REAL-TIME MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS (MOES) FOR ATMS CONTRACT MODIFICATION

Traffic congestion slows traffic movement, increases vehicular emissions, and pollutes the environment. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and local municipalities cannot keep current with the demands of growing traffic. Building new highways is not an option due to escalating construction costs, insufficient funds, and right-of-way constraints. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), such as Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), promote safe and efficient use of existing transportation facilities. ITS applications and their respective sensors and detectors provide valuable data regarding transportation systems characteristics and performance. The data is typically used to carry out particular ITS functions, such as traffic signal control, traveler information services, and incident management. ITSs are expanding their operations in major urban areas and data collection is becoming more comprehensive. If ITS data is saved and made accessible it can be used for many additional purposes. For example, ITS-derived performance measures describing traffic throughput, delay, and variability could potentially be used in transportation planning, research, and other areas. Traffic management operators are currently considering the development of an automated ITS data archiving and analyzing system to improve transportation performance monitoring.