I recently attended a tradeshow on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This is an emerging field that has the potential to make a huge impact on how traffic is managed and how transportation impacts the environment.

Traditional traffic management is about moving from place to place, ideally as quickly as possible. That’s why there are freeway signs informing you of “congestion ahead” or letting you know the estimated amount of time to reach a particular off ramp. It’s also why there are intersection controls to control the flow of traffic.

Intelligent Transportation developers are looking to influence traffic patterns by providing information and trying to better distribute traffic on roadway systems. Future traffic management may soon be based on environmental issues, such as air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. The show was the first time I’ve seen the possibility of having intersections timed based on current levels of air quality or greenhouse gas emissions along a freeway or local roadway. It means that intersection timing wouldn’t be exclusively based on moving a certain number of vehicles in a certain amount of time, but on how those vehicles were impacting the environment in a particular area and how that impact could be affected by controlling the flow of vehicles.

I’ve said before that people have an ingrained desire for mobility, and that desire can’t be changed by restricting it. If travel is made more difficult, people may complain about it more but there is still a need to travel for work, school, errands and recreation. ITS planners are trying to improve the roadway system, irrespective of whether people think the system should be there or whether they think it encourages undesired growth in an area. The system is there because people use it. If efforts are made to softly influence people and reduce the impacts of travel, it may be possible to “have your cake and eat it too.”

It will be very interesting to see how these developments will change travel across the country, and what elements we may be able to incorporate into the Connector. ]]> http://connectorjpa.net/2009/07/intelligent-transportation-systems-mean-more-options-are-available-for-managing-local-transportation/feed/ 0 http://connectorjpa.net/2009/03/welcome/ http://connectorjpa.net/2009/03/welcome/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:22:36 +0000 admin http://connectorjpa.net/?p=623 Welcome to a first for me – a foray into the world of blogging! I’m hoping this will prove an effective way to share information and yes, my own perspectives, as the Connector project progresses.

You may already know about the Capital SouthEast Connector, which will link the communities of Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and El Dorado Hills. The process is just getting started and I personally am very excited. The Sacramento region has the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of transportation and to create an iconic project that will be the envy of communities across the country. We have the opportunity to be innovative in the development of the Connector and not build “just another roadway.”

This effort requires a vision that sees many years into the future and is not discouraged by current economic woes. One of our goals is to create a new way to develop transportation projects, and to be mindful of benefits beyond mobility – additional open space, preservation of natural resources, continuous multi-modal paths, and new technology/ITS (intelligent transportation system) aspects.

We are working hard to get smarter about today’s key issues – creative financing, environmental stewardship, economic sustainability, greenhouse gas reduction, and more – and we are asking ourselves if there is a way the project can benefit those areas. We’d like the Connector to be a balanced asset to community. We want to be as innovative as we can be with the technology available; be sensitive to the groups involved; address the needs of business; and use our best and smartest team members to generate good ideas to put into the mix. And, of course, we want to gather input from experts and the community to help shape the finished project.

So let’s start the discussion. We’ll be out in the community in the coming months, talking with people about the project and gathering feedback, and this blog will be another forum to share information. Check back for weekly updates, and thanks for reading!