During the ITE Technical Conference and Exhibit in Miami, some members opted for a tour of the
32,000 square foot Florida Department of Transportation District 6
SunGuide Transportation Management Center (TMC). The publically-funded,
operations center ITS program is the regional command post for the district and
focuses on tolling, incident management, traveler information, ramp
signaling and traffic management. Public Information and ITS Manager
Rory Santana helped conduct the tour while explaining various elements involved
in the operations center. Santana explained that the Miami-Dade area, along
with Monroe County, are monitored from this center and is co-located with the
Florida Highway Patrol, with whom the ITS program shares information.
Miami, the 11th most congested city in the U.S., has no mass
transit and relies on its small control room staff with its eight operator
workstation to manage any incidents and keep traffic flowing. To
maintain performance standards, traffic operations staff have performance
measures that must be met and are graded on a daily basis. The TMC disseminates
traffic information to the media, the 511 Traveler Information System, dynamic
message signs, fire/rescue, local police and transit. For more information, please visit the FDOT District 6 website at http://www.sunguide.info/index.php.