence, representing all 12 Florida public universities and affiliates (Florida Tech.). The UCITSS is supported by Congress and the US Department of Transportation, and is designed to provide, through applied interdisciplinary transportation research, solutions that address safe, secure, and efficient movement on America’s transportation system and its infrastructure. The UCITSS is administered by the Florida Atlantic University.

The grant funds will be used to conduct applied research and develop initiatives to improve mobility and safety on our roadways. The research, emanating from the grant, focuses on comprehensive initiatives that improve the management and operations of the transportation system using cost-effective and time-tested ITS technologies and techniques. Research projects were selected through a process that included academia, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The purpose of performing this research is to support both the FDOT and the FHWA in projects addressing intelligent transportation solutions as a means of reducing congestion, enhancing safety, and improving transportation efficiency.

Nine research projects were selected for funding under this grant. These projects are:

1. Perform a field study to test the effectiveness of new marking design – This research will test a new pavement marking that will be placed prior to a signalized intersection to indicate the beginning of the dilemma zone. The intent of this marking is that when drivers are located upstream of the marking they have enough room to stop safely. If the driver has passed the marking (downstream of the marking), the driver is encouraged to cross through the intersection at the onset of the yellow phase.
2. Develop and validate a concept of operations for use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to assist in emergency situations – This research will develop and validate a formal concept of operations for deployment of UAV resources in support of disaster preparation, evacuation, and recovery by integrating UAV operations into the mix of manned aircraft that normally operate before, during, and after a disaster.
3. Develop maintenance of traffic (MOT) training program for incident response in Florida – Typically MOT training has been targeted to either construction contractors or roadway designers. However, traffic incidents require appropriate MOT planning and setup to assure the safety of motorists and responders. This research will develop a MOT training course that will be specifically tailored to the needs of the incident responders.
4. Evaluate and refine incident detection strategies for major urban arterial streets – This research will review and evaluate existing strategies for incident detection on urban arterial streets and identify one or more strategies that can be adopted for refinement and implementation by FDOT. This research will include system evaluation using one or more of the existing traffic simulation software packages, calibration of parameters, field tests, and refinement of methods.
5. Use of a fully instrumented vehicle for driving simulator validation – The focus of this research is to design the appropriate experiments for acquiring field test data from an instrumented field vehicle necessary to tune the vehicle dynamics model in a way that it produces closer agreement between the simulator and the instrumented field vehicle.
6. Signal technology applications to address traffic congestion on US 301 in Stark, Florida – This research will assess the current traffic situation on the US 301 corridor in Stark and explore traffic management strategies to enhance the capacity of this corridor. The US 301 corridor is utilized as a bypass of the Jacksonville area and experiences significant levels of both recurring and non-recurring congestion.
7. Use of satellite imagery for post hurricane traffic condition assessment – The goal of this research is to determine the feasibility, benefits, and cost of using satellite images as a source to obtain information on traffic operations and infrastructure conditions after a hurricane passes.
8. Use of weigh-in-motion (WIM) and dynamic message signs (DMS) to enhance commercial truck weight enforcement – This research will demonstrate the use of WIMs, DMSs, and optical character readers (OCR) to assist the FDOT and FHWA in enforcing commercial vehicle compliance issues.
9. Performance measure: A wireless real-time route guidance system for urban traffic management – This research will develop and test algorithms to provide real-time route guidance instructions to motorists, offering the optimum route to the driver’s destination. The optimum route will be determined utilizing both geographic information as well as current congestion information provided by traffic management centers.

The overall contract that funds these research efforts was executed on October 17, 2006, and runs through November 1, 2008.

This article was provided by Gene Glotzbach, FDOT Traffic Engineering and Operations Office. For information, please contact Mr. Glotzbach at (850) 410-5616 or email to Gene.Glotzbach@dot.state.fl.us.

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First Coast Outer Beltway—A Public Private Partnership Project

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is proposing America’s largest private toll beltway. The First Coast Outer Beltway (FCOB) will be constructed using a different financing method called a Public Private Partnership (PPP). PPP refers to contractual agreements formed between a public agency and private sector entity (private business), that allows for greater participation by the private business in building transportation projects.

FDOT is seeking Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) from investor groups to finance, design, build, operate, maintain, and toll an approximate 46.5 miles, $2.2 billion highway on the southwest edge of the Jacksonville area. The project involves a long river crossing, 14 interchanges, and ten more overpasses. The FCOB project is a consolidation of two earlier projects:

Branan Field/Chaffee Road at the northern portion of Duval and Clay Counties; and St. Johns River Crossing, including new approach roads in the southern portion of Clay and St. Johns Counties.

The FCOB will provide a connecting roadway, outside of the existing I-295 loop, between I-95 in St. Johns County and I-10 in Duval County.

A cost analysis for the deployment, operation, and maintenance of an ITS deployment along the 46.5 mile FCOB was conducted by the District Two ITS Program. Statewide standards were utilized for the preliminary design and historical ITS cost information was used to generate cost estimates.

The proposed system provides for dynamic message signs (DMS) at every interchange and additional DMSs as needed to cover the entire 46.5 miles. Likewise, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be deployed, with a minimum state standard of one CCTV camera every mile and additional CCTV cameras for various interchanges. The recommendation is to install vehicle detection systems every one-third of a mile and a least one roadway weather information system every mile.

The ITS deployments for the FCOB will operate 24/7 from the Jacksonville Traffic Management Center. At least four Road Ranger Service Patrols will cover the 46.5 mile stretch to offer roadway assistance to motorists.

The FCOB will have a significant impact on the local economy by promoting employment and providing additional capacity to improve current and future transportation network deficiencies. It proposes to accommodate planned development while minimizing impacts to existing residences and businesses. Another major advantage will be the improvement in emergency evacuations.

The objective of this PPP is to have the private sector entity handle design, installation, and maintenance of the ITS deployment while the FDOT handles the daily operation and 511 dissemination at the regional transportation management center. Once completed, this deployment will provide an additional 50 percent of roadway coverage for the District Two ITS Program and will provide unique challenges in handling the outer reaches of this region. This deployment will allow the FDOT to route I-95 evacuees away from the core Jacksonville urban area as they head west during storms on the east coast of Florida.

More information on this project can be found at the project Web site at http://www.floridaits.com/Newsletters/2008/03/www.fdotfirstcoastouterbeltway.com/index.asp. Please contact Ms. Jane Jones at (386) 758-3700 if more information is needed on this opportunity. The due date for submittals ends in March-April of 2008 with final selection estimated in March-April of 2009.

This article was provided by Peter Vega, FDOT District Two. For information, please contact Mr. Vega at (904) 360-5463 or email to Peter.Vega@dot.state.fl.us.

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Increasing Levels of Intersection Safety

In March 2007, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a safety scan of Florida intersections in the Tampa and Orlando areas. The purpose of this scan was to identify opportunities to improve intersection safety. A team of multidisciplinary members having a wide spectrum of experience performed the scan and presented recommendations to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

FDOT Central Office subsequently met with the Districts and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) in September 2007, at which time the intersection scan report was presented and a preliminary review was conducted. Comments were then submitted to the Central Office and a second meeting was held in December 2007, to finalize FDOT’s response.

Recommendations and Responses
It is FDOT’s desire to take a nominal level of safety and increase it substantively by improving design, operation, and safety practices to reduce intersection crashes. Some of the recommendations already implemented in varying degrees by FDOT included:

• Develop an implementation plan for intersection safety and begin implementation
• Establish statewide performance objectives for intersection safety
• Implement a comprehensive intersection safety approach
• Develop and apply statewide geospatial technology to the crash data system
• Advance access control improvements on sections of highways with median openings to reduce severe crashes
• Create a comprehensive package of signing and marking safety improvements for rural stop controlled intersections
• Use consultant forces to establish and maintain optimal signal timing settings — FDOT recently adopted signal retiming as a statewide objective to alleviate recurring congestion
• Establish minimum letter heights, assess the levels of deficiency that exists, and determine whether establishing an upgrade program is appropriate for directional signing and street name signing
• Create a comprehensive package of signal improvements that could be applied to high crash signalized intersections
• Request more enforcement at signalized intersections

Recommendations that FDOT is currently working towards included:

• Provide bus pullout lanes at bus stop locations on the shoulder and off the travel lane on multilane highways — FDOT is currently researching operational issues with the Transit, Safety, and Design Offices regarding bus pullouts.
• Implement improvements that have the potential to significantly reduce severe crashes at rural intersections with very high crash rates — FDOT is considering options for rural intersections with high crash rates.
• Improved signal visibility with additional enhancements:
  • Box-type designs using span wire or mast arms for far side signal placement — FDOT will only allow diagonal as a design exception to normal practice and will create a standard for signal placement to improve visibility.
  • Back plates for signal heads on north-south approaches — FDOT will use back plates at all approaches, not just east/west. FDOT will also consider reflectorized borders on back plates, where appropriate; and will evaluate their effectiveness before statewide implementation
  • One signal head per lane, centered in the lane for each approach — FDOT will adopt a policy to install one signal head per lane, centered in the lane for each approach.
  • Mast arms and properly located post mounted signals for left turn vehicles — FDOT will consider additional signal heads for left turning vehicles, where appropriate. FDOT will also consider using post mounted signals for left turning vehicles, where appropriate.
• Perform critical evaluations on a select number intersections to determine if the actual signal clearance intervals are acceptable — Critical evaluations of signal clearance interval will become part of the FDOT’s signal retiming program.
• Isolated traffic signals — FDOT will implement these recommendations, where appropriate:
  • Improve visibility, signal clearances, and directional signing
  • Reduce the speed limit on intersection approaches
  • Use the Advanced Dilemma Zone Detection Control System or a similar system to minimize the number of drivers who will be caught in the dilemma zone and run the red
  • Use adequate advanced warning systems for the upcoming signal
• Assess the quality of consultant traffic signal designs — FDOT has created a subcommittee to create performance criteria to assist the Districts in their consultant selection process.
• Pedestrian safety at signalized intersections — FDOT agrees with this recommendation and will consider:
  • Modifying crosswalk design to cross the right turn lane at an approximate 90-degree angle to a pork chop island before crossing the mainline
  • Placing a “Yield to Pedestrian” sign on the right turning lane in advance of the crosswalk
  • Extending the median nose beyond the crosswalk such that the median could be used as a refuge for stranded pedestrians

FDOT disagreed with two recommendations, feeling that speed limits should be set by corridor-to-corridor, and be location-specific, and not be set through a blanket policy. These recommendations were:

• Lower speed limits on multilane highway sections with frequent intersections, driveways, and median openings.
• Establish a policy of setting a maximum posted speed limit of 45 mph for arterials with traffic signals spaced at one mile or less.

This article was provided by Lap Hoang, FDOT Traffic Engineering and Operations Office and Chair, Intersection Safety Improvement Task Team, Strategic Highway Safety Plan. For information, please contact Mr. Hoang at (850) 410-5600 or email to Lap.Hoang@dot.state.fl.us.

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Charlotte County Advanced Transportation Management System

In August 2004, Hurricane Charley made landfall in Charlotte County creating widespread damage throughout the City of Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, and other areas of the state. One of the victims of the hurricane was the control center for the Charlotte County advanced transportation management system (ATMS), as well as many of the traffic signals throughout the county. All of the ATMS central equipment was destroyed when the control center lost part of the roof and water permeated throughout the rest of the building.

At the time, the ATMS was under construction by the FDOT District One. The ATMS construction contract was cancelled and the District quickly developed a new Request for Proposal for a design build project that would replace all of the control center hardware and software and upgrade all the field cabinets and controllers. The project also required upgrading the existing communications from SONET to Ethernet utilizing existing fiber optic cable that was installed under the previous contract as well as new fiber optic cable, where needed.

The contract documents were completed and the project was advertised in February 2005. Letters of Interest for this design build project were also received in February 2005, and the project was awarded to Highway Safety Devices in July 2005, with F.R. Aleman providing the design and integration services. During this time Charlotte County began clean-up and repairs to the control center roof and building.

After the contractor finalized design, they replaced the central signal system hardware and software and upgraded and connected 84 signalized intersections in the Charlotte County area to the new Naztec Central Software that was installed as part of the project. The existing signal controllers were replaced with Naztec brand NEMA TS 2 Type 1 units in new NEMA TS 2 Type 1 cabinets.

As part of this project, the contractor also installed 39 closed-circuit television cameras on existing traffic signal poles or on new concrete poles. The cameras will allow Charlotte County staff to monitor traffic throughout the county and assist with incident management and traffic information dissemination. The staff will also be able to modify signal timings, as necessary, to ease traffic congestion due to an incident.

All of the field and central work has been completed by the contractor. Training and the majority of testing has been completed as well. The contractor is currently conducting their final equipment testing and burn-in. The project should be completed by April 2008, which is within the contract time allowed.

Hurricane Charley caused major destruction to many areas of the state. In Charlotte County, the rebuilding effort continues today. Under the management of the FDOT, the old ATMS, that fell victim to Hurricane Charley, has been replaced with a new state-of-the-art system. Charlotte County employees are eager to use the new system to provide improved traffic signal coordination and assist with incident management. This new ATMS will help to relieve roadway congestion for daily commuters and those who continue to rebuild, expand, or improve life within the county.

This article was provided by Chris Birosak, FDOT District One. For information, please contact Mr. Birosak at (863) 519-2507 or email to Chris.Birosak@dot.state.fl.us.

For more information on ITS Florida, please check the ITS Florida Web site at http://www.itsflorida.org/ or contact Sandy Beck, Chapter Administrator, at email itsflorida@itsflorida.org.

If you wish to contribute an article to the SunGuide Disseminator on behalf of ITS Florida, please email Mary Hamill at MaryKHamill@global-5.com.

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Editorial Corner—A Word From ITSA

I would like to update you on the most important industry event of 2008 – the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to be held November 16-20, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. By combining ITS America’s 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition with the World Congress, this will be the largest ITS event in the world for an expected 10,000 transportation, technology, and business professionals. You can’t afford not to be a part of the World Congress and Annual Meeting.

For those of you who have attended our Annual Meeting and Exposition in the past, I want to assure you that you will still experience all that an Annual Meeting has to offer during this November’s World Congress, such as the Best of ITS Awards, Forum Showcases, Executive and Special Sessions, technical tours, and networking events. The advantage of combining these two events is to provide you with all of the benefits of the Annual Meeting along with the added value of the World Congress.

The World Congress and Annual Meeting will be the place to learn about the latest offerings from ITS providers, recent developments from researchers, newest deployments from U.S. Department of Transportation officials, and current indicators of where ITS is headed. Furthermore, this event will be the single source on all ITS developments—in traffic operations, transit, automotive, telecommunications, public safety, homeland security, and commercial vehicle operations, to name a few.

Recently, we expanded the exhibit hall for the fifth and final time. Over 175 exhibitors will be on hand throughout more than 250,000 square feet of space – that’s two and a half times the size of either a World Congress or Annual Meeting hosted by ITS America. The exhibit hall will provide you with ample opportunity to make new business connections and to see the latest and emerging ITS technologies and services.

The World Congress will feature the largest fully-integrated demonstration of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside communications technologies and services. Dozens of innovative mobility solutions will be operating on the streets and highways of New York and will build upon the highly successful outdoor demonstration that was featured at the 12th World Congress on ITS in San Francisco in 2005. Three dedicated short range communications (DSRC) test beds are being built along the Long Island Expressway and in Manhattan to demonstrate applications, such as congestion pricing, electronic toll collection, emergency vehicle preemption, transit signal priority, fleet management, and vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) network management, to name a few.

There are currently three major components to the World Congress’ integrated technology demonstrations:

• VII Test Beds –DSRC test beds are being built along a portion of the Long Island Expressway and two arterial loops in Manhattan adjacent to the Jacob J. Javits Convention Center.
• 11th Avenue Theater – Led by several automakers and located in front of the Javits Convention Center, the 11th Avenue Theater will be the site of live demonstrations of active safety systems and other dynamic applications, such as vehicle-to-vehicle based collision avoidance and signal violation warning. Autonomous vehicles from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge will also be featured.
• VII Transportation Management Center of the Future – A 3,200 square foot exhibition designed to showcase the integration of active probe data into the most advanced applications of transportation management center (TMC) systems will be featured. Built inside the exhibit hall, this demonstration will illustrate the future of TMCs and how these new cooperative system applications will change the way we do business in the coming decades.

We are also planning to feature technologies related to: cooperative system network management, probe data, tolling and congestion pricing, parking management, mayday/incident response, corridor management, fleet management, transit, and commercial vehicles.

We are excited to announce the generous support of nearly a dozen industry leaders who have stepped up to showcase their organizations as sponsors before a national and international audience:

• Diamond Level: Connexis, Mercedes Benz, Telvent, Verizon Wireless, Volkswagen
• Gold Level: Nissan
• Friends of ITS Level: Cisco Systems, Daktronics, Econolite, MG Squared

As you can see, the 15th World Congress and ITS America’s 2008 Annual Meeting is the place to be from November 16-20. It is the best opportunity you will have to connect with local, national, and international ITS leaders through a vibrant educational program, participate in the largest integrated technology demonstration in the U.S., and experience the most comprehensive exhibition of ITS technologies and services.

The World Congress on ITS has rarely been this affordable in recent years. Registration rates will be available soon and will include early-bird rates as well as hotel rates as low as $217.00 per night on a first-come first-serve basis. Registration and accommodations will open online on April 1. The Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers will serve as the host hotel and the Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square will serve as the “overflow” hotel.

I would like to thank the dedicated volunteers of the 15th World Congress Organizing Committee for the support and resources they’ve contributed to the planning, organization, and implementation of this sizable event. In particular, it is important to recognize World Congress Organizing Committee Chairman Michael Noblett of Connexis and VII Technology Demonstrations Committee Chairman Patrick McGowan of Telvent Farradyne whose commitment and resources have been instrumental in helping to get us where we are today. Finally, on behalf of the Organizing Committee, I would like to thank the U.S. DOT, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, and the public agencies in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for their outstanding partnership and participation.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for April 1 when registration and accommodations open online at www.itsworldcongress.org – the place to find all of the latest information on the World Congress and Annual Meeting activities. I look forward to welcoming you to New York.

This editorial was provided by Scott Belcher, Intelligent Transportation Society of America. For information, please email Mr. Belcher at SBelcher@itsa.org.

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Inside the TERL

The FDOT has a goal to assure that only a safe and uniform ITS and traffic control system is implemented in state of Florida. The Traffic Engineering Research Lab (TERL) plays a part in obtaining this goal by satisfying Florida Statute 316.0745 — Uniform Signals & Devices. Below is a look at activities that help accomplish our goal.

Product Evaluation
We currently have 42 applications submitted for the Approved Product List (APL). Of these applications, 31 are in house for evaluation and the remaining 11 applications are on hold for various reasons. The APL can be viewed at www3.dot.state.fl.us/trafficcontrolproducts, and the temporary approved ITS products can be viewed at
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/TrafficOperations/Traf_Sys/ITS%20APL/TemporaryITSAPL.shtm.

Product Specifications
The Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Specification is in the final stage of preliminary development.

Other devices under consideration or in the initial stages of specification development, include:

• Dynamic message signs for arterial and toll roads,
• In-pavement crosswalk lights,
• 24/7 Flashing beacons,
• Countdown pedestrian signals, and
• Trailer-mounted camera/detector systems.

This article was provided by David Bremer and Jeffrey Morgan, FDOT Traffic Engineering and Operations Office. For more information, please contact Mr. Morgan at (850) 921-7354 or email to Jeffrey.Morgan@dot.state.fl.us.

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Announcements

Don't Miss Transpo 2008^®

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Register for the ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit Now!
The ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit, Making a Difference in Transportation Safety, is being held at the Hyatt Regency in Miami on March 30-April 2, 2008. More information and registration for this conference is available on the Institute of Transportation Engineers Web site at www.ite.org/conference/.

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New Faces
District One Traffic Operations is pleased to announce the appointment of Carlos Bonilla to the position of ITS Operations Manager. Carlos will be managing the regional transportation management center currently under construction at the Daniels Parkway Rest Area in Fort Myers. Carlos is a Certified Public Manager. He previously worked in the Tampa Bay SunGuide™ Traffic Management Center in District Seven. Carlos also worked for the Turnpike Enterprise in their transportation management center. Before Carlos moved to Florida, he worked as a police officer for the City of Passaic, N.J.

Please join us in giving Carlos a warm welcome.

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Coming to Florida Welcome Centers Soon...
FDOT has awarded Zoom Information Systems a contract to design, construct, and operate a public wireless internet access service at four Florida welcome centers and the Turkey Lake Plaza on the Florida Turnpike. Additionally, Zoom will be migrating an existing FDOT communications trailer with this capability which can be placed at any rest area on a case-by-case basis. Once deployed, this unit can provide the FDOT Central Office with data on the number of Wi-Fi hot spots that may be required as further expansion of this concept is considered. The contract is for one year with a six month extension, if required.

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Word Challenge Answers

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